How did tutoring outside school become "taking money to buy points"
The National Day holiday should be a day for family travel for many families with school children. But Meng Ying, a parent of a second-year junior high school student in Xicheng District, Beijing, did not make such arrangements. Taking advantage of the e-commerce discount, she chose a math tutoring class for her son, which cost nearly 30,000 yuan.
"In this way, until the end of the winter vacation, my boy will spend a fixed period of time during the weekends of my family. Children like math, this arrangement is to spend money on the blade." Meng Ying told reporters.
The Meng Ying family is a working family, and 30,000 yuan is "all the wages she and her husband get in one month." But she did not hesitate to pay the fee. She said: "Our family has basically realized the'cram school freedom'. In order to realize this freedom, we can'eat the soil' in other aspects. This is our consensus."
"One-on-one", "sub-class", "competition class" and "thinking class", there are many types of cram schools, and "acquaintance classes" where "a few parents privately group classes and ask the school teacher to teach their children after class". A parent in Haidian District, Beijing, told reporters that such classes are "win-win" for teachers and students. "This is equivalent to taking money to buy points." The parent said mysteriously.
What is the meaning of tutoring to school children? Does it have an irreplaceable effect on their performance? The reporter interviewed frontline teachers and heads of training institutions.
"The performance has improved, but the'problems' have also been planted"
"Every time a parent asks for tips on Chinese learning, the teacher always says'read more books, don't worry about attending cram school'. However, there are not many parents who really do this. The choice of parents is understandable, but the contradiction lies in why some people do better The school does not hesitate to buy a room in the school district, and when it comes to school, it is unwilling to dig deep in the school, and then go to the expensive cram school? Why do some parents prefer to spend a high price on the cram school instead of spending very little money How many more books can I buy for my children?"
After studying at school, it is normal for today's school children to come to a few extracurricular tuition classes.
Xiaoyu, a middle school Chinese teacher in a middle school in Haidian District, Beijing, has been teaching for decades. In his class, there are very few students who do not attend cram schools at all.
In his observation, some children arrived at school more than 7 a.m. and left school more than 5 p.m., too late to have dinner, and stepped into the door of the cram school with their schoolbags on their backs.
Dinner is usually a fast food ordered by parents or tutoring school teachers, just learn more than 8 o'clock.
"When they get home, they should wash and go to bed under normal circumstances, but there are still four or five homework waiting for them." Teacher Xiaoyu said.
Such hard work has indeed improved the results.
But slowly, Xiaoyu teacher also discovered that some "technique abuse problems" appeared in the students.
Once, he gave an essay title "I succeeded because of hard work" in the class.
A student wrote: "The seed breaks through the confinement of the rock formations and faces the light; the eagle flies through the storm and flies towards the sky..." Several consecutive parallel sentences are magnificent, but they just don't mention what "I" is. Struggling, it seems "nothing to say".
Immediately afterwards, he saw the next article: "Although I am a trickle, I will eventually embrace the sea; although I am an immature seedling, I will eventually become a towering tree..." Needless to say, these two students are one The "finished product" taught in the cram school.
He called the students to the office to ask, and it was true.
The student told him that the cram school teacher said that people must be caught at the beginning of the composition, and a few parallel sentences increase the momentum and vivid image.
Teacher Xiaoyu believes that this kind of abuse of skills has hindered students from going further on the road of learning Chinese: "What does the seed, the eagle, the big tree, and the stream have to do with you? Although the readers are concerned about the text Appreciation is different, but'sincerity' is the vitality of composition."
Teacher Xiaoyu once watched the tutorial videos of the cram school with his students, and he found that in the subject of Chinese, some tutors did not explain it properly.
He gave such an example, "Once, I watched online classes for more than ten minutes with the students and picked out 5 mistakes. In addition to grammatical errors, a teacher also gave students a'bad idea' to score points. There was a high school entrance exam. The essay question is called'＿＿ is not over'. Some students said to write'Love is not over', but the teacher stopped them and said that they could write words with'Struggle is not over' or the pinyin sequence is at the back. The reason is that the high school entrance exam teacher changed The composition papers are arranged in sequence from'a to z', and those with the first sequence will be marked first. The ones that are marked first are generally more stringent and are assigned'tightly', and the following papers are increasingly'loose' for the branch. Can'take advantage'." "Is there any rule in the paper revision, let go of it first, if it's just to raise points, think about any trick, is it good or bad for the students?" Speaking of this, Teacher Xiaoyu couldn't laugh or cry.
Every time a parent asks Teacher Xiaoyu for tips on Chinese learning, he always says "read more books, don't rush to cram school", however, not many parents really do this.
He understands the choice of parents, but the contradiction lies in: Why do some people go to the school district to buy a house in order to go to a good school, but when they really go to school, they are not willing to dig deep in the school, but they have to go to expensive tuition classes? ?
Why do some parents prefer to spend a high price on a cram school instead of spending very little money to buy more books for their children?
"It's not who will teach, but who they are willing to be taught"
"Every time a parent asks me whether my child needs to attend a cram school, I will tell them that if your child approves of the tuition teacher's teaching method, you can try it. Because learning depends on the formation of a complete'thinking ability'. , It’s one's own initiative at work."
