A founder of an education and training organization said that the goal of education was life influences life.
What changes the direction of life may be further studies, occupations, marriages, opportunities, or even some "accidents." Two dreams changed the trajectory of Mrs. Tang's life.
After obtaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees in arts, a female believer with the surname Tang planned to become a writer or a reporter. Before choosing a career, she had two dreams of saving children. In the first dream, a child of about eight or nine years old was playing on the roof, which was made of paper, and suddenly collapsed, and she held the falling child. In the second dream, a blind child was able to see with her help. Later, she became a teacher.
In 2005, Tang founded an education and training institution, named "Life Oasis Ministry," which means "oasis in the desert." Because she is convinced that education isn't just about teaching kids facts or helping them do better in school. It's also about building their lives. Educators should bring them to the fountain of living water and lead them into the oasis of life.
In many years of educational experience, Mr. Tang has encountered many children who were rejected at school. The parents are desperate and send their children to the Life Oasis with the attitude of treating a dead horse as if it is still alive.
Tang reveals that children's poor grades are actually just external manifestations, due of different reasons which should be found to solve the problems.
She said that every child was a unique treasure in the eyes of God, created in the image and likeness of Him, who gives them wisdom, ability, and good character. "If you trust them, love them, provide them with enough time and patience, and help them develop a healthy self-image, they can realize their potential."
Therefore, since its establishment, in addition to academic counseling, the organization has also paid attention to children's psychological and emotional conditions, with student psychological counseling and parenting classes developing accordingly.
The "6A's of Good Parenting" (Affirmation, Acceptance, Appreciation, Availability, Affection, and Accountability), which are used in counseling courses for students, were created by Dr. Josh McDowell, an American family education consultant, speaker, and expert on family problems. By using a method of teaching that balances love and discipline, parents help kids build on their strengths and fix their weaknesses.
In conjunction with this set of courses, teachers do their best to identify and praise children's strengths in order to discover the potential in the children's lives. Then, the teacher corrects their thought errors and behaviors with continuous training.
In parenting classes, teachers help improve relationships between parents and children and between husbands and wives. They also help correct bad parenting styles and make the home a good place to learn.
Establishing a mature English learning system was an essential development for the organization. Tang once saw that many children struggled to learn English. By chance, Tang learned about phonics. After that, she went to Shenzhen to learn about phonics from two Hong Kong teachers and used what she learned in her own classroom.
After years of teaching practice, Mrs. Tang compiled the English learning textbooks for her own organization and established a complete system named “Life Oasis Phonics English." It is a good way to build an English study environment at home in a simple and easy way. Students can read and remember more by using phonics as a way to get around the Ebbinghaus Curve of Forgetting.
With a goal of impacting students' lives, it is an institution with a mission, where teachers intending to make money can’t stay for a long time. Apart from Tang, who often remembers her dreams of saving the child, each member of her team hopes to make a small contribution, “influencing and changing children’s lives with their lives.”
The organization used to conduct Chinese reading and writing ability training and elementary, junior, and senior high school courses, but it changed to carry out non-disciplinary language ability training after the national rectification of after-school training institutions in 2020, focusing on English and Chinese language competence training. "In fact, we have always been doing quality education and life education," Tang said. Life Oasis is currently carrying out online teaching across China and face-to-face teaching courses.
In the process of moving forward in Life Oasis, more and more teachers with educational missions have joined the team to pass on love together, feeling proud and joyful for this. "This is not something that can be replaced by any money or benefits," Tang added.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
