China Overseas Chinese Network June 18th Question: From Ivy League lecturer to returnee maker Guo Mengjiao: Talent training needs to focus on core competitiveness
Reporter Ma Xiuxiu
"I will do one thing for the rest of my life. I will spread some good resources and methods and ideas that really work to more teenagers."
On the other end of the phone, Guo Mengjiao, the founder of Ao Ke Planet and the current college, was interviewed. It's hard to imagine that this sentence came from a "post-90s" girl.
In the second half of 2019, Guo Mengjiao, a lecturer at the Ivy League School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania, made a decision: leave the "aura of prestigious schools" and return to China for practical education and popularization.
"Ten years of experience abroad made me realize that the ability of the talents needed today and in the future is not just the ability to learn knowledge, but the core competitiveness." Guo Mengjiao said that she and her partners founded Jinzhao Academy in Shenzhen. Pay attention to the cultivation of core competencies such as youth humanistic care, multiple thinking, positive character and innovative ability, and at the same time solve the students' real learning problems, "let children be'competent today'."
"Counterattack" experience inspired growth thinking
Guo Mengjiao was born in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Similar to most children in China, she couldn't avoid the fate of constantly brushing questions in high school, which made her feel tired and anxious.
"At that time, I didn't actually have much motivation to learn." She said frankly that she might receive knowledge faster, but she didn't learn it well, which made her grades often unstable.
The problems caused by study habits were exposed in the college entrance examination. Guo Mengjiao’s dream school before the college entrance examination was originally Peking University, but it was in the college entrance examination that was least able to exert its aberrations that her score was more than a hundred points lower than usual.
"The moment I learned the results was painful. I felt that I was disappointed by all the people who loved me." But the failure of the college entrance examination suddenly ignited Guo Mengjiao's motivation to learn. "I feel responsible for my life. "
Although he entered an art school, Guo Mengjiao at that time maintained an active learning state every day. "I think I have potential. Even in places that are not focused on developing learning ability, I want mentors, partners and learning resources. I also look forward to better opportunities to counterattack."
Later, due to an accidental opportunity, Guo Mengjiao entered the University of Melbourne and began a counterattack. The master received admission letters from Columbia, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Oxford and Penn, and finally applied for an extremely competitive competition. Dr. Penn.
"From all aspects of my background and experience, it is almost impossible for me to apply for a doctorate with full scholarship. Finally, it is my comprehensive ability that impressed the teacher." Guo Mengjiao said that during his study at the University of Pennsylvania, despite his own The scientific research ability is not the strongest, but the teachers have seen their learning ability, expression ability, and interdisciplinary ability.
From the failure of the college entrance examination to the "bottom rebound", Guo Mengjiao concluded that he relied on motivation, learning methods and efforts.
"Study itself is regular, and it's not something that makes a lot of effort." She said that some children study very hard, but they always fail the exam, which can easily frustrate their self-confidence. "I especially want to turn things that have helped me and that I have learned and practiced over the years into valuable, reproducible, popular tools that can help others, and influence more people to become excellent."
Maker education stems from interest
In fact, for a long time before, Guo Mengjiao did not have much to do with pedagogy. In the undergraduate study of communication and marketing related majors, the initial work was mainly engaged in business.
However, from small to large, how to positively influence others has always been Guo Mengjiao's interest. "Since I was a kid, I have enjoyed organizing events, chatting with people, helping people with ideas, etc." She said that she prefers "helping others grow" compared to doing business.
At the same time, Guo Mengjiao noticed that although many people work step by step every day, they seem to be unhappy; and at the age where they should strive to realize themselves, some college students often feel empty and anxious and at a loss.
Guo Mengjiao found that it is education that is related to his points of interest and can have some positive effects on people.
In view of the lack of any professional background at the time, Master Guo Mengjiao chose to study developmental psychology. "I really want to understand the science behind this discipline."
Originally planning to finish the master's degree, he went directly back to China to start a business or do something related; but during his master's degree, Guo Mengjiao realized that the laws of human development cannot be studied clearly within a year or two. "If I really want to work in this area for life, I may need to sink my mind to do more thinking and research."
Therefore, Guo Mengjiao continued to apply for the Ph.D. education program of Penn University. During her Ph.D., from teaching assistant to lecturer, she could have moved along the direction of becoming a professor, but in December last year, she made a decision to return to China to start a business.
In the plan, she will also continue to do some scientific research in the United States. "In this way, we can integrate some good educational resources in the United States and use domestic entrepreneurial opportunities to practice."
"It's faster to do things in China." Only half a year after returning home, Guo Mengjiao felt deeply about the domestic entrepreneurial environment. She concluded that there are many entrepreneurs in China, and everyone is working hard, which will stimulate their motivation to do things. At the same time, the country has introduced many support measures for overseas return entrepreneurs, and the entrepreneurial environment is favorable; on the other hand, Mainly want to serve domestic students, domestic entrepreneurship will also get faster progress and feedback.
Guo Mengjiao admits that whether it is a hot tuition class or a "school district" room, it actually reflects the parents' desire for high-quality educational resources. "And our goal is to hope that parents can spend little money to help their children. We grow up and strive for valuable learning methods and resources."
Extending the experience
As the founder of Ork Planet, in the past 6 years, Guo Mengjiao led team members to help students from all over the world find learning motivation, develop reading habits, and improve thinking through camp education, tutor consulting services, and small class seminars. Ability, expression ability and test-taking ability, etc., to guide many students to enter the top 30 in the United States and the top 20 domestic schools.
Returning to China to start a business now, Guo Mengjiao said that at present, the college will inherit the past experience and focus on three aspects of business.
The first aspect is a series of learning method courses around language ability, which she positions as a "growth flywheel" system.
This system is a summary of Guo Mengjiao's own learning methods. She introduced that the course mainly includes the enthusiasm and motivation for self-improvement, the underlying systems and methods for efficient learning, and the behavior habits of adhering to improvement. Among them, the bottom learning system contains four links: high-quality input, efficient processing, output system and feedback improvement for children to absorb and process knowledge. "With the help of this system, we want to help students solve practical learning and development problems, and at the same time affect and cultivate the qualities and core competencies that children need for long-term development."
In the second aspect, the college will focus on creating a project similar to the International Scholarship Alliance to provide advice to students.
"In personal development, the role of the mentor is crucial." Guo Mengjiao said that there will be mentorcoach (mentor coach) in the United States, but it is still relatively rare in China. This project aims to bring together excellent and positive people from universities and workplaces around the world to jointly create high-quality content and provide guidance for young people. In this way, the current college also links better resources and support for children and these excellent people, "influencing excellent people with excellent people."
In the third aspect, the current college will collide with the corresponding curriculum system through in-depth interviews and observations with young people, so that the curriculum meets the needs of the development of young people's abilities, as well as the needs of the current test and other requirements.
"Ability and utility are not contradictory." Guo Mengjiao said that practice has proved that it is natural to cultivate good learning ability and get good grades in the test.
In addition, Guo Mengjiao said that at present, the college will also integrate humanistic care content and integrate the liberal arts knowledge. For example, the knowledge points of middle school Chinese and history will be transformed into easy-to-learn courses or mission card.
"The development and innovation of the liberal arts are our focus." She said that not only should high-quality resources that combine the United States or China and the United States be provided to children, but also the actual anxiety points of Chinese students should be combined to bring real benefits to everyone. Something of value.
"We also hope that more like-minded people can participate in the relevant discussions and continuously improve and disseminate relevant educational ideas through feedback and other means." Guo Mengjiao said that everyone will plug the wings of the children towards the future. (Finish)