Inspired mother pioneers freestyle education
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Students play between classes (top) and learn martial arts at Ririxin School.[Photo By Jiang Dong/China Daily] |
Zhang's mission is to help make children become what they want to be instead of modeling them into a same person. She and her husband, Wang Xiaofeng, have tried their best to reach the target for years.
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Zhang's oldest daughter received a traditional education. As a teacher, Zhang hated the way traditional schools educated students and said they imposed ideas on them and killed their creativity.
When Zhang's second daughter was born in 2001, the idea of teaching her at home struck her and she read up about home schooling. At the time, Zheng Yuanjie, a well-known fairy tale writer, had started teaching his son at home.
In 2006, Zhang and her husband rented a three-room apartment in Beijing's suburbs. Three other families joined them but the parents had their doubts and put their children in for a few months before leaving the small school, called Ririxin. Despite this Zhang did not give up.
By 2009, 26 pupils were enrolled in the kindergarten and Ririxin moved to a 3,000 square meter complex. The school began to gain a good reputation among parents and attracted more children.
Ririxin now has two campuses: one for kindergarten and the other for primary school, and boasts 260 students. To some extent, the school grew up with Zhang's second daughter. Zhang opened a grade with only three students, including her younger daughter, to start a middle school.
Zhang says compared to her oldest daughter, who received traditional education, her second daughter knows who she is and what she wants, is more confident and has a passion for art.
"A better education enables a person to be a more complete one, rich in emotion and creativity," Zhang says.
