Growth is not a question of thinking, but a question of practice
Life education has become a "net celebrity class"
In September last year, Pu Hejing, a post-2000 student who had just entered Tongji University, chose a "Internet celebrity class".
At first, she was attracted by the title of the class "Reflection on Life - How to Live this Life Well". She did not expect that in the class, she had a dialogue with "loneliness", got rid of "anxiety about having fun", and wrote "Epitaph" homework "The people buried here once lived and loved passionately" in the book.
She said: "Life is vast, and we must explore our own life well."
The new semester of 2023 has not yet started, and more than 240 places for this course have been emptied early again.
Yao Yuhong, the general director of the course and a professor at the Mental Health Education and Counseling Center of Tongji University, said that the life education class directly confronts the life issues that trouble students. "Although no one can assert that their life is a standard 'good life', we hope to accompany Students go together to explore the thinking, awe, value and love of life."
According to incomplete statistics, in recent years, more than 20 universities have opened courses related to life and death education, and many courses have gained a lot of "fans" once they are launched.
The course of "Life and Death" in Guangzhou University has been taught for more than 20 years.
Why has the life education class become a "net celebrity class" in the eyes of students?
When young people talk about life, what do they want to know?
Directly attack the confusion, frustration and problems of college students in real life
"Hello! Lonely." "Sometimes I'm afraid of you, and your presence makes me feel uncomfortable." "But sometimes I like you, and I can have more time to feel myself when I'm with you In a class on the theme of "The Loneliness of Life", two student partners performed a role-play, one student played the lonely past of the other student, and tried to have a dialogue.
This is the first time for Pu Hejing to face loneliness.
Although she is very clear that after entering university, she will face a role change and re-adaptation in terms of study, lifestyle, and interpersonal relationships, but she feels that she is "intolerant" of the loneliness she has to experience and is used to hiding it.
During this conversation, Pu Hejing and her classmates expressed their unorganized emotions and thoughts.
The homework after class is to experience loneliness for 1-2 hours, and she also feels the changes in herself.
"Reading a book, listening to a piece of music, and watching a movie are all getting along with loneliness. It is a way to enjoy loneliness. Loneliness is not the price of growth. Learning to live with loneliness is growth itself."
"If there is no proper guidance, facing conflicting situations such as loneliness will easily lead to other psychological distress, such as depression, avoidance of social interaction, etc." Yao Yuhong believes that it is important for college students to learn knowledge and cultivate abilities, but the true observation of life cannot be ignored.
In the communication with students, they found that many students pay special attention to "how to live well", and many confusions about life issues also directly affect students' academic career and quality of life.
But the real problem is that Yao Yuhong found that some students who need psychological counseling are not willing to step into the gate of the counseling center. ".
A recent survey conducted by the China Youth Daily by China Youth School Media also showed that in the face of psychological "labor pains", 66.46% of the interviewed college students tried to "confide" to heal their lives and seek comfort and help from others.
But among them, only 1.51% of the interviewed college students choose to tell their teachers and counselors, only 1.58% of the interviewed college students choose to seek a psychologist, and 61.33% of the interviewed college students tend to talk to their friends, classmates and other peers.
"We hope that through the opening of the class, we will cover more students who need psychological counseling or psychological quality enhancement." Yao Yuhong hopes that this class will become a "companion" for students' growth, and students can also find partners who face the same problems in the class, and then face it together right.
"People often say that college students are psychologically fragile, but this is often because they have too little experience." Yao Yuhong said that life education courses are more focused on practice and experience. They use philosophy, pedagogy, medicine and psychology from multidisciplinary perspectives. The daily topics that students are most concerned about are cut in, so that teachers and students can be inspired by each other in interactive discussions and simulated scene experiments, and feel, cherish and awe life.
Liu Rongze, a junior student at Zhejiang University, was also attracted by the name when he found the course "Self-Exploration and Psychological Growth" on the course selection system.
"I didn't consider my own problems when choosing courses, but in the courses, I found that my inner doubts were being solved constantly."
Liu Rongze told reporters that his self-esteem was "unstable" because he failed a little in the college entrance examination.
After learning about self-esteem regulation strategies in class, he learned to analyze himself systematically.