In the Xicheng District of Beijing, where educational resources are relatively balanced, the middle school where Meng Ying's children go to is a traditional "high-quality educational resource".
She gave answers to the questions raised by Teacher Xiaoyu.
"No matter where you go to high school in the future, it depends on your academic performance. Junior high schools are ranked every time they take an exam. The school has a variety of experimental classes in secret. The teachers are not evenly distributed, but they are taught in different levels. The reason for teaching students in accordance with their aptitude is, but when it comes to their own children, they will feel that there is no way to compare the teachers of ordinary and experimental classes. Therefore, we must seize every opportunity to improve." Meng Ying told reporters.
"When my son was in the first grade of middle school, he was basically the first five in the class, and the first ten to fifteenth. This time he got the first in the class and the fourth in the fourth grade. The remedial class is still effective. The tuition class teacher helps to check the missing, the child In terms of learning effects, the school environment is more tense. The cram school is separated from the school, and there is not much feeling of being'controlled' with the teacher, and it is easier to get along with each other." Ying said.
There are many parents who hold the same views as her.
The reporter learned during the interview that in many families, the cost of "cram school" is an essential family expense.
Why are cram schools so popular among parents, even to the point that parents would rather "eat the soil" than give up?
Deng Biyun, head of the Shanghai School of New Channel English, believes, “The first is that most synchronized tutoring and training institutions will learn a little bit ahead of time, so that children can learn more easily in school, or go deeper, so that children have some ability to answer questions. The second is that the tutoring class greatly improves the learning efficiency of children in non-school time. For example, it is different for children to read and study at home and learn in institutional classrooms. The third is the panic created by the society, which is pushed by the environment to go to tuition ."
Which children are suitable for tuition?
The answer given by Deng Biyun is, “Middle-level students will have some effects in making up lessons. The students who are high school students and children who can’t learn are not suitable for tutoring.” Deng Biyun said, “Of course, the learning effect mainly depends on the children’s learning ability, attitude and ability. The better the attitude and attitude, the less parents spend."
This view was also corroborated by Fang Ling, the head teacher of a middle school in Haidian District, Beijing.
"Children who are suitable for cram school have certain learning methods, but there are no children who are completely comfortable. In fact, for this kind of children, it is not a question of who will teach them, but who they are willing to be taught. Parents often ask When it comes to me, whether your children need to attend cram schools, I will tell them that if your children recognize the teaching methods of the cram teachers, you can try. Because learning depends on forming a complete'thinking ability' by themselves, which is their own subjective Initiative is at work," Fang Ling said.
"Learning is not only about catching up with and surpassing learning, but also gradually enabling students to know what is happening and why."
"The cram school is about scoring, and the most important'learning method' is learned in school."
"A good off-campus training institution environment should be based on'cultivating and improving learning ability' as the core, rather than the current'improving test scores' as the only goal.
It is undeniable that the effect of cram schools has been "exaggerated".
Fang Ling once discovered such a phenomenon, almost all training institutions will post "good news", so-and-so student in the district entrance examination, so-and-so student is on the college entrance examination list.
"These claims are completely false propaganda. Children study in school 8 hours a day, even if they go to training classes every day, it is impossible for them to study longer than the school. Why do children do well in the exams? "
Teacher Xiaoyu also sees this problem, and each institution compares it. From the first model to the high school entrance examination, students' single subject scores have increased by more than 10 points.
"I suggest that parents pay attention to the comparison of the school's last year's model and the high school entrance examination results. You will be pleasantly surprised to find that the average scores of the students in the school have almost increased by 10 points. Because the difficulty of the model is slightly harder than the real test. Some, this is normal training, so I will strictly demand it." Teacher Xiaoyu told reporters.
Teacher Xiaoyu believes that the cram school is about scoring, and the most important "learning method" is learned in school.
He found in the students' physics cram school that the tutors only talked about the working principle of the rheostat when they talked about "sliding rheostat".
His colleague, a junior high school physics teacher, told him that in class, this point of knowledge must be gradually made through seven closely logically linked questions such as "how to change resistance and what are the disadvantages of changing resistance", so that students can gradually understand it and know it. That's why.
For problems that can be solved within three to five minutes in a cram school, there are two sessions in class.
"Learning is not only about catching up with learning, but not simply about efficiency." Teacher Xiaoyu said.
Although outside and inside the class, one is fast forward and the other is steady and steady, but the pressure is transmitted layer by layer, the intensity of tuition is increasing, and parents spend more and more money.
What is a good extracurricular tutoring ecology like?
Deng Biyun said frankly that the organization also hopes to slow down, "Good off-campus training should focus on'cultivating and improving learning ability' instead of the current goal of'improving test scores'. Cultivating ability is a slow job, thinking about thinking. Talk about basic skills; but scoring is a short-term work that will give you short-term results. Talk about skills and shortcuts."
Teacher Xiaoyu believes that the normal extra-school tutoring environment should be an “intra-school supplement” rather than overlapping, and cultural classes especially should not run away.
"In short, I hope that the score-only admissions reform can be further changed. When the admissions reform method changes, both inside and outside the school will change for it and move towards a virtuous circle." Deng Biyun said.
(Part of the interviewee in the text is a pseudonym)
(Our reporter Yao Xiaodan)