Young teacher "heavy" heart for her roots

Pass on the fire

Lam Giang Primary School (Ham Tri Commune, Ham Thuan Bac) has 261 students in 10 classes in the 2023-2024 school year. This is also a school with a special position as it is located in a locality where the Cham people live.

There, we met teacher Thong Thi Thanh Giang (born in 1981). The young teacher has a dream that she has always cherished and found her own path throughout the process of choosing to stand on the podium. “I graduated in 2000, and in 2002 I started teaching Cham. At that time, I was both studying and teaching. That means at that time, I still had to learn from the teachers who came before me. And the time I received the most systematic training was 2014 - 2015 according to the program of the Ministry of Education and Training for teachers of ethnic languages in Ninh Thuan. From that class, I gained more confidence to teach better” - Ms. Thanh Giang opened the story about her journey of teaching Cham.

It has been more than 20 years since graduating from school, the youth of a young female teacher, teaching both Cham and Vietnamese is not simple, but the gentle girl with a voice has to overcome difficulties with a love for the profession. "For Cham students, it is mandatory to learn Cham, while Kinh students can learn if they like it, if they don't like it, they don't. The difficulty is that the spoken language is familiar in the locality and is different from the language used in textbooks. Therefore, I have to research and learn from senior teachers, mainly learning from the experiences of my teachers".

Currently, the Cham language teaching curriculum is compiled by teachers but has been for many years. Therefore, the current generation of teachers like Ms. Giang must always research and apply the basic foundation for new programs, using a combination of two languages (Kinh and Cham) to support teaching. "If teaching a common language, in addition to teachers, there is a combination between teachers and parents, but in Cham, teachers teach themselves, 4 periods a week, and when they finish studying and go home, there is no support from parents, that is the current difficulty", Ms. Giang confided.

As a native Cham, Ms. Thanh Giang also has a great love for her ethnic language. Like many other teachers in the Cham community, she always desires for the Cham language to be developed. “But to do that, Cham teachers must be trained. My school is lucky to have the Board of Directors create opportunities for me and my colleagues to inherit, but it is only basic so I cannot teach advanced classes. Therefore, I always hope that the Cham language will be preserved because as long as the culture remains, the nation remains, and writing is part of the traditional culture of the nation” – Ms. Giang wishes.

Continue writing Dad's dream

Teacher Thong Thi Thanh Giang in a Cham language class

Because of her love for Cham language, teacher Thong Thi Thanh Giang has always loved her ethnic culture, always trying and making efforts throughout the teaching process. But few people know that the person who silently "passed the torch" to Ms. Giang was her biological father. In 2002, Ms. Giang still remembers the class organized by the district for cadres and employees, anyone who wanted to learn Cham language could participate. Ms. Giang's father was the principal of Lam Thien school at that time. Now he is no longer here, but perhaps that class ignited in his daughter the maturity, nurturing her father's ambition to continue passing that torch to her ethnic community. "That only class has not been reopened for many years. I also hope to receive the attention of leaders at all levels to help teachers gain more knowledge in teaching Cham language in the future."

Students are interested in interacting with teachers during Cham language class

20 years of dedication, as a young party member, teacher Thanh Giang is still tirelessly on her journey. In 2022, after a period of struggling with her career, teacher Thanh Giang wrote an experience initiative "Some solutions to preserve and maintain the beauty of Cham ethnic culture in Lam Giang Primary School" as a way to contribute to promoting and preserving the Cham language for the future.

With her gentleness, teacher Thong Thi Thanh Giang received the love of her students.

Ms. Thanh Giang shared: “ Cham culture attracts tourists from near and far partly because of its unique and distinctive features, so in my initiative, I want to provide students with basic knowledge about the cultural beauty of our nation. Educate them about preserving cultural identity through their daily life. Collaborate with families in educating them about preserving national cultural identity, integrating education about preserving national cultural identity in lectures in the local cultural education program. From the right awareness and attitude, students will have the right actions, voluntarily and happily preserve the traditional culture of the nation without having to force them."

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Van commented: “There are 4 teachers teaching Cham language at the school, including Ms. Giang. Ms. Giang is a veteran teacher from the school's founding years until now. Up to now, it must be said that Ms. Giang has had many achievements in the teaching process, contributing to the overall achievements of the school. She has been an emulation fighter for many years, and has been commended by the Provincial People's Committee. The school has achieved many good results in teaching Cham language, in which the contributions of Ms. Giang and the collective of Cham language teachers are very large."

In order to provide students with information about the beauty of the Cham people's cultural and spiritual life, Ms. Thanh Giang not only teaches writing, but also introduces the Cham people's cultural features through lessons, from costumes to unique traditional musical instruments such as percussion, Ghinang drum, Baranung drum , Chieng (Cheng) , saranai trumpet and kanhi, Cham folk dance in Binh Thuan , and traditional weaving of the Cham people. "Through the lessons, I want to educate the awareness of preserving the national cultural identity. I have completed the Cham ethnic language program for primary school teachers to bring the language and writing closer to the students," Ms. Giang confided.

Teacher Thanh Giang continues her teacher-father's dream of teaching Cham language

After 1 year of researching and implementing the initiative, it has brought remarkable results. Ms. Giang happily said: "Students are interested in knowledge that has long been associated with daily life, but they have not paid attention to it. During the learning process, students are very active, proactive and fully participate in extracurricular activities, field trips, are aware of preserving national cultural identity, are self-conscious in wearing national costumes on Mondays and holidays, follow the rules of the class and school, build a cultural lifestyle in the school, study and live in the family, village, and neighborhood environment. That is my great joy" - Ms. Thanh Giang shared more.

The young teacher with a gentle voice, wearing the traditional costume of her people, stands in class as a testament to what she is doing, preserving the precious things of culture, preserving each "squiggly" letter, but cherishing the bright things ahead.

“ Culture, in a broad or narrow sense, refers to the most quintessential and quintessence, crystallized and molded into the best, most unique, very humane, benevolent, humane and progressive values. People often say that a cultured person, a cultured family, a cultured nation... Human happiness is not only about having a lot of money, a lot of property, eating well, dressing well, but also about the richness of the soul, living in love and compassion, reason and justice” - General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong spoke at the National Cultural Conference on November 24, 2021.

Personal achievements of Ms. Thong Thi Thanh Giang:

Certificate of Merit from the Provincial People's Committee for the 2021-2022 school year

District People's Committee commends school year 2019 - 2020; school year 2022 - 2023

For many years, he has been an excellent teacher at the district level and a grassroots emulation fighter.

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