"I have learned to face failure calmly, but I feel that talking about my success is showing off. In fact, neither success nor failure should be avoided. Only after accurately grasping my own strengths and weaknesses can I learn from my strengths and make up for my weaknesses, and make my heart stronger." He said .
This course is affectionately called "Zhejiang University Growth Course" by Zhejiang University students.
The course of the whole semester uses the virtual classmate "Xiaolan" as the protagonist of the story, telling about the various difficulties she encountered on the university campus, just like a mirror, every student can find similar confusion in "Xiaolan" .
Over the past 3 years since the course started, more than 330 students have taken courses every year.
Zhu Yihong, the person in charge of the course and the deputy director of the Mental Health Education and Counseling Center of Zhejiang University, found in his daily work that some college students are not fully mature mentally. In this growth course, relying on theory, based on practice, multi-disciplinary and multi-perspective intersect, so that students can really benefit."
"After seeing the problem clearly, I will no longer be afraid, and have more strength to live in the moment"
"Contemporary college students have a wide range of knowledge, active thinking, and have figured out a lot of truths, and can even speak clearly and logically. However, when encountering practical problems in life, they still lack the experience of solving the 'wounds and turns', especially those who have not encountered In Yao Yuhong's view, the "doing" in the "integration of knowledge and action" of college students still needs teachers to accompany and give advice appropriately to lay a solid foundation for future life.
In the class of Tongji University, there is an experiment on the theme of "the demise of life". Students need to use a piece of paper as a metaphor for their expected life length, and make assumptions by repeatedly folding in half and then in half: if the remaining life is only 40 years, 10 years, 5 years year, or even the last year, what else do you want to do?
"The folding of life has had a great impact on the students." Yao Yuhong said that the students gave different reactions: when there is only one year left in their lives, some students said that they would drop out of school to do various things they like , Some said that they would not change the rhythm of life, and work hard according to the life they yearned for, and there would be no regrets...
Yao Yuhong believes that the various answers that appear in the classroom can just stimulate students to learn from each other, broaden their thinking, and see more possibilities in life.
"We also hope that in the limited classroom time and space, students can experience diverse life experiences in carefully designed scenario simulations."
When it comes to life, death is an inevitable part, but in traditional culture, there are often many taboos.
Last year, film and television works such as the web drama "Sanyue Has a New Job" and the movie "Life Events" sparked widespread discussions among young people.
"Sanyue Has a New Job" screenwriter You Xiaoying said, "The protagonist Sanyue, who was born in 1998, didn't know death and was not afraid of death at first. Enveloped her heart. After entering the funeral parlor, she went from only seeing her own love and hatred to being able to see the sufferings of all living beings, understanding the weight of death, and her world became vast.” Sanyue gradually understood the value of life and Learn the meaning of death, learn to bravely face the difficulties in life, understand the hardships in life, and then learn to cherish the present more strongly.
This web drama has also become a living teaching material for the "Learning of Life and Death" in the online celebrity class of Guangzhou University.
Hu Yi'an, associate professor of the School of Marxism at Guangzhou University, has taught this course for more than 20 years. He once said in an interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, "From birth to death, life has always been a thing worthy of awe."
As an important part of life education, death education appears to be more niche and mysterious.
However, Pu Hejing observed that for the "epitaph" homework assigned by the teacher, the students around her are filling in carefully: "Good night, world" "When I close my eyes, I find that my life is meaningful" of".
She read Hu Yi'an's "Introduction to Modern Life and Death", and also wrote down a sentence: "Only when you are willing to touch the ultimate limit of death, can you develop the dignity and value of life from it."
Li Juan, the teacher of the "Zhejiang University Growth Course", found in her daily work that most students feel the pressure and heaviness of life because they are "dissatisfied with themselves", "not getting what they want", "the hard life will eventually disappear", etc. negative emotion.
She hopes to help students see what they can do with their limited lives and learn to be at peace with themselves.
So in class, they openly talked about loss and grief, trauma and death, and how individuals in these topics are affected by family, school, relationships, etc.
In the specially set up anonymous group, the students "wearing vests" can speak freely and say all the things that they can't usually say.
"Students will resonate: It turns out that I am not the only one who is afraid, and I am not the only one who feels powerless." Li Juan believes, "This kind of resonance has produced strength instead. After the students look back and see the problem clearly, they are no longer afraid. Now, I am more empowered to live in the present moment.”
