📚 Charity Club of Britannica International School Shanghai Visits Deren Yuan for Educational Support | 上海不列颠英国外籍人员子女学校慈善社团走进德仁苑爱心助学
For children who grow up with very limited educational resources, what can cross-border volunteering actually deliver that goes beyond material donation? The answer is not simple charity: it touches on educational equity, cultural exchange and psychological support at the same time. A single afternoon of games and songs will never solve structural inequality, but the way a visit is designed, who leads it, and what happens afterwards can decide whether it becomes a meaningful experience or just a well-meaning gesture. This article uses the recent visit by the charity club of Britannica International School Shanghai to Deren Yuan as a case study, and looks at what international schools, volunteers and local institutions can learn from it.
针对教育资源匮乏的儿童而言,跨国志愿服务究竟怎样才能够带来超越物质捐赠的深层价值呢?这并非单纯的慈善活动,而是涉及到教育公平,涉及到文化互动,还涉及到心理支持等多个核心议题相关的事情。一次包含游戏与歌声的探访,当然无法解决结构性的不平等,但一次探访如何被设计、由谁来主导、结束之后又留下什么,往往决定了它究竟是一次有意义的陪伴,还只是一次善意的姿态。本文以上海不列颠英国外籍人员子女学校慈善社团近期走进德仁苑的活动为案例,梳理国际学校、志愿者与本地机构可以从中获得哪些启示。
1. Cross-Border Volunteering and Educational Integration | 跨国志愿服务的教育融合
Students and teachers from Britannica International School Shanghai travelled to Deren Yuan to run a day of teaching and interaction. It is a small but instructive example of cross-border educational resource flow. Rather than shipping boxes and leaving, foreign teachers worked alongside local volunteers to co-design the sessions, deliberately bringing an international style of classroom practice into a local setting: pair work, open questioning, movement, praise and quick feedback loops.
上海不列颠英国外籍人员子女学校的师生去往德仁苑展开相应活动,这属于跨国教育资源的流动实例,外籍教师跟本地志愿者一起设计课程,把那种国际化的教学方式引入当地课堂。这样的直接互动破除了传统捐助那种单向给予的模式,建构起了知识传递以及情感交流的双向渠道。与单纯寄送物资不同,师生们带来的是一套可以现场运转的课堂方法:两人一组、开放式提问、允许走动、及时表扬与快速反馈。
The teaching content covered English nursery rhymes and basic conversation. The aim was not to push vocabulary lists into the children's heads, but to spark a genuine interest in language. Encouragement and participation were placed ahead of mechanical drilling, which matters a great deal for children who may already associate learning with failure or fear.
活动内容涵盖英语儿歌,还有基础对话,其目的在于激发孩子们的语言兴趣,教学过程当中注重鼓励以及参与,并非机械灌输,这对缓解困境儿童面向学习时兴许产生的畏惧心理有帮助。此类实践显示出志愿教育的关键在于方法适配跟尊重接受者的主体性:课程难度要匹配真实水平,节奏要允许出错,志愿者要愿意把话语权交回给孩子。
- Co-design beats solo design: local volunteers know the children's names, habits and moods.
- Short, high-energy activities keep attention and reduce anxiety.
- Every child should leave with at least one successful spoken moment.
- 外语活动要点:共同设计、短时高频、保证每个孩子都有一次成功表达。
2. Understanding "Factual Orphans" and Their Specific Needs | 事实孤儿群体的特殊需求
Deren Yuan currently provides a home for 65 children who are "factual orphans" or otherwise in difficult circumstances, growing up without consistent parental guardianship. Their educational needs are not confined to textbooks. Emotional support, stable relationships and social skills matter just as much, because a stable source of outside care can partially compensate for what a family environment would normally provide. For these children, that continuity is central to healthy social development.
德仁苑当下有65名事实孤儿以及困境儿童生活者,他们是在缺少父母监护的环境里成长起来的,这类儿童的教育需求并非仅仅局限于课本知识,还更涵盖着情感支持以及社会技能培养,稳定的外部关怀能够在一定程度上弥补家庭功能的缺失,这对于他们的社会性发展是特别重要的。
Regular visits create a continuing human connection rather than a one-off event. Volunteer Chen Angyu is a good illustration: three years ago he actually lived at Deren Yuan for a month, and that depth of companionship tends to build trust in a way that a short visit cannot. For the children, consistent attention from the outside world is itself a form of psychological and educational resource.
