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Before freshmen sit down for classes at some universities this year, they"ll take a lesson in learning how to say, "thank you."
At Shanghai University of Engineering Science (SUES), their first assignment is writing it on a huge billboard on campus.
"Mom and Dad, thank you for putting so much into raising me. I"ll work hard and try to make you both very proud of me," Xu Yuan, a freshman at SUES, wrote.
SUES erected a large message board in front of their School of Management, encouraging students to pen messages of gratitude to those who have made their education possible, and parents have been pleasantly surprised.
"My daughter has always been closer with her mother. So I am so happy and a little surprised to see her words for me," a father of a freshman said excitedly.
Exercises like these are becoming more common on campuses as universities adopt "gratitude education" into their curriculum, an aspect of the Chinese learning tradition that for the most part has disappeared from the modern education system.
"Ancient China was a land of ceremony and propriety. But the cultural importance placed on gratitude is disappearing, especially among students," Peng Cheng, one of China"s only gratitude educators, told the Global Times.
"The education system today has completely overlooked this point and instead focuses on college entrance exams," Peng added.
According to Peng, this over-emphasis on test taking has its consequences.
"After these extremely exam-oriented high school students finally reach university, their life suddenly loses direction. Many stop studying and slack off," Peng noted.
The former writer-director for the Jiangsu TV Education Channel has delivered over 500 lectures at universities all over the country, helping students learn the value of their education through raising awareness of the power in gratitude.
"At many schools I visit I give a lecture called Those Who Love You, in hopes that students will understand the expectations that society, their families and their country have of them."
Universities are adopting gratitude education into their programs in various ways. Hebei University of Science and Technology (HUST) decided to send out its first gratitude assignment with student admission letters, requiring freshman to write an essay expressing thanks to their parents and past teachers.
"Writing this statement has reminded me of what my parents have sacrificed for me. I have a better understanding of what it is to be a parent now," Wang Yongli, a freshman of HUST, said.
"Those who have received an education also have a greater responsibility towards family and society." Mao Lei, deputy Party secretary at the SUES School of Management, said.
Gratitude not only helps reinforce value in education, but in the human relationships that strengthen society.
"One can only know how to love country and others by first learning how to love one"s parents," Peng said. 原文链接
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