At first the books came individually, and then there was a flood of them. After Tim Worm (SFS ’10) posted a message on RenRen, China’s equivalent of Facebook, pleading for help in procuring English-to-Chinese dictionaries for his class of more than 50 students in rural China, the result was a deluge of packages and messages.
“I got a bunch of friend requests, with everyone saying ‘Thank you so much for helping us out,’” he said.
While he and his fellow teachers at the middle school were amazed at the kindness and generosity of strangers, the feeling was very much mutual. Worm’s new RenRen friends appreciated graduates from top-flight institutions in China and America who were spending two years of their professional lives at rural schools in the Teach for China program.
To say that China has an educational equity gap does not do justice to the severity of the situation. Even as the country turns away from the growth-at-all costs model to one of “inclusive growth,” almost 190 million rural children will be deprived the quality of education available to their counterparts in coastal cities. In the two provinces in which Teach for China currently operates, only 1.7 percent of students will go on to achieve any sort of higher education.
Recognizing the need for quality instructors in the system, the central and provincial governments have engaged NGOs like Teach for China, a three-year old Beijing-based organization independently affiliated with Teach for America through the global Teach for All network. The vision of its founders, Andrea Pasinetti and Rachel Wasser, is to address educational inequality in China by enlisting the most promising future leaders in both countries in the effort. By working in cross-cultural teams in China’s most under-resourced schools, Teach for China fellows are creating a new model for U.S.-China relations.
Last year, Teach for China’s first year of operation at Georgetown, students answered the call in an unprecedented manner. Seven recent graduates were accepted into the new class of fellows—the largest group out of the 25 U.S. schools where Teach for China recruits.
They face a daunting task: the fellows teach English to classes of 50-60 students in rural middle schools, with the kids walking up to six hours on Sundays from nearby farming communities to come to school, where they stay from Monday through Friday. According to Andrew Coflan (COL ’11), some children only have one set of clothes for the entire week, and often sleep two to a bunk bed. “They don’t usually have any real possessions,” he said.
The reality of the situation has forced these former Georgetown students to make the rapid transition from self-focused high-achievers to being responsible for many other lives.
“Being here made me realize that because these kids basically live at school, teachers have to be more than teachers—they have to step into a kind of parental role, and that’s very new for me,” Caitlin Moss (COL ’11) said.
But there is support, and it comes in different ways. New fellows have access to intensive Chinese and cultural training, both before and during their fellowship, with second-year fellows at their school and area program managers assigned to them to be mentors to focus on their development as teachers. Each fellow is also part of a larger team, working closely with other fellows, local teachers, community leaders, and parents.
The fellows were attracted by the once-in-a-career chance to transform the lives of students, communities, a country, international affairs, and in turn themselves.
“When I was looking at other opportunities abroad, I thought ‘It’s two years … it’s too rural … I can’t do it.’ But when I compared it to other programs, Teach for China was really the only one where my efforts on a daily basis could help someone,” Moss said.
That effort is now being amplified throughout her adopted community; a group of local teachers recently observed her class, eager to adapt the methods of the young Americans who are introducing new ways of learning in their sleepy rural enclave in Southeast China.
The challenges the Teach for China fellows face are great. They must address the vast educational gap in the country and help countless kids become proficient in English, not mention overcome the challenges of transplanting into a new environment. But they’re not just ready for it—they’re excited.
“You can’t spend two years here and not believe in what you’re doing and not having that change you,” Coflan said. “I’m thankful every day for the opportunities I have here, even the challenges—especially the challenges.”
Good p.r. Caitlin!