(Minghui.org) This year, I was offered the opportunity to help the Minghui School principal coordinate teaching. During the first three semesters we made great progress. The number of students increased by more than 30%, and the overall attendance rate of students exceeded 90%. The students' academic performance has made great progress, and their parents are happy. Looking back at my own cultivation, I removed many attachments and improved my xinxing.
Eliminating My Attachments While Helping Coordinate
Few students enrolled last year, and as the number of students did not reach the minimum government requirements, and we heard that our school may be audited. The principal was very anxious. He met with the teachers several times to discuss this. He asked them to determine why there were so few students. He also asked the teachers to exchange ideas in our large group Fa study. I felt that although there were many reasons why children didn't enroll in the Minghui School, looking inward was most important. We needed to improve in many aspects, both as a school and as teachers.
I read all of Master's lectures about Minghui Schools and about children's education.
Master said,
“I can tell you that I’ve been to many places abroad and I’ve found this problem everywhere, so when I see my disciples I often tell them this: Make sure you have your kids learn Chinese; you can’t lose the characteristics of your yellow race. Since there’s no place for you in the Caucasian paradises, you still need to return to the paradises of the yellow race’s people. What matters the most is if you can’t understand the true meaning of the Fa when you study It.” (“Teaching the Fa in New York City,” Lectures in the United States)
Minghui Schools are run by practitioners. We educate our children with the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.” Non-practitioners' schools are different as they have no cultivation environment. I realized the Minghui school also offered an opportunity to validate Dafa. Looking within, I realized that I hadn't done my best. I had focused only on teaching my class but not on helping the other teachers.
When I noticed problems I didn’t speak up. By studying the Fa and looking inward, I realized that I had to eliminate my selfishness, and help the principal manage the school.
I thought that conducting a survey was a good idea. On one hand, we could let more parents know about the Minghui School. On the other hand, through the survey, we could find out why some parents didn’t send their children to the school. I shared my thoughts with the principal and he agreed. That evening I wrote questionnaires. In the questionnaire, I shared Master’s teaching about the importance of learning Chinese. It took me several hours. I finished at around midnight, but I didn’t feel sleepy.
I sent the questionnaire to the principal and the teachers and asked their opinion. After we talked I finalized the questionnaire and sent it to the principal.
I was a little upset in the following weeks as I didn't receive any feedback. A few weeks later, I received an email from the principal. He forwarded a reply from a practitioner, who said that he would send his child to Minghui School next year. This email greatly encouraged me. Thank you fellow practitioners for your support and Master's encouragement. I later received several more replies. I also communicated with other parents in person. I realized that the communication between the school and the parents was not smooth.
I told practitioners about the Minghui School during our next group Fa study. I explained why they should send their children. I described the format and the curriculum. I also emphasized the school’s role in validating Dafa, and expressed hope that more practitioners would support the project.
Two teachers in our group shared their stories about sending their children to Minghui School. One teacher has two children. She enrolled her eldest daughter in the school when she was young. However, she dropped out to take tutoring on the weekends. As her daughter got older she stopped practicing Falun Dafa. After this happened she insisted on sending her son to Minghui School for nine years. Her son was selected by Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The principal told me that more than 20 Shen Yun artists had attended Minghui School. The school provides a great cultivation environment for young practitioners. I realized that sending children to Minghui School is not only beneficial for the children, but also the parents who are participating in the school's Fa-rectification project.
We were very happy to enroll more than 30 students on the first day of the new school year. We evaluated each child’s ability to speak Chinese and placed them in the appropriate class. We had an opening ceremony and teacher meeting on the first day.
Removing My Attachment to Self Interest
I didn’t accept the position that the principal wanted to assign me. I felt that it was just a voluntary job and it was not necessary to take on additional responsibility. Coordinating during the first two weeks was not easy. The teachers were not happy with the placement results. Some teachers were unwilling to cooperate with the new requirements and were reluctant to use the new textbooks. Because I was not in a management position, it was very hard for me to coordinate and implement decisions.
The principal saw this. He gave me full support and asked me to host a parent meeting. He introduced me as the assistant principal and said that I was in charge of teacher management. I was surprised as he didn’t discuss this with me beforehand. However, I couldn’t shirk my responsibility. I knew that Master was encouraging me to fulfill my obligations.
