I took this from the website for Stepping Stones, a charity that organizes volunteer teachers for these migrant schools. The website gives a much better explanation than I could.
If you want to read more, Stepping Stones' address is http://steppingstoneschina.net/?page_id=1258
I saw a Stepping Stones brochure the first week I arrived in Shanghai. From that moment on, I knew it was just a matter of time before I was in a classroom again. It didn't take long.
Yours truly collecting their self-made name cards after the 35-minute class. I know! Nowhere near enough time! Talk about herding cats! You can see my two fellow Mandarin-speaking teachers, one with her finger up, the other in the doorway. Thank goodness I had them with me!
With rapid economic growth and social change in China, the migrant or floating population has increased rapidly over the last few years. Official estimates put Shanghai’s migrant worker population at 5 million. Leaving their hometown in rural areas, most of these migrants take low-ranking jobs and have little access to urban resources such as information, medical care and welfare services.
The children of migrant workers move with their parents to become temporary residents in urban cities like Shanghai. Due to their families’ low economic and social status, living conditions can be extremely low. Lack of integration with the local population also leads to prejudice and discrimination.
According to government statistics, there are almost 400,000 migrant children of school age (1st grade primary to 3rd grade middle school) living in Shanghai. A large proportion of these children attend regular Shanghai schools. However, for several reasons, including residence registration issues and lower educational standards, many migrant children cannot be admitted to normal Chinese schools, and around 40% of these migrant children go to school in one of the 200+ small private schools for migrant children which have sprung up, mostly in the suburbs of Shanghai, to provide a basic education for these children.
These schools were all illegal at the outset, as there was no legal way to establish such a school. Many of these schools were in over-crowded, sub-standard buildings with poor facilities – typically dilapidated desks and chairs in over-crowded classrooms with bad lighting. Their short history has been unstable – some of them have moved many times and others have been closed. Many schools still lack the facilities which are taken for granted in normal Shanghai schools, such as computers, projectors, sports equipment, etc.
The objective of Stepping Stones is to assist students in migrant schools in Shanghai to gain interest and confidence in their English language abilities and to help them pass their middle school entrance examinations.
Thank you for reading that. Really. It means a lot.
Teaching didn't take up the entire day, but it was definitely the highlight. I had committed before Susan arrived to volunteer teach ESL (English as a Second Language) at Tang Si Elementary School. Susan gamely offered to come along and assist. Not everyone gets to do that when they visit Shanghai! I was so glad she came, as we had our hands full, as you can see.
This is Susan, trying to stand out amongst our class of 55, yes 55, Grade 3 students.
Like the red scarves? All Chinese students wear them. It shows that they are members of the Young Pioneers of China, which in turn is run by the Communist Youth League. Check it out on Wikipedia, if you like.
Like the red scarves? All Chinese students wear them. It shows that they are members of the Young Pioneers of China, which in turn is run by the Communist Youth League. Check it out on Wikipedia, if you like.
Can you see me?
Can you see me now?
We had the students select their own English name to write on a tri-fold paper name card. I wanted to let them choose their own identity. I drew up a list of the classics, trying to avoid names with "ls" and "rs" e.g. Fred or Carrie. Maybe you see your name on the board. I did use friends and family as inspiration.
As is typical, some students got the idea right away, some were still struggling with the task of folding the paper. A friend jokingly suggested I should have given them the choice of preppy names. Just what China needs, another Buffy. Still, it would've been funny to see their native English teachers' reactions years down the road...
As is typical, some students got the idea right away, some were still struggling with the task of folding the paper. A friend jokingly suggested I should have given them the choice of preppy names. Just what China needs, another Buffy. Still, it would've been funny to see their native English teachers' reactions years down the road...
T: What's your name, young man?
S: Chip Wang.
T: And you, young lady?
S: Bootsy Xu.
T: Riiight, at least no one's called Lincoln or Seven.
S: Chip Wang.
T: And you, young lady?
S: Bootsy Xu.
T: Riiight, at least no one's called Lincoln or Seven.
Yours truly collecting their self-made name cards after the 35-minute class. I know! Nowhere near enough time! Talk about herding cats! You can see my two fellow Mandarin-speaking teachers, one with her finger up, the other in the doorway. Thank goodness I had them with me!
One little girl stands out already. This is her name card.
I can hardly wait to go back. Once a week is not going to be enough.
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