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The Dulangkou principal and teachers warmly welcomed RCEF to their school

Dulangkou Middle School is located in a rural township but is one of the most-visited schools in the world. Ten years ago, it was a failing school in grave danger of losing students. Facing possible closure, it embarked on an education reform effort to raise students’ test scores with a radical new way of teaching. Instead of a teacher lecturing and students learning by rote, the principal instituted new policies in which teachers could only lecture very little and the rest of class time was given to students’ learning in groups and teaching each other. Over the years, they refined their system into a clear process in which students take charge of much of their learning and the teacher acts more as a facilitator and monitor. Test scores improved dramatically, students exhibited great initiative and teamwork, and Dulangkou became a much-touted example of successful student-centered teaching reforms.

In February 2009, RCEF invited three teachers from Dulangkou Middle School to train the rural teachers at Guan Ai Primary School, our program site. They planned and taught lessons together using principles from the Dulangkou methods, adapted to the real situation of teaching Guan Ai’s primary school students. After the successful training, many Guan Ai teachers began to experiment with small group learning methods in their classrooms. However, some problems inevitably came up and the teachers hoped to go directly to Dulangkou Middle School to observe their teaching in action and talk in more depth with the Dulangkou teachers and students.

Three teacher representatives were chosen to go on the trip. Before leaving, they compiled questions that their colleagues wanted to ask the Dulangkou teachers about. At Dulangkou, they were able to meet one-on-one with teachers who taught the same subject as them, ask them questions, and discuss things they saw at the school. They also interviewed students and observed many classes, choosing freely which classes they went to. They came away with a much more solid grasp of how Dulangkou teachers teach and what methods are most applicable to their own situations at Guan Ai Primary School. The chance to see the teaching methods in action and talk to the students made a strong impression and did more to convince the Guan Ai teachers of the benefits of student-centered group learning than any books or theories could.

The RCEF staff members who joined the trip also learned more about the school management practices and how Dulangkou leaders spread their methods and philosophy to other educators and government officials. The visit served to strengthen the relationship between Dulangkou Middle School and RCEF and opened up doors for more collaboration in the future.