The Modern Chinese Student
I’ve mentioned it before, there is a type of smog that not only covers the cities of China, but the hearts of its citizens. And although the Red Raincoat Girls and Boys can clear the air in such a way I can barely explain, the fresh scent of buy and sell dreams still captures the heart of many in a younger generation completely oblivious to the pains of a decade or two before. Some are looking for big money and happiness intermingled with a passive type of nationalism only because they know their own prosperity is dependent on the new China’s. Many of my English major seniors and juniors do not seek to be teachers, but instead wish to gain positions in translation or interpretation, jobs that have substantially more clout. They shade their wishes in the humble gloss of Chinese cultural norms, but it is easy to tell that there want bigger things than just a classroom. Many of these students come from smaller towns here in Anhui Province, one of the nation's poorest. No wonder they dream of bigger things then just standing at the front of a classroom. Of course, many of the English majors are very content to be teachers. As one student said, although there is not a lot of money, it is one of the most secure jobs in China. Ironically, this same student seeks to become a translator of books, teaching is just a fallback.The seniors will be doing a 6 week student teaching curriculum after the October Holiday. Today I had the opportunity to give a lecture of teaching methodology (yea... like I know a lot about that). They got me to speak primarily on communication dynamics in the classroom. I think the lecture went okay. In the end, I hope they find the joy of teaching. I know why I chose to be a teacher here. It is because I want to help my students become who they were meant to be, so that they might live full with joy and purpose, joy that lasts, a purpose that matters in the long run. I hope so dearly that I can instill this attitude and presence into my students through my own teaching.
And then there are the few students who’s presence is eerily familiar. It is the same presence of my cousin in Beijing. The passive, jaded type that has no real interest in the ways of this world, but shuffles along anyway because nothing else seems any better. Although much of the student population is intoxicated by the scent of Chinese modernity, there are the few who could care less. Again, I think it is the uncertainty of China’s rapid-fire changes that adds to this mentality. The older generation certainly understands this. It is these students, the jaded and cynical ones, that I often feel have the greatest potential to be the most passionate if only they found real truth that resonated in their hearts. I am slowly gaining a burden for students such as these because I too feel the same. There is very little in this world that can make me feel alive the way eternal matters do.
I think it's all far more complicated than what I'm writing about here. My experiences are still limited to a single month, the number of students I’ve really gotten to know still so few. The desire in me for these types of relationships, the kind that can bless me and I can bless, is becoming greater. I can lump attitudes and personalities together all I want for the purpose of an interesting journal entry or just to make sense of things for myself, but the reality is that every student is different. Each personality its own, special in the eyes of someone great and sought after by his grace and love. I desire to know just some of these intricacies, the special parts of each soul distinctly and intentionally created.
posted by Unknown @ 10:06 PM
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