Since I had been appointed assistant principal, I felt that I should take responsibility. We needed to use the Fa to measure our work. The children’s performance was influenced by the cultivation status of their parents and teachers. As school coordinators it was our responsibility to lead teachers, parents, and students to study the Fa and cultivate well, thus validating Dafa through education.
Minghui School is different from ordinary Chinese schools. We do the Falun Dafa exercises and then the teachers and students read the Fa for about an hour. The requirements are very high for the teachers, and the class schedule is tight. They also need to check homework, give tests, etc. I deeply feel the teachers' hardships, so I think my main job is to help the teachers as much as possible.
To improve the quality of teaching, we needed to print teaching materials. I thought about donating a good printer to the school and then have the principal bring it to school every day. When I was purchasing the printer, I suddenly realized that the principal lives far away. It would be hard for him to bring the printer each day, and the printer might break. So I decided to buy a good color printer myself and help teachers who needed to print teaching materials. I also encouraged teachers to print the materials themselves, and we would reimburse the cost.
Our goal was to teach students Chinese Pinyin during the first term. We didn’t have a textbook as we had missed the deadline to order the teaching materials. Fortunately, I found a pinyin workbook in my home and I made copies. Taking into account the needs of other classes, I made nearly 30 copies. I also bought folders and compiled the materials. It took me an entire afternoon and more than a hundred dollars, but I was very happy.
I not only printed materials for my own class, but also printed homework and extracurricular reading materials for the middle and upper classes every week. I had no complaints since my goal is to help teachers improve the quality of their teaching.
I felt that my xinxing improved. I now care less about my own self-interests. I also noticed that even though I spent my own money producing materials, my salary at my ordinary job increased. Thank you Master for encouraging me to be more giving.
Validating Dafa by Integrating With Mainstream Society
We encouraged our students to participate in mainstream competition, which is also a good way to encourage their interest in learning Chinese. I discovered that the 30th Chinese recitation game in Australia would be held in two months.
I immediately phoned the organizer. After getting the information, I emailed parents and teachers about the competition and printed out the registration forms and materials. A lot of information was needed to complete the form. It was time consuming and I once again experienced the hard work of coordinating a project.
We invited a fellow practitioner to help students prepare. With the cooperation of parents and teachers, the students achieved very good results. Seven of the twelve students who participated received awards. Two were champions in their groups. The Epoch Times newspaper also reported on the competition.
Teachers are encouraged to attend various teacher training workshops and courses. In the first half of the year, teachers attended the training workshop for the new K-10 Chinese syllabus. In July, almost all the teachers attended the teacher training courses provided by OCAC. For three weeks, the teachers attended five-day training courses. I was impressed because I knew some teachers did their homework until midnight.
In order to use this opportunity to clarify the truth, I asked for leave from my regular job to attend the training courses.
On the last day of the training, I brought many lotus flowers. I started by clarifying the truth to the training organizer and gave him a lotus flower. With his permission, I gave lotus flowers to the lecturers, teachers, and the officers of the Taiwan Affairs Center, and told them about Falun Dafa. They all were very happy.
In June, I removed my attachment to comfort and enrolled in a 60-hour training course for community language school principals. It was designed by the University of Sydney and supported by the government. I gained a lot of practical experience from lecturers and other school principals. I used every opportunity to clarify the truth to the lecturers and other principals. For example, I told them how the CCP has destroyed Chinese traditional culture by introducing the simplified Chinese characters.
In my presentation during the last course, I told them about the persecution of Dafa by the Chinese Communist Party, and the reason the Minghui School was founded.
In August the Australian government announced that it would terminate the Confucius Classroom program by the end of the year. I realized that we should run our Minghui School well. It validates the Fa through education and is a government-funded school. We recently welcomed more students and parents to join the Minghui school project.
Master said,
“And of course, setting up a Minghui school is just a great thing. Now that they've been set up, I hope you will run them better and better, make them bigger and bigger, and set up more and more of them. They are, for all beings, a blessing, and for the evil beings, it clears them away.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VI)
I began practicing Falun Dafa in late 1996 when I was a high school student. Looking back at my cultivation path arranged by Master, my heart is filled with gratitude. This concludes my cultivation experiences while helping with the Minghui School. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Thank you, Master, for your merciful salvation! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2019 Australia Fa Conference)
