The “road to advancement” from monitor to teacher

Source: Study Corps · People's Liberation Army Press and Communication Center Integrated Media Author: People's Liberation Army Daily reporter Liu Min Correspondent Zhang Kai Zhou Qianru

After finishing a sentence, the chalk just drew a period on the blackboard. Song Zhitao turned around, stood at attention, and met everyone's gaze.

Under the podium, the "students" listening to the lecture began to express their opinions. Some generously praised: "The teaching ideas are clear and the courseware is exquisite and beautiful." Some bluntly said: "I think his teaching description is too simple and lacks in-depth analysis of difficult issues..."

This is a practical lesson. Not long ago, Song Zhitao was selected as a sergeant instructor. At this moment, he was participating in special training before taking office and stepped onto the podium to give a trial lecture for the first time. Facing the sharp comments from teachers and classmates, Song Zhitao nodded and took notes quickly, sweat dripping from his forehead.

At the end of last year, 93 students from 23 campuses and bases of 10 colleges and universities of the Army The non-commissioned officer instructors entered the Non-commissioned Officer School of the Army Armor Academy and began a three-month pre-job training.

Like Song Zhitao, 93 non-commissioned officers and instructors added steel and quenched it here to complete the process from " The transformation from "doing" to "teaching" and from "soldier" to "division".

The "road to advancement" from monitor to teacher

■ People's Liberation Army Daily reporter Liu Min correspondent Zhang Kai Zhou Qianru

The trainees of the Army’s first non-commissioned officer instructor training class successfully graduated.

Taking a new position is not "returning to zero", but "advancing"

When he first came to the training class, Staff Sergeant Yuan Penglai was a little surprised——

Different from previous trainings where most of the students in the same batch are of similar age and rank, Yuan Penglei discovered that these students had a wide age range, including second-level sergeants born in 1982 and corporals born in 1999.

Looking through their resumes, they all have unique skills and great names. Kang Kun, senior anti-tank missile maintenance technician and anti-tank missile detection senior technician; Fan Quanli, first place in the army's drone operation backbone competition; Wang Haisheng, first place in the military pentathlon in international military competitions...

Yuan Penglai is a grassroots health worker. This year, he was transferred to the Army Medical University Non-commissioned Officer School and will soon become a non-commissioned officer instructor.

In this regard, Yuan Penglai felt a little panic: If it comes to actual operation, he can follow He is standardized and completes a set of actions fluently, but he always talks about theory. He is really "boiling dumplings in a teapot - there is something in his belly that he can't pour out".

Song Junnan, the fourth-level sergeant major, is also worried. After becoming a noncommissioned officer instructor at the Army Engineering University Engineering Training Base, his classes often required a combination of indoor theoretical classes and outdoor practical classes.

"It is still difficult to operate equipment indoors. Without physical comparison, It is necessary to fully mobilize and explore students' imagination and thinking ability..." About to step onto the podium, Song Junnan was confused: How should the theoretical class be taught?

In fact, it is not just them who have various concerns. When it comes to "non-commissioned officer instructors", some college teachers and students will also raise a question mark in their hearts - "Can they do it?"

"Of course it can be done!" Zhang Yongping, leader of the teaching team of the Military Academy of the Army Armor Academy, said Stay optimistic. He believes that with the deepening of the adjustment and reform of military academies, it is a general trend for more and more non-commissioned officer instructors to take up teaching positions. They are good at training management and equipment operation, and are "experts" in various fields. If they can fully apply what they have learned to teaching, they will inevitably grow into an emerging force in the educational team of colleges and universities.

Zhang Yongping noticed that everyone’s concerns about non-commissioned officer instructors mainly include the following aspects: academic level Generally not high, the theoretical foundation is relatively lacking, the teaching methods are not systematic enough, and the language expression needs to be standardized...

"Break the last mile between 'doing' and 'teaching' so that they can It is our responsibility to teach and pass on our skills." To this end, Zhang Yongping led a group of veteran teachers with more than 30 years of teaching experience to jointly draft a course plan to help non-commissioned officer instructors consolidate the theoretical foundation of teaching and lay the basic skills of teaching and educating people. .

"Stepping into a new position is not about 'returning to zero', but 'advancing' '." This group of non-commissioned officer instructors were particularly excited to receive professional teaching training. Looking at the full course schedule, they understood that it would take a lot of hard work to be a good "soldier instructor" for the students.

Teacher Cui Liang (left) demonstrates basic teaching skills.

Teaching is an art, and teachers should be "craftsmen"

Standing on the podium for the first time, Yuan Penglai was so nervous that his palms sweated.

That time, the teacher asked each of them to choose their own topic and conduct a 5-minute class design and 20-minute micro-lecture presentation. Yuan Penglei made full preparations, but still got stuck several times during the actual teaching process.

"In the past, I taught disciples by comparing weapons and equipment on the training ground. Now I stand on There is always a feeling of discomfort on the podium." Yuan Penglei said.

How should lesson plans be written? How should the classroom be designed?

"Instructional Design Theory and Application" "Basic Teaching Skills" "Basics of Team Training" 》...The teaching team carefully designed it, and the teachers carefully taught the basic teaching methods of "speaking, performing, writing, drawing, and attitude" to help the non-commissioned officer instructors clarify the logical links of each link in the course design, so that the fragmented teaching gradually becomes systematic .

