One evening at the end of May, we took our children to the kindergarten for the Spring Festival. A notice was posted on the small blackboard in the corridor of the side door of the kindergarten, asking parents to take their children home before four o'clock at the latest, so that the kindergarten teacher could have time to prepare for the evening celebration.
When I went to pick up the children that day, I asked the teacher curiously, "What are we going to do in Chunqing?" The teacher said, "The children will put on a play, and then there will be a simple graduation ceremony. I didn't know until now that the graduation ceremony is part of the Spring Festival, because the kindergarten calendar says "Spring Festival for the whole family" and there is no mention of "graduation ceremony" at all.
At half past five, we came to the kindergarten. Children come to play, and we come to the theatre. As soon as I entered the door, I was picked up by the teacher to prepare clothes. We sat in the audience of the kindergarten living room with other parents, waiting for the show to begin. Before the play started, there was a sound of excitement at the door, and a group of children hid behind the door, waiting to appear. Then, the children took their places, some played with chickens, some played with foxes and dogs, and a group of younger children, including my Lei, put on sheep ears and played with lambs.
They played the Easter story of Ukraine. The story is about a fox and a wolf, who kept asking the farm owner for animals to eat, and finally they turned against each other. The whole story was performed by these children aged three to six. The main animal characters in the plot are played by older children, interspersed with many chorus songs from time to time.
The lamb played by my family, Lei, bleated a few times as soon as it appeared. During the whole performance, the teacher didn't give any hints, so the children performed naturally. Some children waved excitedly to their parents while performing, and the distribution of lines and roles conformed to the natural performance of children of different ages.
After the drama performance, the "graduation ceremony" began.
In a kindergarten with 25 children, six children will graduate this year and they are invited to the front. The so-called "ceremony" means that the teacher tells the growth story of each child.
"Ai Lisha has always been helpful, energetic and full of sense of justice ... once, Ai Lisha heard a story about dinosaurs. She disappeared at once and ran into the back room. I wonder what she is doing. After a few minutes, she suddenly jumped out, dressed as a knight, holding a sword in her hand and shouting: dinosaur! I am not afraid of you, I am coming! " The teacher recalled this.
Everyone laughs at this childish reaction and imaginary role-playing game.
At the graduation ceremony, there were no teachers and no graduates to give speeches, only warm stories to share, memories of each child when he came to kindergarten, what kind of personality characteristics he had and what he had experienced in kindergarten.
After listening to their memories, the children came forward to hug each teacher who accompanied them to grow up, and received a bunch of flowers from the teacher, symbolizing the blessing of graduation. Finally, six graduates sang a song to bid farewell to the brothers and sisters sitting at the ceremony. My brothers and sisters also sang a song to say goodbye to them.
After the simple "ceremony", the teacher prepared cakes and biscuits on the dining table for parents and children to enjoy. The warm and lovely spring celebration and graduation ceremony ended with free communication, eating and drinking.
During the ceremony, my son, the youngest child in the garden, probably just lay on the ground because he was too tired. The teachers tolerated his sedentary nature at his age, didn't blame him until the right time, and then picked him up and sat next to him.
Let's see, the time for drama performance is about 20 minutes, and the time for "graduation ceremony" is also more than 20 minutes. Then, it's casual cake time.
This ceremony is really different from the "graduation ceremony" I imagined. In fact, I like this simple, warm and natural feeling very much, but I can't help but feel that this kind of ceremony is very different from "Li" and very simple. I don't know if it's because Finns are used to such a down-to-earth way of celebrating, or if the ceremony itself doesn't need special attention for them, just like many other things, such as "school gate".
I remember a reporter from Taiwan Province Province who was interviewed in Finland once stood in front of a primary school. The reporter asked me, "Where is the school gate? I pointed to an ordinary school building and a street sign and said, "This is the school gate!" " Everyone froze on the spot.
"This school is very ugly. Is there a better school gate? " The reporter asked and I smiled. "I think most schools in Finland are like this! 」
I can understand that the imaginary "school gate" should at least have a "facade" with the name of the school written on it. However, in Finland, the gate of almost every school is so "invisible", at most it is a road sign or a few lines on the external wall. My son's kindergarten only has road signs. From the outside, it actually looks like a private house.
Is it because, for Finns, "appearance" is not as important as "lining"? So the school doesn't need obvious school gates, graduation ceremonies and special packaging, and everything is "the same"?
Although the ceremony itself may not be specially "packaged", a careful observation of the details of the kindergarten's living environment will reveal that there is "beauty" everywhere, and every corner is decorated with innocence and tenderness belonging to childhood.
Looking at it from another angle, taking the graduation ceremony as an example, it may not be said that they don't pay attention to "facade", but their practice is different from what I originally imagined.
Accustomed to the idea of "graduation ceremony". Maybe this is more formal. I will make special arrangements for the ceremony. However, the graduation ceremony here, after simply sharing memories and cherishing farewell, is to let the children and their parents * * * enjoy the sandwich cake representing "completion" and "perfection". Finns always prepare such cakes on special days. This should be another "facade" and "celebration", right?
To celebrate, the whole family completed this stage together, not only for the graduates, but also for every child who is still in school. Now I understand, it is no wonder that on this day, the kindergarten calendar is not a "graduation ceremony", but a "spring celebration for the whole family".
Different ways of doing things and presenting them vaguely reveal different ideological and cultural styles.
Children in Finnish kindergartens don't have school uniforms. On the anniversary day, the children dressed casually, and so did the graduates. You'd better dress up to suit yourself. It's okay not to dress up. Anyway, graduation, the end of a school year, is your own milestone.
It seems that there is no dazzling spark, but it is plain and natural, respecting personal choice and freedom.
In such simplicity, I saw some touching moments: it was the innocent and unpretentious performance of children, the memories and stories told by teachers to each child, the tolerance of children's different natures, and the happy smile of my children from beginning to end.
The focus of graduation is to present each child's unique story. This makes me see the values of putting people first and respecting every child.
After thinking so much, I feel that the form of graduation ceremony itself is really not that important. A small ordinary graduation ceremony just gave me an opportunity to think about cultural differences and let me experience the "true taste of education" again.
The "facade" can be adapted to local conditions, but the "lining" must be done well. Is education like this? Forms can be different, and people-oriented spirit should be implemented. No matter what your faith is, it is right to do it from your daily life.
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"This article is the author's view on cooperative innovation, not his position."