Don’t Touch My Door | 别碰我的门
Written by: Fan Xuequn 范学群
Translated by: Yiyang Dong
In the blink of an eye, I have now been teaching Chinese at a secondary school in Cambridgeshire for seven years. It can be said to be both short and long for the development of a discipline. It is short because the time flies, but long because of the numerous changes over the seven years. Seven years ago, we started from scratch when Chinese first became one of our foreign language courses. But now, we not only offer GCSE Chinese courses but have also developed A-level classes. I was all on my own in the beginning, but now I have a teaching team of three Chinese teachers and two teaching assistants. Moreover, the GCSE Chinese exam results have long been outstanding, even becoming one of our school’s greatest points of pride.
My teaching career has thus gradually witnessed the rising recognition of Chinese in Cambridgeshire. At first, some students and their parents were doubtful about whether Chinese courses could prosper in an ordinary secondary school in the UK. But after all these years, they not only accept this discipline but also support my unique rules. Among my rules, the most interesting one is “Don’t touch my door.”
Let’s go back to when I first started teaching Chinese. At the time, I had just completed my PGCE at UCL. After an interview, I became the first Chinese teacher at this school and also the first at any public school in Cambridgeshire. As the first East Asian teacher in this school’s history, and with only grade seven students learning Chinese, students from other grades were curious about me and the Chinese course. Therefore, they often tried to draw my attention through mischievous acts such as knocking on my door loudly and running away quickly. Sometimes they even added strange noises into the mix, which disrupted my teaching.
Because my classroom is at the corner of the teaching building with surveillance camera installed in the ceiling, each time an incident like this occurred, I needed to contact the staff to check the CCTV recordings to identify the student responsible. But since students from other grades didn’t have Chinese courses, it sometimes took me more than half an hour to finally find the naughty kid.
When I found them, I would bring them to my classroom door, ask them to clasp their hands together and apologize to the door in Chinese saying “dui bu qi”, which means “sorry”. Although some students found it amusing, they could sense my determination and seriousness in addressing this incident.
This situation continued for about three months, during which the Chinese course was gradually accepted and respected. One day, to test how much respect the seventh-grade students had for me, I asked them to stand a certain distance away from the door after class so that I could have enough space to open it. I told them, “Don’t touch my door.” As expected, there were always some students who wanted to test the boundaries of the new rule by deliberately touching my door as they left the classroom. I then asked them to return to the classroom, go to the end of the line, and apologize to the door before leaving.
From then on, it seemed that everyone started to accept the rule. Years later, from the principal to the new students of grade seven, everyone knew this golden rule “Don’t touch Mr. Fan’s door!” Even at the open evening every year, I would pick two students in grade seven and ask them to announce this rule to visiting parents and their kids. Although they found it a bit weird, they still chose to obey the rule.
Because I rarely explained to students or their parents why they shouldn’t touch my door, they started to try and guess the reason themselves. A lot of people think it must be related to Chinese culture or superstition. Once, I explained the story behind this rule to a curious parent. She understood that I had created it so that students would show respect to teachers and their teaching process.
As time passed, the rule became a part of our school’s culture which also reflects the profound impact of Chinese teaching. The initial confusion and curiosity around my door turned into respect and recognition. This seemingly simple rule exemplifies mutual understanding, trust and respect between teachers and students. As a Chinese teacher, I teach them Chinese, and moreover, I teach them how to understand and embrace different cultures and rules.
About the author
Fan Xuequn started self-education after working as a foundry worker. In 1999, Fan earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. In 2000, he went to study in the UK and obtained an MBA from the University of Hertfordshire in 2001. In 2015, Fan completed his PGCE at the Institute of Education at UCL and became the first Chinese teacher at Melbourn Village College after graduation. Fan was honored with the Excellence Award by the UCL Confucius Institute. Now he is the head of the foreign languages department at the school and takes charge of promoting Chinese in the CAM Academy Trust.
