The teacher who never gives up
“In my view, there are no blind children, only children. Blind children are no different to any other, except for their way of seeing the world: we use our eyes, and they use their ears and hands,” said Zhang Long, Guo Bin’s teacher.
After working as a music teacher at a regular school for 18 years, the 41-year-old volunteered to teach at Wuhan City School for the Blind in 2011, despite opposition from friends and relatives.
“It takes 10 times the effort to teach at a school for the blind,” she said. “The children can’t see the music score, so you have to teach them one section after another, and help them learn where to press on the instrument, key by key.”
Zhang said her work has dominated her life for the past five years, with a normal day starting at 8 am and ending after 9 pm. After teaching classes in the morning, she spends the rest of the day accompanying students as they practice.
“Sighted children can see the score and practice by themselves, but blind children need a teacher’s presence to practice,” she said. There are 60 students in the school band, and she has to move from classroom to classroom to guide children practicing more than 10 different types of instrument.
“I hardly get any free time, and we only get nine days for our summer vacation,” she said, adding that she never lowers her expectations or demands simply because the children are blind.
“If I were to do that, it would be disrespectful to art and to the students. I never help them to do things they can do themselves. I also ask their parents to avoid doing so,” she said.
“For me, it’s not taboo to use words such as ‘see’ and ‘ look’. Sooner or later, they will have to integrate with society. They should learn how to do that now, instead of in 12 years’ time. As long as they work hard, their perseverance will pay off and their dreams will become reality.”