2021-22学年第11期总第848 期(4-5 版)
Legendary educator(P4-5)
吉林毓文中学 刘媛

Lead-in
What great educators do you know? Can you introduce one of them? 
Confucius/蔡元培/张桂梅 

Prediction
What will the text talk about according to the title? Legendary educator
• legendary: 
What do you think “legendary” means here? 
very famous, admired by a lot of people 

• educator: 
Why is he called an educator?
Tao Xingzhi is regarded as the “teacher of teachers”. 

Fast reading
• Can you use the expressions below to describe Tao Xingzhi? 
engineer of the human soul
teacher of teachers 
Chinese educator 
educational reformer 

• Go through the text and choose the right answers. 
Q1: Passages like this are often written in ___ and ___? 
A. the active voice/offer many opinions
B. the first person/talk about feelings
C. both active and passive voice/mostly contain facts 
Key: C (to be more objective and convincing) 

Q2: What information is not included? A. His family
B. His contributions
C. His proposal 
D. What he was awarded E. His theory
Key: A and D 

Read for structure
Read through the passage and try to work out the structure. 
Part 1 (Paras. 1-3)     Brief introduction of Tao.
Part 2 (Paras. 4-6)     Tao’s education theories.
Part 3 (Paras. 7-10) Tao’s mass education efforts.
Part 4 (Para. 11)  The author’s evaluation of Tao.

Read for details 
What are Tao Xingzhi’s thoughts on education? 
Tao Xingzhi: 
Life is education.
Society as school.
Education is an active process in real-life experience. 

Compare: American educator 
Education is life itself. 
School as society. 

What are Tao’s contributions to China’s education?
__________________________________________
__________________________________________

Key:
Tao Xingzhi conducted surveys and found problems with the educational system. 
He organized workers and farmers to study. 
He set up Xiaozhuang Normal College to train teachers and educators. 
He started the “Little Teacher” campaign and encouraged young students to teach others. 
He founded Yucai Middle School to offer free education. 
He tried his best to promote mass education. 

Read for thinking
• What are the necessary qualities of a good teacher according to Tao’s motto? 
Giving a whole heart, yet taking nothing in return, not even a leaf of grass. 
—— Tao Xingzhi 

Educated, determined, devoted, selfless, hard-working, creative, critical, diligent... 
• Do you want to be a person like Tao Xingzhi? Why or why not? 

• What preparations are you going to make? Summary 
Tao Xingzhi at a young age went to America to study____(1)_____ and returned to China to work as an educator. He _____(2)_____ the education methods and___(3)____ mass education in China. He organized young workers and farmers to study _____(4)_____. To deal with the ___(5)____of teachers and ___(6)____, he set up a college to train teachers. In 1934, he started the “Little Teacher” campaign, which was regarded as a _______(7)______. Even in the fight against the Japanese invaders, he actively offered _____(8)_______. He is a legendary educator, devoting his whole life to spreading _____(9)_____. 

(1) educational philosophy (2) reformed  (3) promoted
(4) while working (5) shortage (6) funds
(7) key nationwide education movement (8) free education
(9) knowledge, ideas and truth 

Language study 
• be tasked with the mission 肩负重任
• reflect on 思考、反思
• under the guidance of 在......的指导下
• rather than 而不是
• apart from 除了
• serve as 担任、作为
• the Communist Party of China 中国共产党 

• ...he did not blindly champion Dewey’s education method or theories. champion
v. 拥护、支持
n. 拥护者、冠军、优胜者 
e.g.
He passionately championed the right of the poor. 
He is the world heavy weight champion. 
• ... the rate of urban illiteracy in China exceeded 70 percent. 
exceed v. 超越、超过;胜过、凌驾于
e.g. 
He was fined for exceeding the speed limit. 
The officers had exceeded their authority.