志愿者定期前来拜访这件事带去了持续不断的人际连接性。就像志愿者陈昂舆所说的那样,他在三年之前曾经于此处居住过一个月,这样深度的陪伴相较于短暂到访而言更能够构建起信任。对于那些孩子们来讲,来自外部世界的安稳关注其本身就是一种心理层面的教育资源。
3. The Psychological Motivation Behind Language Learning | 语言学习的心理激励作用
In this activity, English teaching was turned into games and interaction. Children learned letters, practised pronunciation, and even chose English names for themselves. That process gives language learning a sense of novelty and fun. For children with limited access to resources, contact with a foreign language is often experienced as a symbol of a wider world, and it can genuinely stimulate curiosity about what lies beyond their immediate surroundings.
在此次活动里头,英语教学被弄成了游戏以及互动的样式,孩子们去学习字母,学习发音,甚至是给自己取英文名,这样的一个过程给语言学习带去了新鲜感还有趣味性,对于那些资源有限的儿童而言,接触外语常常被看作是开阔视野的一种象征,能够激发起对外部世界的好奇。
Because the teaching was lively and low-pressure, learning anxiety dropped. Children were willing to perform in front of the class, which trains language ability and simultaneously builds confidence. That kind of successful experience can transfer positively into attitudes towards other subjects, which is exactly why short volunteer sessions are worth doing well rather than doing quickly.
有效的教学方法,因其生动活泼,从而降低了学习焦虑。孩子们敢于在课堂上主动表现,这并非只是使语言能力得锻炼,更是构建自信心之举。此成功体验,有可能正向迁移至其他学科学习态度里。也正因如此,短期志愿课程宁可在细节上做得扎实,也不要追求进度而草草收场。
4. Sport as a Tool for Social Integration | 体育活动的社交整合功能
Beyond the classroom, frisbee games and ball practice formed an indispensable part of the volunteering. Sport works as a form of non-verbal communication and closes the distance between volunteers and children very quickly. In team games, rules of cooperation and the idea of fair play are absorbed naturally, without anyone having to lecture about them.
于课堂之外所开展的飞盘游戏以及球技切磋,属于志愿服务里面不可或缺的一环。体育活动作为一种借助非语言来进行交流的方式,能够迅速拉近志愿者跟孩子们之间的距离。在团队游戏当中,合作规则以及公平竞争的那种意识能够得以自然而然地传递。
Playground interaction also created space for genuine equality. The children led volunteers around their campus, reversing the usual roles: the child who normally receives became the one who explains, guides and hosts. That shift is valuable for developing expressive ability and a sense of ownership over their own environment.
于操场上所进行的互动,同样营造出了能够实现平等对话的空间,孩子们引领着志愿者去参观校园,达成了角色的相互转换,由原本处于被动接受状态之人转变成为主动进行介绍的人,这样的一个过程,对提升他们的表达能力以及主人翁意识是有所助益的。
5. How Charitable Resources Are Targeted | 慈善资源的精准投放策略
The study and daily-life supplies donated during this visit were raised by the school's charity club, which shows what organised fundraising can achieve. Unlike a simple distribution of goods, volunteers handed items over in person, face to face, attaching encouragement and conversation to each object. In that way material donation carries additional emotional meaning, and the child remembers the person, not only the parcel.
此次捐赠的用于学习与生活的物品,是经由学校慈善社团募集所得,这展现出了具备组织性的资源募集情况。和单纯进行物资发放不一样,志愿者借助面对面的活动来传递物品,并且还附带了鼓励以及交流,从而让物质捐赠蕴含了更多的精神层面的意义。
Resource deployment should also weigh long-term outcomes against local realities. Short-term donation addresses an immediate need, but building sustainable support pathways matters more. Chen Angyu mentioned that future sessions could bring students from both places together to share experiences, an approach that uses each side's different resources to create a long-term model of interaction.
对于资源投放而言,需要将长期的成效以及本地的实际状况纳入考量范围。短期的捐赠行为,尽管能够对当下的需求予以解决,然而构建起具备可持续性的支持途径才是更为重要的关键所在。陈昂舆提及,在以后有可能会组织两地的学生开展经验分享活动,这样的一种思路侧重于借助存在差异的资源,去打造长期的互动模式。
| Resource type | 资源类型 | Short-term value | 短期价值 | Long-term value | 长期价值 |
| Stationery and daily supplies | 文具与生活物资 | Immediate needs met | 满足即时需求 | Limited unless repeated | 若不持续则作用有限 |
| Teaching sessions | 教学活动 | Interest and confidence | 兴趣与自信 | Method transfer to local staff | 方法可传递给本地教师 |
| Relationships | 人际关系 | A day of attention | 一天的关注 | Trust and continuity | 信任与连续性 |
6. Two-Way Benefit and a Deeper Reading of Educational Equity | 双向受益的教育公平反思
Volunteering is not a one-way gift. Chen Angyu observed qualities such as resilience and a capacity for hard work among the children at Deren Yuan, and he argued that these are precisely what many Shanghai students lack. That observation reveals the diversity of educational resources: a difficult environment can produce certain positive traits, while a privileged environment may contain its own blind spots.