"Growth is not a question of thinking, but a question of practice." According to Liu Yan, a teacher of the "Zhejiang University Growth Course", the stage of "studying academics" in middle school rarely talked about the topic of separation experience or even death. There is a vacancy in this part of their growth, and their minds may not have grown to the level corresponding to the knowledge level. We need to provide corresponding environmental conditions to help them grow their personality more deeply. Bypassing this corner, they will be more wise. up".
At the end of the class, each student will draw his own "tree of life": the land, roots, trunk, branches and fruits represent "how did I come here", "what do I have now", "my personal characteristics and abilities", "my Goals and wishes”, “important relationships and resources in the growth process”, etc.
"After sorting it out, many students said that I never knew that I had so much." Li Juan said with emotion, and she also posted her own "life tree" in her office cabinet. When the world is in front of us, we have the power to live better."
Liu Yan also said, "Students who have negative emotions and want to leave mostly feel that they are less and less connected with life. But this 'tree of life' is precisely the gravitational force of life that pulls them Gravity back."
Liu Rongze still retains the "Tree of Life" he once painted. He wrote: Life is like a tree. The deeper the roots, the higher the branches reach the sky. Perhaps this is the meaning of growth. Seeking roots and pursuing dreams, through relationships with family, The connection between others, self and society bears rich and colorful fruits of life.
Maintain respect and plant a "seed" in the hearts of students
During a group practice session, some students said to Liu Yan, "I am too tired from schoolwork, and the goal of our group is to want to sleep."
Although worried, Liu Yan let this group of students experiment with their own idea of "laying flat".
Unexpectedly, in the final group sharing session, she scored the highest score for this "laying flat" group.
"The course pays the most attention to your feelings and the improvement of your mind." Liu Yan explained that they experienced "lying down" without any goals, and they gave feedback on their new understanding of "laying down". In such a state of "emptying", I can feel myself more closely and know myself that I have not discovered before. I allow some of this state in my life, It is also a different kind of experience, some awareness that I have never had before emerges, and I feel more able to accept myself.”
In her opinion, post-00 students especially need space, rather than "must do something".
"In a safe space, with tolerance, understanding and trust, they can still discover the essence of life in an orderly manner and explore their own life path."
"College students born after 2000 are more willing to directly explore issues about themselves, and hope to live out their own unique sense of value and life experience." Zhu Yihong said that life education should respect the individual characteristics of students. "This course is under the care of the school. The testimony of continuous growth is also the embodiment of collective wisdom. In the future, we don’t know what characteristics the post-10 students will have, but our courses can grow together with the students.”
Life education is like a "seed" planted in the hearts of students. You may not always see obvious results at the moment, but you can "wait for the flowers to bloom".
"To be honest, after the end of the one-semester course, we can't see any obvious changes in the students. We also hope to extend the evaluation of the course effect, for example, to see the changes in the students after one year." What makes Yao Yuhong happy is that the students In the end-of-class assignment, she saw that the students' self-awareness became clearer and clearer, and they dared to face negative emotions and setbacks.
For example, she said that in the "Inheritance of Life" session, students need to conduct interviews with family members for more than half an hour.
Some students said, "This is the first time I have talked with my parents for such a long time after puberty, and my parents are quite powerful."
Someone also discussed with Yao Yuhong whether to make the life education course a compulsory course?
But she thinks that elective courses are more suitable. "You can't assume that every student must need a certain course. If there are students who need it, have problems that they can't figure out, want to talk about life, and want to see their psychological status, this course is their harbor. , What is more, after the class is over, students need to be able to reflect on their future life slowly, learn to think, learn how to deal with it, and give their future a shot in the arm.”
In many university campuses, life education is still relatively absent.
In Yao Yuhong's view, the actual needs of college students have always existed, and colleges and universities can guide students to think and discuss life in different ways.
"Education also needs to be diversified. The seemingly trivial troubles encountered by students, or seemingly insignificant setbacks, etc., are extended to the entire background line of life. It’s a good time to lead and establish beliefs.”
China Youth Daily China Youth Daily reporter Meng Peipei Source: China Youth Daily