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A teacher with a golden touch inspires the young to do their best
By Lu Xiaofeng and Xu Wei |
September 27, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN early September, the newly built Jiading New Town Middle School opened its doors to its first students. The school is not only a tribute to the modern tools of education but also to the school's president -"coach of gold medalists" Zhang Datong.
From 1991 to 2004, nine of Zhang's students won eight gold medals and one silver medal in the International Physics Olympiad.
Zhang's career is legendary, starting from humble origins as a farm worker and progressing to a career teaching physics. His credo: "No matter what you do, do your best."
A "farmer scientist"
In 1966, Zhang, then a senior high school student, didn't expect the college entrance examination to be canceled right after he had filled out his application forms. Two years later, Zhang was assigned to work on a farm on Chongming Island.
During his stay on the farm, Zhang often read newspapers and magazines. One day he was impressed by an academic article in which a Fudan University teacher introduced a newly invented pesticide. Zhang's eyes were caught by the news and thought that the pesticide could be beneficial to his farm.
Jumping on his bicycle, Zhang hurried to the pesticide's experimental base located near Malu Town in the Jiading District. When he arrived, he was told the teacher was away on summer break.
Zhang didn't give up. He located the teacher's home and paid a visit. His sincerity moved the teacher, who gave him as much detailed information about the new pesticide as he could.
Zhang then went back to explain its use to the leaders of the farm where he worked. They allocated him a small fund for research and development. To save money, Zhang collected some used water bottles from the infirmaries as experimental vessels. After countless trials, Zhang succeeded in producing the first batch of pesticide for his farm.
Afterwards, the farm spent more than 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) to build workshops to mass produce the product.
Take up teaching jobs
After four-and-a-half years on the farm, Zhang's life hit a turning point. China lacked teachers, so the education authorities select brighter high school graduates to take up teaching jobs after special training.
Zhang's first choice was to become a biology teacher, but that position was occupied. Considering his height, his strong physique and his experience playing on a basketball team on the farm, Zhang was persuaded to become a physical education teacher.
"It seems that I was destined to teach," Zhang recalls. "When I was in the farm, I liked to watch children in classrooms. Teaching is close to my heart."
As a PE teacher at the Second High School attached to East China Normal University, Zhang was engaged in building the school's volleyball team, which distinguished itself in many competitions. He was also working on more scientific teaching methods.
During a shot-put class, Zhang was explaining the physics principles that underlay the sport. After that class, four students came to him and asked them to teach them physics. Zhang agreed without hesitance. The four students achieved high physics scores later in their college entrance examination. It occurred to Zhang that maybe he was in the wrong curriculum.
The glorious road to medals
At that time, there were few physics teachers, so the school approved Zhang's application to become one because of his solid footing in the science. However, he had not majored in physics, so he took it upon himself to learn while teaching.
Zhang noticed that many students in his class were extremely interested in physics. He gathered them together and encouraged them to do more science experimentation.
"We did that out of interest," Zhang says. "Although the International Physics Olympiad was already in existence since the early 1970s, it was not until 1987, when Chinese students participated for the first time, that I first heard of it."
In 1991, one of Zhang's student won a gold medal for the first time. Then there was no turning back. The gold medals kept coming.
In the competition, from qualifying rounds to the final contest, a student needs to distinguish himself from among more than 100,000 contestants.
There are five rounds of competition in China, before a winning contestant gets the right to represent the country in the international contest.
Then his or her skills are pitted against the best students from other countries around the world. It's a grueling competition.
Looking back on those days, Zhang said the experience was exhausting but rewarding. He remembered that once there was an experiment that needed to be done at night. So he and his students had to start the experiment at 9pm and stay up until it was completed at 2am.
"We rode bicycles, carrying photos of experiment results that were still wet," Zhang says. "We talked and sang songs. We were so happy even though we were almost exhausted. We really love physics."
Today, the 62-year-old Zhang faces a new challenge in his life. Gold medals may be a thing of the past, but as president of the Jiading New Town Middle School, his new goal is to inspire students and teachers and create the best possible educational facility.