并非志愿服务只是单向施予,陈昂舆观察到德仁苑孩子们身上有着坚强、吃苦耐劳等品质,他认定这偏偏是上海学生所欠缺的,这一发现揭示出教育资源的多样性所在,即困境环境有可能催生出某些积极特质,然而优越环境方面也大概率存在教育盲点。
This recognition pushes us to rethink the deeper meaning of educational equity. It is not only a flow of resources from wealthy regions to under-resourced ones; it should also include mutual recognition and learning between the strengths that grow in different environments. Genuine equitable education may require a platform where children from different backgrounds can truly see one another and nourish one another.
这般认知推动我们去反思教育公平的深层意思,这并非仅仅是资源自富足地区朝着匮乏地区的流动,更应当涵盖对不同环境里成长优势的相互认可与学习,真正的公平教育也许应当搭建一个能够让不同背景儿童相互看见、彼此滋养的平台。
7. Designing Volunteering That Lasts | 设计可持续的志愿项目
Sustainability begins with structure. A programme that returns to the same site three or four times a year, with the same volunteers and the same children, produces far more than five unrelated one-off visits. Before departure, volunteers should be briefed on the children's backgrounds, on what language to avoid and on the fact that promises made to a child are promises that must be kept.
可持续性首先来自结构。一个每年回到同一地点三到四次、志愿者与孩子相对固定的项目,其效果远远超过五次互不相关的一次性探访。出发之前,志愿者应当了解孩子们的背景,知道哪些话语需要回避,也需要明白:对孩子许下的承诺,就是必须兑现的承诺。
The most effective model is co-designed with local staff rather than imposed on them. Local teachers know the curriculum gaps, the emotional state of each child and the practical limits of the site. If volunteers arrive with a fixed script and no flexibility, the activity serves the visitor's feelings more than the child's needs. Continuity, fit and local ownership are the three levers that matter most.
最有效的模式是与本地工作人员共同设计,而非强加于人。本地教师了解课程缺口、每个孩子的情绪状态以及场地的现实限制。如果志愿者带着一套固定剧本前来且毫无弹性,那么活动更多是在照顾来访者的感受,而不是孩子的需要。可用一个简化的思路来理解这几者的关系:
Lasting Impact ≈ Continuity × Local Fit × Trust | 长期成效 ≈ 连续性 × 本地适配 × 信任
Because the three factors are multiplied rather than added, any single factor falling to zero reduces the whole product to nothing. A perfectly designed lesson delivered once, with no trust and no local fit, leaves almost no trace.
由于这几个因素是相乘而不是相加,只要其中任何一项归零,整体结果也就接近于零。一节设计完美的课程,如果只上一次,既没有信任基础也没有本地适配,那么它几乎留不下什么痕迹。
8. The Role of International Schools in Community Engagement | 国际学校在社区参与中的角色
International schools are well placed to run this kind of activity. They hold language resources, a multicultural staff body and, in many curricula, a formal service component: the IB Creativity, Activity, Service core, or service-learning elements in A-level enrichment programmes. A student-led charity club can turn volunteering from an occasional gesture into a structured part of school life.
国际学校在开展这类活动方面具备天然优势:拥有语言资源、多元文化背景的教师团队,而且在许多课程体系里本就有正式的服务模块,例如 IB 的创造、活动与服务核心,或 A-level 拓展项目中的服务学习成分。由学生主导的慈善社团,能够把志愿服务从偶尔的善举变成学校生活中结构化的一部分。
The risk to avoid is the saviour narrative, in which the school is portrayed as the giver and the community as the receiver. Partnership language matters: Deren Yuan is not a stage for students to collect service hours, and the children are not a backdrop. Framing the relationship as exchange, with mutual teaching and mutual learning, protects everyone's dignity.
需要避免的风险是"救世主叙事",即把学校描绘成给予者、把社区描绘成接受者。伙伴关系的表述很重要:德仁苑不是学生收集服务时长的舞台,孩子们也不是背景板。把关系定位为交流,双方互相教授、互相学习,才能保护彼此的尊严。
9. Measuring Impact Without Harming Children | 成效评估:从感受走向证据
Charity work is often justified by feeling rather than evidence. A more professional approach asks simple, low-burden questions: Did attendance hold up? Did the same children come back? Did they speak more in the second session than in the first? Did local staff find the materials usable afterwards? These indicators are far more informative than a group photograph.
