Recently, the results of the selection of outstanding alumni of the Open University of China (OUC) were announced, recognising 328 alumni from various industries across the country.
These individuals, with accomplishments as their foundation and technology as their wings, demonstrate resilience, confidence, and a pragmatic, enterprising spirit, writing a unique chapter of progress of the OUC people. From today on, the stories of some alumni will be selected for sharing . By reviewing their outstanding deeds and listening to their life insights, the OUC’s achievements in talent development over the last 45 years are highlighted.
Dong Caiyun was enrolled in the junior college programme in Primary School Teacher Education offered by the China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU, now the Open University of China, OUC) in the autumn of 2000. She currently serves as vice president of Linxia Open University in Gansu Province (and also deputy director of Linxia Prefecture Teacher Training Centre). She has been awarded titles such as "National Model Teacher" and Gansu's "Gardener Award". She enjoys the special government allowance from the State Council and has been elected as a deputy to the 13th and 14th National People's Congresses.
Born into an education-oriented family, Dong Caiyun was influenced by her ancestors since childhood and was determined to become an excellent teacher. After graduating from junior high school, she applied to a normal school without hesitation and joined the teaching force in August 1989, making her dream come true. With the popularisation of the concept of lifelong learning, in order to improve her teaching ability, in the fall of 2000, Dong Caiyun enrolled in the junior college programme in Primary School Teacher Education of the CCRTVU (now the OUC) and graduated successfully in 2002. Through systematic study, she mastered more professional knowledge and her educational concepts also improved continuously.
Keep the Mission in Mind and Attach Equal Importance to Teaching and Research
General Secretary Xi Jinping once said, "For an individual, having a good teacher is a great fortune in life; for a school, having good teachers is its pride; and for a nation, the continuous emergence of groups of excellent teachers is its hope."
Dong Caiyun always keeps this statement in mind and takes it as her motto. She never forgets her original intention in teaching and always remembers her mission of educating people. During her more than thirty years of teaching career, she has always adhered to the Party's basic line, earnestly implemented the Party's educational policies, and been loyal to the Party's educational cause. She is indifferent to fame and fortune and is willing to contribute, so she is deeply loved by students and parents and recognized by her peers. She enjoys a high reputation in the field of education and society.
Dong Caiyun's noble qualities such as dedication to work, unity and cooperation, selfless dedication, and pioneering and innovative spirit have always inspired her colleagues and students. She has also continuously improved her ideological and moral cultivation, adhered to moral education first and people-oriented education, dedicated all her love to education, and fulfilled the sacred mission of teaching and educating with her practical actions.
Teaching while conducting educational research has been Dong Caiyun's habit for many years. In teaching, she always focuses on the classroom, adheres to the concept of "problems are topics", carefully collects materials, records the problems encountered in classroom teaching one by one, classifies and organises them for research and summary. She has successively presided over and completed several provincial-level projects, such as "Research on the Effectiveness of Improving the Language Expression Ability of Primary School Students in Ethnic Areas"; published a monograph "Theory and Practice of Participatory Teaching"; edited educational books such as "Let Research Become a Habit"; and participated in the compilation of six principal training textbooks such as "Special Children Education". These teaching and research achievements have been unanimously praised and widely promoted by her peers in the education field.
Dong Caiyun has also undertaken the principal training work in 40 counties in Gansu Province, the training work for newly recruited teachers in Linxia Prefecture, and the special training work on "teachers' professional ethics" in the whole prefecture. She is also a provincial-level examiner for the national teacher qualification and a judge for national excellent courses taught by famous teachers. The participatory teaching concept advocated by Dong Caiyun has innovated teaching operation models and practical methods, enhanced students' self-confidence and innovation ability, provided a referable teaching template for more schools to improve classroom teaching effectiveness, and effectively improved the quality of education and teaching. In short, Dong Caiyun has achieved remarkable research results.
Devote Herself to the Work and Help Teachers Improve Their Abilities
Dong Caiyun was transferred to the position of vice president of Linxia Open University, in charge of the school's education, teaching, and teacher training. After the transfer, Dong Caiyun quickly adjusted to her new role, threw herself into the work of the open university, devoted herself to studying the business, and steadily promoted the open education and teaching work.
In order to better motivate the teaching staff to participate in the enrolment work, Dong Caiyun planned in advance and led teams in person to carry out enrolment promotion in government agencies, medical institutions, judicial systems, financial systems, primary and secondary schools, kindergartens in various counties and cities, and communities and towns. During the operational evaluation of the OUC system, she organised several special meetings to arrange and deploy the evaluation work. Based on the school's self-evaluation and the feedback from the pre-evaluation expert group of Gansu Open University, she refined the work in a targeted manner, took charge of tasks such as checking and clearing accounts, earnestly studied and implemented the "12355" ideological and political education model of Gansu Open University and the integrated model of online-offline integration, guided learning, peer-assisted learning and self-learning, and actively carried out promotion work.
As the deputy director of the Linxia Prefecture Teacher Training Centre, in order to improve the quality of teacher training at the prefecture level, better understand the training needs of front-line teachers and the problems existing in teacher training, Dong Caiyun led relevant department staff to visit counties and cities and schools. Through questionnaires, discussion meetings, and on-site interviews, they carried out teacher training research activities, completed the teacher training needs research, and formed high- quality research reports, which provided a scientific basis for changing training methods, implementing effective training, and improving training quality. From December 2021 to the present, Dong Caiyun has organised 46 special training sessions for primary and secondary school and kindergarten teachers in the whole prefecture, including special training on teachers' professional ethics, training for backbone teachers, and training for principals to improve their educational information technology capabilities. A total of 19,041 people participated, effectively improving the professional quality and teaching ability of teachers at all levels.
Play an Exemplary Role and Fully Promote Rural Revitalisation
As a national model teacher and a special-grade teacher, Dong Caiyun actively plays an exemplary and leading role, pays attention to the growth and training of young teachers, and helps rural revitalization. In 2015, with the approval of the Gansu Provincial Department of Education, Dong Caiyun established the Longyuan Famous Teacher Dong Caiyun Studio. In 2017, she established a secondary studio in Dongxiang County to assist in the training of rural backbone teachers, which played an active role in winning the battle against poverty and promoting the balanced development of compulsory education in Dongxiang County.
As a special-grade teacher, Dong Caiyun has her own unique teaching methods in Chinese teaching. She has guided many young teachers to participate in provincial and prefecture-level teaching competition activities and win awards. Every year, Dong Caiyun leads well-known teaching teachers to go to schools in remote mountainous areas to provide teaching and training support, helping schools with relatively weak teaching capabilities to improve their teaching capabilities, building a bridge between urban and rural education, promoting the sharing of high-quality educational resources, and fully promoting rural revitalisation.
Dong Caiyun has been elected as a deputy to the 13th and 14th National People's Congresses for her noble professional ethics, excellent work style, and solid knowledge. She always remembers her dual identities as an "educator" and "spokesperson for the masses", bravely voices for education, and actively speaks for teachers. She has proposed suggestions such as "increasing the establishment of the teaching staff, strengthening the cultivation and training of rural teachers, and increasing educational support in ethnic areas", making positive contributions to the development of education in Linxia. After the end of the two sessions each year, she takes it as one of her important tasks to promote the spirit of the two sessions. She immediately goes deep into government agencies, enterprises, schools, and communities to convey the spirit of the two sessions to the remote mountainous areas. From 2018 to 2023, she has given more than 90 lectures in total and has received high praise and full affirmation.
Dong Caiyun wholeheartedly devotes herself to the people and education. She has worked hard silently on the educational front and composed a moving song of education.
By OUC News Network