He says teachers are usually the happiest people in the world because the fruits of their work are passed on to new generations.
From 1991 to 2004, nine of Zhang's students won eight gold medals and one silver medal in the International Physics Olympiad.
Zhang's career is legendary, starting from humble origins as a farm worker and progressing to a career teaching physics. His credo: "No matter what you do, do your best."
A "farmer scientist"
In 1966, Zhang, then a senior high school student, didn't expect the college entrance examination to be canceled right after he had filled out his application forms. Two years later, Zhang was assigned to work on a farm on Chongming Island.
During his stay on the farm, Zhang often read newspapers and magazines. One day he was impressed by an academic article in which a Fudan University teacher introduced a newly invented pesticide. Zhang's eyes were caught by the news and thought that the pesticide could be beneficial to his farm.
Jumping on his bicycle, Zhang hurried to the pesticide's experimental base located near Malu Town in the Jiading District. When he arrived, he was told the teacher was away on summer break.
Zhang didn't give up. He located the teacher's home and paid a visit. His sincerity moved the teacher, who gave him as much detailed information about the new pesticide as he could.
Zhang then went back to explain its use to the leaders of the farm where he worked. They allocated him a small fund for research and development. To save money, Zhang collected some used water bottles from the infirmaries as experimental vessels. After countless trials, Zhang succeeded in producing the first batch of pesticide for his farm.
Afterwards, the farm spent more than 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) to build workshops to mass produce the product.
Take up teaching jobs
After four-and-a-half years on the farm, Zhang's life hit a turning point. China lacked teachers, so the education authorities select brighter high school graduates to take up teaching jobs after special training.
Zhang's first choice was to become a biology teacher, but that position was occupied. Considering his height, his strong physique and his experience playing on a basketball team on the farm, Zhang was persuaded to become a physical education teacher.
"It seems that I was destined to teach," Zhang recalls. "When I was in the farm, I liked to watch children in classrooms. Teaching is close to my heart."
As a PE teacher at the Second High School attached to East China Normal University, Zhang was engaged in building the school's volleyball team, which distinguished itself in many competitions. He was also working on more scientific teaching methods.
During a shot-put class, Zhang was explaining the physics principles that underlay the sport. After that class, four students came to him and asked them to teach them physics. Zhang agreed without hesitance. The four students achieved high physics scores later in their college entrance examination. It occurred to Zhang that maybe he was in the wrong curriculum.
The glorious road to medals
At that time, there were few physics teachers, so the school approved Zhang's application to become one because of his solid footing in the science. However, he had not majored in physics, so he took it upon himself to learn while teaching.
Zhang noticed that many students in his class were extremely interested in physics. He gathered them together and encouraged them to do more science experimentation.
"We did that out of interest," Zhang says. "Although the International Physics Olympiad was already in existence since the early 1970s, it was not until 1987, when Chinese students participated for the first time, that I first heard of it."
In 1991, one of Zhang's student won a gold medal for the first time. Then there was no turning back. The gold medals kept coming.
In the competition, from qualifying rounds to the final contest, a student needs to distinguish himself from among more than 100,000 contestants.
There are five rounds of competition in China, before a winning contestant gets the right to represent the country in the international contest.
Then his or her skills are pitted against the best students from other countries around the world. It's a grueling competition.
Looking back on those days, Zhang said the experience was exhausting but rewarding. He remembered that once there was an experiment that needed to be done at night. So he and his students had to start the experiment at 9pm and stay up until it was completed at 2am.
"We rode bicycles, carrying photos of experiment results that were still wet," Zhang says. "We talked and sang songs. We were so happy even though we were almost exhausted. We really love physics."
Today, the 62-year-old Zhang faces a new challenge in his life. Gold medals may be a thing of the past, but as president of the Jiading New Town Middle School, his new goal is to inspire students and teachers and create the best possible educational facility.
He says teachers are usually the happiest people in the world because the fruits of their work are passed on to new generations.
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