“Sport is not only about shaping the body, but also about shaping the mind, which will benefit you all your life”. Li Yan, head coach of China’s Short Track Speed Skating team, talked about the changes her sports career has brought to her. Children and parents listened carefully and immersed themselves in the wonderful story.

Recently, an education growth public welfare program “Great Master” class jointly launched by China Children and Teenagers’ Fund (CCTF), TAL Foundation and other nonprofit organizations landed on Guangdong TV. The program is mainly aimed at children and teenagers of 6-18 years old and their parents, and teachers are coming from eight fields including logic, space, language, language, music, interpersonal relationship, introspection and nature. Through the links such as master study, master class and master lecture, the program aims to popularize professional knowledge to children and parents, share life experience and answer questions at the same time.

Education should help children to find their true selves

In the latest program, wildlife photographer Xi Zhinong was invited to the “Great Master” class to popularize the interesting knowledge of wildlife and tell about the importance of nature to children’s growth. For 30 years, he insisted on protecting nature with image. Through those photos, he spoke emotionally about the warmth and cruelty of nature, and told parents that “Let children have emotional connection with nature in their childhood, and they will become strong forces of nature protection in the future”.

Renowned wildlife photographer Xi Zhinong recommended books to parents and children

Different from the regular classroom programs, the guests of the “Great Master” class not only shared their own experiences, but also conduct on-site interactive teaching with students and audience, and answer parents’ confusion on how to choose their children’s interests and what questions they are good at. After Lu Siqing’s telling of “Music can Speak” in the second phase, parents poured out their questions, such as “How long will it take to learn to play the violin not like a saw”, “What to do when you learn a folk instrument and are laughed at by people around you”... From his own experience, Lu Siqing told parents that “Children’s interest is the key, parents’ encouragement and guidance are also important, to learn the music instrument well, you must be patient. There is no secret to success other than keep doing it”. 

Violinist Lu Siqing performed “Liang Zhu”

The eight intelligent dimensions theory foundation constructs the scientific growth view

As an education program, “Great Master” class hopes it is an interesting and intentional program without “routine”, from program arrangement to guest invitation, as well as from content creation to presentation form.

As a deep participant of the program, “Great Master” took the theory of “Multiple Intelligence” put forward by author Howard Gardner, a psychologist at Harvard University, as the basis of his creation. The eight intelligent dimensions of language, logic, space, movement, human, introspection and nature, are set as the theme of each program, and the masters of the eight intelligent fields are invited to teach children.

In addition to the movement, music and nature fields taught by Li Yan, Lu Siqing and Xi Zhinong, some masters in other fields also taught for children in “Great Master” classes. 

Professor Chu Zhaohui from China Academy of Education Science, said that the space for children’s diversified growth is infinite, the change of education will occur eventually, and there is no single standard for knowledge learning. Based on the theory of “Multiple Intelligence”, the “Great Master” class meets the growth needs of contemporary children. It is a profound insight into the current situation of education in society and can provide a good solution for family education.

Lu Qin, executive director of the Education Society of Chinese Families, said that intelligent parents should respect children’s nature, be good at guiding and cultivating, better discover children’s advantages, tap their potentials, and help each child live happily and meaningfully.

Children from rural areas can also learn from “Great Master”

The education growth public welfare program “Great Master” class was jointly launched by CCTF, TAL Foundation and other nonprofit organizations. The program is mainly aimed at children and teenagers of 6-18 years old and their parents, passing on scientific education for parents, and teaching children to establish a healthy growth concepts and values.

With the innovation of technology to education, it has been able to embrace a more essential and personalized culture model, according to the person in charge. In the process of transformation and upgrading, Chinese parents have an increasingly strong demand for high-quality education resources, while “score increasing” is far from their only demand, and the weight of children’s comprehensive ability improvement has been increasing. The “Great Master” class invites masters from various industries to the studio. It aims to make these masters become the guides for the growth of children and improve the concept of education of parents. “It’s almost impossible to have an immediate effect, but through our efforts, education will eventually return to reason”.

In addition to being broadcast on Guangdong TV, the program has also been launched on the Himalayan platform and Hope for Future Online, so that more children in rural areas can also learn from masters.