转眼之间，我已经在这所位于剑桥郡的中学教了整整七年中文。七年的时间，对于一个学科的成长来说，可以说是既短暂又漫长。短暂是因为时间飞逝，漫长则是因为这期间发生的变化实在太多。七年前，当中文纳入我们学校的外语课程时，一切都是从零开始。然而现在，我们不仅有了普遍中等教育证书（GCSE）的中文课程，还拓展出了高级水平（A LEVEL）的班级；从我一个人的单打独斗，发展到现在的三位中文老师加上两位助教的团队。此外，我校的中文 GCSE 考试成绩每年都是非常亮眼的，甚至成了学校的骄傲之一。
我的教学生涯也因此见证了中文在当地逐步被认可的过程。起初，一些学生和家长对中文课程是否能在一所普通英国中学里成功开设抱有疑问。但几年下来，他们不仅接受了这一学科，还对我的一些独特规矩表示了支持。其中，最有趣的一条就是“Don’t Touch My Door（不要碰我的门）”。
让我们回到我刚开始教中文的那段日子。当时，我刚从伦敦大学学院（UCL）完成了教师资格证书课程（PGCE），并经过面试，成为这所学校的第一位中文老师，也是剑桥郡首位公立学校的中文老师。因为我是学校有史以来第一位东亚面孔的老师，加之最初只有七年级的学生学习中文，所以其他年级的学生对我和中文都感到新鲜和好奇。他们经常做一些小动作来吸引我的注意，比如在我上课时突然猛敲门然后快速跑开，有时还伴随着一些奇怪的叫声，打断了我正常的教学。
由于我的教室位于教学楼的一角，墙角上方装有监控器。每次发生敲门事件，我都需要联系学校工作人员查看闭路电视录像，以识别是哪个学生搞的鬼。但因为我并不教那些年级的学生，所以有时要耗费半小时以上才能找到那个调皮的孩子。
而当我找到这些孩子时，我会将他们带到我的教室门口，双手合十，用中文向门道歉，说一声“对不起”。尽管有的孩子会觉得这很好笑，但他们也感受到了我处理这件事的决心和严肃态度。
这样的状况持续了大约三个月，中文科目也逐渐获得了大家的尊重和认可。有一天，为了测试七年级学生对我的尊敬程度，我要求他们在下课后站在离门有一定距离的地方，以便给我足够的空间开门。为了简化规矩，我告诉他们：“Don’t Touch My Door.”。不出所料，总有些孩子想要测试新规矩的界限，他们在离开教室时故意碰我的门。我则要求他们回到教室，排到队伍的最后，向门道歉以后才能离开。
从那时起，我的这个规矩开始慢慢地被大家所接受。几年后，从校长到刚入学的七年级新生，所有人都知道了这一铁的规矩：Don’t Touch Mr. Fan’s Door! 。甚至在学校每年的公开日（Open Evening），我都会挑两个七年级的孩子站在门口，向来访的家长和孩子宣布这一规矩。虽然他们觉得有点儿奇怪，但是依然按照我的要求进入和走出教室。
由于我很少向学生或家长解释为什么不要碰我的门，他们开始自己猜测其中的原因，很多人都认为这可能与中国文化或宗教有关。直到有一次，我向一个好奇的家长解释了这个规定背后的故事，她才恍然大悟，明白了这其实只是为了建立起一种对老师和教学的尊重。
随着时间的推移，这一规矩不仅成为我们学校文化的一部分，而且也反映了中文教学所带来的深远影响。当初的不解与好奇，转化成为了尊重与认同。这个看似简单的规矩背后，其实蕴含着教师与学生之间的相互理解、信任和尊重。而我，作为一位中文老师，不仅教会了学生中文，更教会了他们如何去理解和包容不同的文化。
作者介绍
范学群，曾当过铸造工人，利用业余时间自学成才。1999 年在上海财经大学取得金融专业的学士学位，2000 年赴英留学，2001 年获得赫德福大学的工商管理硕士学位。2015 年在伦敦大学教育学院攻读 PGCE 专业，毕业后成为梅尔佰恩乡村学院（Melbourn Village College）的首位中文老师。曾被授予伦敦大学学院教育研究院孔子学院卓越奖。现任学校的外语部主管，并负责在凯姆学院信托组织（The CAM Academy Trust）推广中文。
Illustrated by Tian Tian.