Stir-fry tea and plant medicine … Yunnan primary and secondary schools skillfully play the ＂ecological＂ card to empower students to grow.
The school not only has a tea garden, but also a tea frying machine for students to experience tea frying; In addition to beautiful gardens, there are also Chinese herbal medicine gardens on campus, listing different kinds of Chinese herbal medicines and offering Chinese herbal medicine planting courses … In Yunnan Province, which is famous for its biodiversity and beautiful ecology, many primary and secondary schools have set up labor practice bases with the theme of green ecology to empower students to grow.
Walking into Longtan Central School in Longtan Township, Yuanjiang County, Yuxi City, on the hillside above the basketball court, the 4-acre tea garden is particularly eye-catching. "We not only have our own tea garden, but also have our own tea frying machine. Students especially like the labor practice of picking and frying tea." Yang Jiawen, principal of Longtan Central School, said that this course not only cultivates children’s living ability and sense of responsibility, but also brings students economic income to improve their life happiness index.
He introduced that the school has built two brands of Chunqin Tea and Bitan Tea based on the tea garden. In 2023, it harvested more than 100 kilograms of tea, with an average income of more than 200 yuan per class. In addition, the school has also opened up plantations and breeding gardens, with classes in autonomous management. In 2023, the whole school harvested more than 200 kilograms of vegetables and sold them to the school canteen, with an average income of more than 100 yuan per class. The money is used to buy cakes for students’ birthdays and extra-curricular books.
The picture shows the students of Longtan Central School building a vegetable plantation by themselves. Photo courtesy of Longtan Central School
"In the past, teachers and students would go for a walk outside the school. Now, they like to stroll and talk in the small vegetable garden. While experiencing the happiness of labor, everyone relaxed their mood and harvested their own labor results. " Yang Jiawen told reporters that everyone was very happy to see that their labor brought happiness to the class.
This exploration is inspired by Yang Jiawen’s participation in the "Ten Thousand Principals Training Program" in Yunnan Province: "In the past, some students had little enthusiasm for going to school. Through learning, I thought of building a labor practice base and establishing an ecological campus to cultivate children’s labor enthusiasm, self-care ability and sense of responsibility. "
Coincidentally, Chunhe Street Central Primary School, located in Hongta District, Yuxi City, a "granary in central Yunnan" and a "hometown of clouds and smog", also explores the construction of ecological campus and the setting of characteristic practical courses. This township primary school at the junction of urban and rural areas has mountains and waters, covers a large area and consists of 11 complete primary schools. They strive to create a campus culture with the theme of "Spring Fun", and combine the characteristics of each campus to create a harmonious and different "Spring Fun 1+X" course.
The picture shows "Baicaoxuan" Chinese Herbal Garden in Huangcaoba Primary School. Photo courtesy of Huangcaoba Primary School
Hao Yong, the principal of the school and the seventh student of the "10,000 Principals Training Program" in Yunnan Province, said, for example, the Central Primary School and Longchi Primary School are close to the local water sources Feijing Reservoir and Jiulongchi respectively, and the school starts from courses and activities to guide children to care for the environment and be ecological messengers; Boarding Huangcaoba Primary School is located in the depths of the mountains, with a high coverage rate of surrounding Chinese herbal medicines. The school has opened up a piece of land, built a "Baicaoxuan" Chinese herbal medicine garden, planted different kinds of Chinese herbal medicines, and offered Chinese herbal medicine planting courses to inherit and protect Chinese herbal medicine culture.
Bend down to see moral education, and know your hometown by loving the soil. Hao Yong said that the school pays equal attention to teaching and practice, and actively carries out natural ecological protection education, which is also a beautiful fruit of the "Ten Thousand Principals Training Program" project.
Based on a brand-new concept and model, from September 2018 to January 2024, the project selected 10,057 young and middle-aged principals, vice principals and principal reserve cadres, and conducted 130-day off-the-job training in batches, focusing on improving the principals’ educational ideas, school-running ideas and school-running ability.
"During the training, we listened to 40 famous lectures, read 20 professional classics, and learned many new educational concepts and teaching models." After participating in the "Ten Thousand Principals Training Program", Yang Jiawen lamented: If you don’t study, you will regress. I hope that new exploration will bring more possibilities to children’s growth. (Chen Xuelian)
