China Documentary Film: Why to teach | 中国纪录片《为何而教》

The documentary “Why to Teach” focuses on a group of voluntary teachers in rural areas. In order to endow rural children with educational resources of equal quality as their urban counterparts, protagonist Zhang Xinjie forsake his study plan at a renowned university and chose to teach in Manwan Town Middle School, Yunnan Province. The film recorded the experience of Zhang Xinjie and his graduating class during their last year of High School Entrance Examination. Zhang was faced with how to increase the rural rate of high school access, followed by a series of challenges: students’ lack of learning motivation, parents’ lack of educational awareness and consequent support, and internal conflicts among voluntary teachers. Facing these challenges, Zhang and his voluntary teaching team adjusted pedagogies, visited students’ families, and supported each student to find his/her motivation to learn.
During High School Entrance Examination, all the 39 students in Zhang Xinjie’s class were admitted to high schools; so were 16 out of the 25 in the ” Metamorphosis Class”. The same year also witnessed his own admission to Vanderbilt University Graduate School of Education in the United States. Zhang’s faith and action has illuminated his children and himself.

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