Such a process gives the sergeant instructors a refreshing teaching experience. In order to develop a friendly and natural teaching style, write concise and clear blackboard writing, and independently complete teaching PPT, they studied repeatedly.

"During the training, I constantly try to look at the classroom from the perspective of a teacher. Then passively learn knowledge, and consciously try to figure out the teacher's every word and every move in class." Passing by the military mirror, Staff Sergeant Song Zhitao often stopped to imitate the teacher's movements and expressions in front of the mirror while arranging his clothes. , tone.

During the trial lecture, Song Zhitao taught the subject "Type 95 Automatic Rifle Aiming Method" , from shallow to deep, clear and catchy. His Mandarin, which used to be spoken with the accent of his hometown, has become more standard after consistent practice.

Song Junnan has since learned teacher Zhang Xuexin’s blackboard writing formula, and has repeatedly tried to figure out how to write and write on the blackboard. As for the pen-handling posture, I repeatedly mentally recited "tighten up and loosen down, tighten left and release right" to practice beautiful chalk calligraphy. In the practical class, he moved the blackboard outside so that the students could not only review the key points of the theoretical class from the blackboard, but also deepen their understanding by referring to the standard equipment structure diagram.

"Teaching is an art, and teachers are craftsmen. "At the learning exchange meeting, the non-commissioned officer instructors shared their teaching experiences.

As the training continued to deepen, Yuan Penglai, who originally spoke little, gradually realized the true meaning , he draws on the strengths of others in teaching design and makes good use of "military words and military language". The classroom structure is clear-cut and focused.

During the coursework assessment, Yuan Penglai created the lesson plan "Horizontal Bar Exercise Two" based on his own experience , his lectures were generous and eloquent, and he was widely praised.

Non-commissioned officer instructor Song Zhitao is giving a trial lecture.

From monitor to teacher, more than just the title has changed

The training ground in the middle of winter is cold and windy. The non-commissioned officers and instructors in camouflage uniforms lined up neatly and stood tall.

"Now, I will show you how to climb a high wall with a 400-meter obstacle. Action essentials." As soon as he finished speaking, the non-commissioned officer instructor Wang Haisheng quickly rushed to the high wall, kicked off the ground with his left foot, bent his right leg and lifted it up, kicked down with the sole of his foot, and used the upward momentum of his body to climb up the top of the wall with both hands. Then the body turned up. The movements are coherent and done in one go.

Wang Haisheng comes from the Military Sports Teaching and Research Section of the Army Artillery and Air Defense Academy. As a national-level athlete, he was directly recruited and became a non-commissioned officer instructor, participating in the basic physical fitness teaching and training of students.

Even with rich training experience, the feedback Wang Haisheng received when he first started teaching It’s not good. One student said bluntly: “I feel like I’m learning competition skills.”

This incident has been bothering him. During the training, veteran teacher Cui Liang reminded Wang Haisheng: "Good training skills are the foundation, but what you are facing now are not athletes, but future commanders and fighters. The teaching must be closer to the actual combat requirements!"

One ​​word wakes up the dreamer. Breaking the previous thinking model of competitive sports, Wang Haisheng tried to set up specific scenarios when organizing training. Launching raids, battlefield rescue, alert defense, passing obstacles... he flexibly "kneaded" it into the design of the military physical education course.

"No matter athletes or coaches, after becoming a teacher, the responsibilities on their shoulders have become With doubling the number, there are more aspects to consider," said Sergeant Major Ma Leiwu.

Ma Leiwu was once the backbone of the army's coaches. During the training of small arms shooting and squad tactics, , he likes to face to face with the students, directly point out their improper operations, and demonstrate teaching on the spot.

"At that time, a cadet was operating a certain type of rifle and the butt of the rifle was on his shoulder. If the position is wrong, I will press my shoulder socket and his shoulder socket to let him feel the position." Ma Leiwu said frankly that after becoming a sergeant instructor at the Army Armor Academy, he needed to learn the position of the shoulder socket from the human body anatomy diagram.

Like Ma Leiwu, when the link between "doing" and "teaching" is After getting through the details, they were surprised to find that in the past, the teaching model of "master leading apprentices" and "passing on word of mouth and hand to hand" in the army was very different from the theoretical and systematic teaching model in today's military school education. The real situation raised challenges for them. higher requirements.

In order to adapt to this change, the sergeant instructors continue to explore their own plans——< /span>

Staff Sergeant Sun Hongbo, faced with limited conditions, made his own gun bolt teaching aids out of cardboard. The classroom effect is more intuitive and novel; Staff Sergeant Zhao Qiang made a self-made teaching board to clearly present the internal structure of the invisible and intangible communication cap; Staff Sergeant Zhou Tsunami used the Pythagorean theorem to explain that the queue commander should turn to the left after giving the "turn left" command A few steps forward, well-founded, concise and clear...

The good news is that in the face of new teaching challenges, the non-commissioned officer instructors have risen to the challenge. , and also brought about the reshaping of their thinking patterns and ability systems. The overlapping identities of "non-commissioned officers + instructors" allow them to learn to look at problems from different perspectives and learn from each other through teaching, achieving the effect of "1+1>2".

"From monitor to teacher, it's not just the title that changes." Ma Leiwu said, he I am ready to meet the students in the military academy classroom as scheduled.

(Pictures taken by Zhou Qianru and Xiao Hui)

(Produced by the Learning Corps·People's Liberation Army Press and Communication Center Fusion Media)