No longer a 'furnace'?

"Gratitude is the thread that connects love, we should do good without expecting anything in return", "Like and dream of doing good, because the wind will blow in whichever direction the door opens", "I want to "order" you all one thing, you can do any job in the future, but remember to put the word "good" behind it"... Those are the teachings in the first ethics class at an after-school tutoring center taught by Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, a civics teacher at Colette Secondary School (HCMC).

Ms. Le Thanh Ngan (standing row, right) and her students conduct an experiment on the sound wave lesson in natural science during an extra class.

ETHICAL TRAINING AND CAREER ORIENTATION

According to students, Mr. Tuan Anh's lessons left both an impression and an emotion, because he always illustrated the story with images and TikTok videos capturing real moments in life. Some students could not hold back their tears after watching the video clip about the pressure their parents had to "bear" on their backs. "After letting the students write their final report, some pages were blurred with tears," the teacher shared.

Teaching only one session per class at the center, the male teacher said he always chooses "keywords" suitable for each age group, such as gratitude, "good" jobs for high school students, or compassion and love of Ho Chi Minh City for middle school students. According to Mr. Tuan Anh, ethics is closely linked to the breath of life, so teachers can update and select content on social networks like TikTok to include in the lesson, as long as it is suitable for the curriculum framework.

"In many mainstream classes, teachers are teaching more about letters than about how to be a good person. Therefore, I am very happy to be invited by the center to help foster ethics in students," said Mr. Tuan Anh.

In addition to moral training, career orientation for students is also a factor that centers focus on. Mr. Ho Van Nhat Truong, a biology teacher at the Practice High School (Ho Chi Minh City University of Education), said that in the process of tutoring, he always integrates career stories related to the lesson knowledge, for example, the content and activities mentioned in this lesson are for which profession.

In addition, from grade 8, students also begin to be oriented to their favorite subjects, thereby quickly "locking in" the appropriate combination as soon as they enter grade 10. "In addition to nurturing scientific abilities, the center also helps students develop their emotions and souls," Mr. Truong added.

First ethics lesson with Mr. Tran Tuan Anh at a tutoring center in Ho Chi Minh City

T DO EXPERIMENTS, PLAY GAMES TO LEARN

With a variety of activities besides teaching knowledge, it can be seen that the centers are gradually "transforming" their image.

Mr. Le Minh Xuan Nhi, Director of the NP Knowledge Cultural Training Center, said that in recent times, the center has no longer developed in the direction of a "training furnace", but has built more experiential activities than before for students.

"We prepare all the tools and chemicals to conduct experiments in chemistry, let students measure volume and weight in physics, or make kimchi, yogurt, and plant trees in biology to apply knowledge to real life. Extra classes today are not just about copying questions on the board and then the whole class solving them, but must create excitement and develop skills. We believe that when learning is fun, students will remember knowledge longer," Mr. Nhi explained.

Illustrating the reality, Ms. Le Thanh Ngan, a natural science teacher currently teaching at the center, said that she conducts experiments at the beginning of class to arouse curiosity, or at the end of class to consolidate knowledge. "For example, in the acid lesson, I instruct students to make medicine to treat stomach pain, which means neutralizing acid. And learning through experiments like the above helps students have more fun than just reading lessons in books, as well as practicing thinking," the female teacher said.

In addition to doing experiments, she also lets students play games or role-play as teachers to teach. "In the future, in biodiversity lessons, I also want to take students to the Zoo to see it in person instead of just learning theory," Ms. Ngan shared.

Creating conditions for practice in addition to teaching theory is also a way to help students absorb lessons more easily, applied by Mr. Dang Duy Hung, Director of Professional Studies at Lasan Education. Specifically, the male teacher coordinates with the specialized unit of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) to bring practical illustrative models into the lesson. In addition, natural science teachers at the center also conduct experiments in class and update the latest examples related to reality to convey to students.

Ms. Le Ba Anh Thu, founder and manager of Viet Anh Thu Academy, frankly admitted that when she first started, she also operated in the "classic" form of continuously distributing and solving questions. But gradually, she realized that this form was only suitable for students who were already good at studying, and for those who did not like to study, this "only made things worse". "From then on, I realized that I could not continue teaching in the old one-way way, where the teacher wrote on the board and the students copied it down", Ms. Thu confided.

According to Ms. Thu, technology has created conditions for teachers to design two-way interactive lessons. Therefore, in the past 2-3 years, she has applied a variety of tools to help students participate more in the lesson. "For example, instead of giving a list of 100 English words and forcing them to memorize them like before, I now use game software like Kahoot, Quizlet... so that students can play and learn at the same time. At home, I also rarely give paper homework but give games for students to play and complete," Ms. Thu shared.

Students are excited about extra classes with practice and experiments.

IS THE GOAL OF EXTRA LEARNING DIFFERENT FROM BEFORE?

Currently taking extra math and literature classes, Huynh Pham Nhu Van, class 10A14 at Le Quy Don High School (HCMC), admitted that the extra classes now are "so different from the past". "Teachers at the center care not only about our studies but also about our mental health. Teachers also respect our students' abilities, guide us in life skills and often visit us after class to give advice and encouragement, instead of just teaching theory and assigning homework like before," the female student explained.

Decrease in the number of students taking extra classes in high school

According to Mr. Dang Duy Hung, the current demand for extra classes is still high but is only concentrated in centers that are well updated with new exam trends, most notably in middle school with natural science and math subjects that integrate many practical application exercises. "In particular, for high school students, because the new program determines the combination from the beginning, the demand for extra classes in non-compulsory subjects is divided, leading to a decrease in the number of students," Mr. Hung commented.

Similarly, teacher Le Minh Xuan Nhi also assessed that the total number of high school students who need to take extra classes in physics, chemistry, and biology has decreased significantly, mainly concentrated in the group with average learning ability.

According to Van, the main reason she chose to take extra classes over the years was to understand the lessons in advance, as well as to improve her grades in high school. However, being able to learn more through a variety of exercises, outlines and the opportunity to interact with excellent students from other schools to further develop herself are also the goals that the female student aims for when choosing to take extra classes in the new program.

Thus, although the goal of the new program is to help students develop comprehensively, especially personal capacity, currently, scores and entrance exams are still the top concerns of students and parents. This reality comes from the fact that students do not have enough time to do homework in regular classes because of the increased amount of knowledge, and schools have not yet unified the teaching and testing methods, according to Mr. Dang Duy Hung.

An extra English class in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City

"The way to evaluate students' abilities in Vietnam is still largely based on a scale of scores. Therefore, it is understandable that students take extra classes to improve their scores, thereby increasing their chances of being admitted to university based on their transcripts and exam scores," said Mr. Hung.

However, unlike HS, the centers have been changing their goals, not just aiming at reviewing as before. "Our point of view is to teach you how to think and solve problems, that is, to apply existing data to find an effective "path". The purpose of learning, after all, is not to solve a problem but to help you know how to solve difficulties when you grow up," Ms. Le Ba Anh Thu affirmed.

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