【推荐2】Voluntary work in fact, brings many personal benefits. My personal experiences have affirmed my belief in this.

To begin, voluntary work has provided me with the opportunity to gain more insight into the lives of the less fortunate. I once volunteered to clean up one-room flats where the less fortunate lived in. When I first entered the flat, I was astonished at the state of the living conditions — it was overcrowded with people, messy household items, and newspapers. I was critical about the owners of the flat. However, as the cleaning proceeded, I learned more about their misfortunes and difficulties. I was regretful of my initial judgement of them. This incident has allowed me to learn more about people. Moreover, it has made me realise that many underprivileged communities are unjustifiably judged and discriminated against. I learnt that life is a lot more complex than I had imagined, and that I should always try to display empathy.

In addition, my experience with volunteer work has reminded me to be more thankful for the little things. When I volunteered at a school to teach basic life skills to students with cerebral palsy (脑瘫), I found that the students were very appreciative of the teachers, teacher assistants and even the school attendants. The students often said “thank you” and smiled politely. I felt that as much as I had taught them, the students too had taught me: they taught me a lesson on gratitude.

Finally, doing voluntary work has given my life more meaning. After doing voluntary work, I feel more connected to the rest of mankind, and now have a stronger sense of purpose in my life. Instead of just being absorbed in my own wants and needs, now make use of the abilities I have to extend a helping hand to those in need.

【推荐3】You can’t see it, smell it, or hear it, and people disagree on how precisely to define it, or where exactly it comes from. It isn’t a school subject or an academic discipline, but it can be learned. It is a quality that is required of artists, but it is also present in the lives of scientists and entrepreneurs. All of us benefit from it and we succeed mentally and spiritually when we are able to handle it. It is a delicate thing, easily wiped out; in fact, it blossoms most fully when people are playful and childlike. Meanwhile, it works best in meeting with deep knowledge and expertise.

This mysterious—but teachable—quality is creativity, the subject of a recently-published report by Durham Commission on Creativity and Education. The report concludes that creativity should not exist in the school curriculum only as it relates to drama, music, art and other obviously creative subjects, but that creative thinking ought to run through all of school life, infusing (充满) the way humanities and natural sciences are learned.

Nevertheless, it is arts subjects through which creativity can most obviously be promoted. The value placed on them by the independent education is clear. One only has to look at the remarkable arts facilities at Britain’ stop private schools to understand this. But in the state education the extreme focus on English, maths and science threatens to destroy arts subjects; meanwhile, reduced school budgets mean decreasing extracurricular activities.

This difference between state and private education is a matter of social justice. It is simply wrong and unfair that most children have a small part of the access to choirs, art studios and drama that their more privileged peers enjoy. As lives are affected by any number of threatening challenges—climate crisis, automation in the workplace—humans are going to need creative thinking more than ever. For all of our sakes, creativity in education, and for all, must become a priority.

【推荐2】Zheng Xiaoying was born in Shanghai in September 1929. Her youth and passion for music helped her become a conductor in an art troupe (巡回演出团). In the early 1960s, Zheng was sent to the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory to study opera and symphony conducting, becoming the first professionally trained female conductor in China at that time.

As a student, she conducted the Italian opera “Tosca” in public at a large opera house in the Soviet Union and won great applause not only for the wonderful performance, but also for the Chinese woman on the stage. Recalling this experience, Zheng said it was of great importance for her to become an opera symphony conductor and served as one of the turning points in her life.

After return to China, she did her best to combine Western and Oriental music. In addition to lectures and performances, in 1998, she founded the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra. With the concept of “attracting more audiences to the concert hall to enjoy the beauty of music,” the musical orchestra has now gained worldwide recognition. It has also become a popular travel destination in the city of Xiamen.

Besides being a conductor, Zheng is also a teacher. As one of the most famous Chinese conducting professors, she has taught many famed musicians. Many of them are still active on stage, both in China and abroad. Still, as a daughter of the Hakka people, she follows the tradition of valuing education. The Hakka culture enabled her to create a Chinese symphony called “The Echoes of Hakka Earth Building” which promotes China’s cultural achievements in music. So far, the symphony has been performed 80 times in over 12 countries and regions.

Zheng not only promotes the Chinese symphony to the world, she also presents traditional Chinese music. She said the thought of spending her last few seconds on the conductor’s podium (乐队指挥台) would be what she calls “the most romantic” of a desirable career. Now in her 90s, Zheng Xiaoying is still active on the stage, sharing China with the world through her music.