Picture: “Let students understand the meaning of life so that they will not spend their lives in vain.” Teacher Ye Guofeng
Actions speak louder than words. The selfless love that teachers give to their students can help them to show “great love” to the society in the future. Some teachers lead their students to volunteer to care for the elderly with mild cognitive impairment, so that the children can learn to reflect on life and learn to cherish. Some teachers convey positive values to the children through their own behavior demonstrations in daily teaching. Some teachers not only impart knowledge from books, but also actively inspire the potential of children, so that they can move forward confidently on the road to the future.
Ta Kung Pao and the education sector jointly organized the first “Hong Kong Outstanding Teachers’ Morality Award Selection” event, and 20 teachers in Hong Kong won the Outstanding Award in the selection. Ta Kung Pao launched a series of reports called “Good Teachers’ Stories”, detailing their touching deeds behind their words and deeds. / Ta Kung Pao reporters Tang Jiaping, Zhao Zhiqi, Wang Zeyan (text), Mai Runtian, Cai Wenhao, intern reporter Wang Zeyan (photo), Zhang Kaiwen, Xu Zhaojie (video)
Leading students to visit the elderly to think about life and hard work\Teacher Ye Guofeng of Gaolei Middle School
What is the value of life? What is my position in society? Where is the road to the future? Adolescents often feel confused about these questions. Knowing this well, Ye Guofeng, the director of moral education and civic education at Gao Lei Middle School, actively promotes life education, hoping to help students “walk the right path and know the value of their lives.”
Compiling life story books for the elderly with disabilities
Students are standing at the starting point of their life journey. How can we help them imagine their future life and development? After discussing and considering with his colleagues, Mr. Ye Guofeng took the lead in organizing a volunteer service program called “Listen Carefully, Feel Life” this year, leading Form 4 students to visit the elderly with mild dementia in the district and compile life story books for them.
Talking about the preparation process of the event, teacher Ye Guofeng said frankly that it was “not easy”. Before visiting the elderly, he hoped to plant the seeds of life and death education in the children’s hearts, so he worked with social workers to prepare three or four related courses for the students, leading them to understand the different stages of a person’s life, and also review the peaks and troughs of their own lives, and draw the ups and downs of their own “lifelines”. Some students looked at their ups and downs of their “lifelines” and their eyes were a little moist. Ye Guofeng said with emotion: “I hope that after students see that life has so many aspects, they can help the elderly sort out their lives.”
Encourage meaningful extracurricular activities
After completing the preparations, each group of students went to the homes of the elderly and asked about their life experiences, such as the housing estates they lived in since childhood and their favorite shops. Some elderly people could not remember much, so their family members would help guide them. Reminiscing about the past, each elderly person could talk for more than an hour, and the students acted as recorders, recording every detail of their birth, schooling, work, marriage, etc. Like picking up precious shells on the beach, the students selected the important moments in the lives of the elderly, wrote them down stroke by stroke, and made a picture album with photos, which was returned to them as a souvenir.
Ye Guofeng said that after listening to the life stories of the elders, the students felt that “life is so rich and colorful” and could look back on their own lives and reflect on how to fill their free time with more meaningful activities. Some students were amazed, “It turns out that one day we may degenerate to the point where we don’t remember to change clothes when we go out, or what to eat today.” “These trivial things that we usually take for granted, it turns out they don’t remember them.” Ye Guofeng believes that this will trigger students to reflect and learn to cherish the people and things in life.
Having taught for 13 years, in addition to teaching mathematics, Ye Guofeng also integrates volunteer activities into his daily school life. “Middle school teachers can influence a person’s rest of life.” He believes that many academic knowledge can now be learned by students on the Internet, so the value of teachers is “I do it for them to see, to show them what kind of person I am.” Some students have asked him why he volunteered, and some students are confused about their future life plans. A verbal answer may seem pale. He has already gained a lot from volunteer activities. He hopes that through life education and volunteer activities, students can understand life, cherish and explore life, and experience the possibilities and meaning of life, so that they will not spend their lives in vain.
Ta Kung Pao reporter Zhao Zhiqi