Zhang Qian

    zhqcindy@163.com

    SIX teachers gave delicately polished speeches and thoughtful responses to spontaneous questions at a final competition for the title of “Teacher of the Year” on Saturday.

    A physics teacher from Qianhai School in Nanshan District, Sun Lichun, topped her rivals and was named the 2016 Teacher of the Year by 100 judges comprised of a professional judge panel, public audience, media practitioners as well as student representatives.

    “There are so many good teachers in Shenzhen and I am just one of them,” said Sun after winning the title. She specifically thanked the Nanshan Education Bureau where she had worked for over a decade since graduating from Northeast Normal University in Jilin Province.

    Sun went through several rounds of selection. The municipal and district-level education bureaus chose 11 candidates from local schools earlier this year to receive votes online, which contributed to 30 percent of the contestants’ ranking.

    During the online voting period that ended at midnight Aug. 15, information and stories about the 11 candidates were displayed on the municipal bureau’s official portal and the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily app.

    Out of the 11 candidates, the six who had received the most votes entered the final round of competition Saturday that required contestants to display an introductory video, give a time-limited presentation and answer two questions relating to educational theories by referring to their teaching experiences.

    The other five teachers were from various schools around the city and taught different subjects, but half of the initial contestants were Chinese-language teachers at their schools. Sun teaches science, one contestant is a dance teacher and another teaches history at a middle school.

    Sun introduced the 3Is teaching method to the audience. Teaching science subjects requires 3Is: innovating ability, inquisitive activity and an integrated curriculum that is suitable for a science class in the 21st century, according to the physics teacher.

    Though the other five contestants had all touched the audience with their stories of devotion and love for their students, Sun’s speech and her teaching method better fit the city’s push to become an innovative metropolis.

    The Teacher of the Year competition was initiated by the city’s education bureau last year. A Chinese-language teacher from Pinggang Middle School in Longgang District received the honor last year.