Peeking into school knapsacks on video
Print Edition
What’s inside those schoolbags toted around by students at Wenlai Junior High School? A new video reveals the secret.
“What students put inside their schoolbags indicates what kind of education they are receiving,” said Hei Rang, who directed the video “Inside Wenlai Schoolbags” and has a son at the school
The new video follows on the heels of the popular 2105 video “A Bite of Wenlai,” which focused on the school’s canteen and became an online hit.
The new offering focuses on four students from grades 6-9 with different personalities. Passionate Dong, diligent Chun, intelligent Xia and quiet Qiu appear as themselves in the video, representing all 2,000 students in the school.
The video starts with the four students taking various things out of their schoolbags: books, sneakers, a bonsai plant, a camera, a baseball bat and a hamster in a cage.
“I wanted to show the audience what a real good student would be like,” said Hei. “They’re passionate about study, confident in social interaction and curious about the world around them.”
Hei also said that he wanted to show all students that it’s not difficult to excel in schoolwork.
Hei mingled with students and faculty for long periods of time to prepare the video. He sat through classes, participated in after-class activities and took students to concerts and shows, closely watching how students and teachers behaved.
“I found the relationships in the school fascinating,” he said. “The relationship between students, the relationship between teachers and students, and the relationship between teachers all contributed to the story I wanted to tell.”
He found teachers in the schools were quite strict, but they weren’t rude or violent toward students.
One middle-aged teacher, whom he identified only as Hao, was trying to explain a test paper to her class. She was upset with students who made mistakes on an easy question that also appears frequently in senior high school entrance exams.
“In fact, she was so upset that she asked the students with wrong answers to stand up in class,” Hei said. “But later, she told me that she didn’t dislike the students but was merely worried that they may miss the chance to enter a better senior high school.”
Hao told Hei that her life was composed of just two parts — her family and her students. Apart from taking care of her husband and daughter, the students occupy all her time.
The video also focused on parenting and even gave a nod to a budding romance between students.
“It made me feel that that the students and the teachers have clear minds of what they want to achieve in the school and are open-minded about many things,” he said. “And that’s what makes Wenlai the school we see today.”
Established in 1994, the school is one of the best junior high schools in Minhang as well as in Shanghai. Graduates from the school are top achievers not only in exams but also in sports, creativity and art contests.
Bo Bin, headmaster of the school, said it is the school’s responsibility to instill in students values about life and the world around them.
“Schools should help students fulfill their dreams and nurture them intellectually, physically and emotionally,” said Bo. “And that’s the idea the video is meant to convey.”
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