慈善工作常常依靠感受而非证据来证明自己。更专业的做法是提出一些简单且不增加负担的问题:出席情况是否稳定?是否还是同一批孩子回来参加?他们在第二次活动中的发言是否比第一次更多?本地工作人员事后是否认为材料可用?这些指标所提供的信息,远比一张集体合影丰富。
At the same time, measurement must not turn vulnerable children into test subjects. Avoid formal testing, avoid publishing individual scores, and prefer informal observation recorded by volunteers and carers. A short reflection note written by each volunteer after the session often yields the most useful insight of all.
与此同时,评估不能把弱势儿童变成被测对象。应避免正式测验,避免公布个人分数,更宜采用志愿者与照料者记录的非正式观察。每位志愿者在活动后写一小段反思笔记,往往能带来最有用的一手洞察。
10. Safeguarding and Ethics in Volunteering with Vulnerable Children | 弱势儿童志愿服务中的保护与伦理
Any programme involving children requires safeguarding before enthusiasm. Adults should be screened and supervised, and there should be a named safeguarding lead on site. Photographs need consent, and images that could identify a child's situation should not be posted publicly. Volunteers should never promise gifts, trips or continued contact unless the organisation can guarantee them.
任何涉及儿童的项目,都应当在热情之前先谈保护。成年人应经过审核并接受监督,现场要有明确的儿童保护负责人。拍照需要取得同意,可能暴露孩子身份处境的影像不应公开发布。除非机构能够兑现,志愿者绝不应许诺礼物、出行或长期保持联系。
There is also an emotional dimension. Some children will attach very quickly to a visitor, and the volunteer must handle that responsibly, understanding that leaving abruptly causes real harm. Training in basic listening and psychological first aid helps volunteers respond to disclosures without overreacting or making promises they cannot keep.
此外还有情感层面的考量。有些孩子会很快对来访者产生依恋,志愿者必须负责任地处理这种依恋,明白突然离开会造成确实的伤害。基本倾听技巧与心理急救的培训,可以帮助志愿者在听到孩子倾诉时恰当回应,既不过度反应,也不做出无法兑现的承诺。
11. How Students, Teachers and Parents Can Take Part | 学生、教师与家长如何参与
There are more routes into this work than a single visit. Students can run fundraising within their charity club, design bilingual teaching materials, or set up a letter exchange so that contact continues between visits. Teachers with subject expertise can offer short training sessions to local staff, which multiplies the effect far beyond one classroom.
参与这项工作的方式并不止于一次探访。学生可以在慈善社团内部组织募捐,设计双语教学材料,或者建立书信往来,让联系在探访之间延续下去。具备学科专长的教师可以为本地工作人员提供短期培训,其影响会远远超出一间教室。
- Short-term: fundraising, materials design, one-day teaching and sports sessions. 短期:募捐、材料设计、一日教学与体育活动。
- Medium-term: repeated visits, letter exchange, online conversation practice. 中期:重复探访、书信往来、线上口语练习。
- Long-term: teacher training partnerships, student experience-sharing between the two sites. 长期:教师培训合作、两地学生经验分享。
Parents can support by helping with logistics, transport and translation, and by resisting the temptation to turn the activity into a personal photo opportunity. The most valuable contribution is usually quiet and organisational rather than visible.
家长可以提供后勤、交通与翻译方面的支持,同时也要克制把活动变成个人拍照机会的冲动。最有价值的贡献,往往是安静的组织工作,而不是显眼的亮相。
12. Conclusion: A Platform Where Children See Each Other | 结语:一个让孩子彼此看见的平台
The visit by the charity club of Britannica International School Shanghai to Deren Yuan shows what cross-border volunteering can be when it is designed with care: not a transfer of pity, but a structured exchange of language, play, attention and method. Its value lies less in the boxes delivered than in the relationships begun, the confidence built and the questions it raises about what educational fairness really means.
上海不列颠英国外籍人员子女学校慈善社团走进德仁苑的活动表明,当跨国志愿服务被认真设计时,它可以是什么样子:不是怜悯的转移,而是语言、游戏、关注与方法的结构化交流。它的价值并不主要在送出的那些箱物资,而在于由此开启的关系、建立起的自信,以及它促使我们追问的真正教育公平的含义。
What design choices would allow a programme like this to maximise long-term development for both the volunteers and the children they meet? Share your view or experience in the comments. If this article gave you something to think about, a like and a share with friends who care about education and public welfare would be much appreciated.
您设想,于开展类似跨国教育志愿服务期间,怎样去设计活动方可在最大程度上达成志愿者与受助儿童双方的长期共同发展呢?欢迎在评论区讲述您的观点或者经历,要是觉得本文有启迪,请点赞予以支持并且分享给更多关怀教育公益的友人。
Published by TutorHao | Education & Social Impact Series | aleveler.com
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