"Extra-curricular books" pay attention to: how to "read good books" in compulsory education?

  Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 23rd Title: "extra-curricular books" are particular: how to "read good books" in compulsory education?

  Xinhua news agency reporter

  April 23rd is the 28th World Reading Day. The reporter found in interviews in many places that in recent years, especially after the "double reduction", primary and secondary schools have spent more time and more forms in carrying out various reading activities. However, with the "younger age", some teachers and parents also have some concerns about extracurricular reading.

  School reading activities are increasingly rich.

  On March 27th, eight departments, including the Ministry of Education, issued the Implementation Plan of National Youth Students’ Reading Action, proposing that compulsory education schools should incorporate reading action into the "double reduction" work, strictly control the total amount of written homework, create space for students to read, and offer reading activities in after-school services.

  Reading is entering some after-school services in primary and secondary schools. In Songhua River Primary School in Harbin, reading areas have been set up in free corners such as corridors and halls, and each class has set up class book corners and added bookcases to create a strong reading atmosphere.

  "The school has specially set up a reading course, forming a reading course from ‘ Single article ’ To ‘ Whole book ’ , and then to ‘ One kind ’ The curriculum system. " Ma Yongxin, the headmaster of Songhua River Primary School, said that all classes used Friday after-school service hours to set up a sharing stage to let students actively participate in various reading activities, including "I speak for the book", "I walk from the book" and "connect with writers" to stimulate students’ reading interest.

  The reading service system covering all academic periods has been gradually improved. In 2022, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education issued the Guide to the Construction and Management of Reading Space in Primary and Secondary Schools in Guangdong Province, which clearly defined the area and opening hours of primary and secondary school libraries, and proposed that primary and secondary schools should innovate the use of various resources and cultivate reading activity brands with a sense of the times and school characteristics.

  The reporter saw in Junwei Primary School, Huadu District, Guangzhou, that there is a district library borrowing terminal in the school library, and students can share the resources of the district library on campus. As a Red Army primary school with a red history, the school is characterized by "red education" and has specially opened a "red reading" area in the library.

  Yang Xiuhong, the headmaster of Junwei Primary School in Huadu District, Guangzhou, is leading the students in "Red Reading". (photo by Huang Xiaoyu)

  Various reading activities are constantly emerging. A central primary school in Luwan, Huangpu District, Shanghai has been holding World Reading Day for many years. This year, the theme is "Wandering in the Woods and Reading Tang Poetry". Through various forms of reading activities, students’ interest and perception of Chinese excellent traditional culture are enhanced. “‘ Double subtraction ’ Since then, the number of books borrowed from school libraries has continued to rise, and with the enrichment of reading activities, students’ interest in reading has also expanded, and the categories of books they read have become more balanced. " Wu Xiaofei, a Chinese teacher at the school, said.

  "Extra-curricular books" are particular.

  Although the school reading activities are increasingly rich, in the interview, the reporter also felt the concern of some teachers and parents.

  "Extracurricular reading should be outside the classroom ‘ Supplement ’ However, with the development of information technology, online reading has become an important channel, ‘ Supplement ’ Into a handful of ‘ Double-edged sword ’ . Extracurricular reading itself has the problem of mixed writing, and now with online reading, this problem is more prominent. " Wu Xiaofei said that there are many short essays or "reading a book in one minute" on the Internet, especially on short video platforms. If you get used to this fast-food reading, it may dispel children’s interest and concentration in immersion reading and deep reading.

  A fifth-grade primary school teacher in Beijing told reporters that some students in the class were actually reading the "Redemption of Overbearing President" on the Internet when they were writing their reflections. "At that time, my comment was that I suggested reading more famous articles. Nowadays, children are more likely to get in touch with the Internet and some romance novel websites, and there will be three or five children in the class ‘ Small group ’ Like to watch. At the same time, students’ reading on literary masterpieces is uneven. In a quiz about Four Great Classical Novels some time ago, many students only knew what was said in class, and once they involved extracurricular knowledge, they could not answer it. " The teacher said.

  Some teachers and parents are worried that their children will be impacted by some bad content in online novels before the three views are finalized. Ms. Zhang, a parent of a junior two student in Shanghai, said that some writers not only wrote about campus romances, but also wrote about campus pranks and school bullying in order to attract teenagers’ attention. "For children who are in adolescence, I am worried that these contents will make them feel very interesting and even want to imitate."

  Some primary school students become reading groups of "beauty-obsessed" novels. A fifth-grade teacher in Beijing told reporters that there are children in the class discussing the content of "beauty-seeking" novels in the circle of WeChat friends. The reporter searched on various social platforms and found that at present, "primary school students look at ‘ Long for beauty ’ " There have been many discussions on the Internet, including concerns about the three views of pornographic description and incorrect transmission in some "beauty-obsessed" novels.

  "Today’s online literature often combines suspense, science fiction and emotion. Students will inevitably come into contact with or be attracted by such books on the Internet, and do a good job in selecting and guiding extracurricular reading materials. Schools and parents should guide children to contact books with three views, good temperature, excellent writing style and relaxed and interesting content. The most important thing is to guide children to learn to read with critical thinking and consciousness, absorb the essence and discard the dross, so that children can resist the temptation of external risks. Ability and quality. " Ma Yongxin said.

  Home-school cooperation helps children "read good books"

  According to a survey released by Shanghai Education Association in 2021 in conjunction with universities and third-party scientific and technological teams, 12% of Shanghai primary and middle school students read almost every day, and 6% of them read for more than one hour every day.

  A person in charge who participated in the survey said that the team research found that the bad reading materials and contents on online reading and short video platforms and from the media are more attractive to young people. It is suggested that relevant departments can further strengthen the training of teachers and school librarians, so that they can better guide and assist teenagers in reading, and professional social forces can also play a role in it and participate in a series of work such as courseware making.

  Wu Xiaoyun, a professor at Beijing Normal University, believes that the distinctive features of online reading are shallow reading and fragmentary reading, but students in the mental growth period, especially primary school students and junior high school students, still have to focus on paper books. This is not entirely a habit problem, but also involves the development of basic academic abilities such as reading, writing and arithmetic. Schools and families should encourage more paper reading and deep reading. It is suggested that by improving the book review and publication, as well as a series of mechanisms such as high-quality books entering the campus and bookstores, the books that children can access are as good as possible, and the influence of bad content on children is isolated.

  "Teachers should play a guiding role and work with parents to protect a good environment that helps children read. For parents, many parents may not have read some famous books recommended by the school. If you can read them with your children instead of spending a lot of time on short videos, it will not only encourage children, but also improve parents themselves. " Wu Xiaofei suggested that relevant departments can launch a guiding platform and micro-courses for parent-child reading to provide parents with effective methods for parent-child reading.

  In the era of digital reading, e-books and electronic paper books have become one of the reading habits of many primary and secondary school students. Audio books make children read classic forms more diverse and interesting. Wu Jingjing, vice president of Guangzhou No.5 Middle School, suggested that schools and parents should make good use of these digital resources and do a good job in screening the contents of books, instead of just throwing a tablet computer to their children. Through reading with children and sharing reading experience, we can guide teenagers to read classics and form the reading habit of reading the whole book. (Reporter Jindi, Zheng Tianhong, Wu Zhendong, Liu Yudong)