"Teachers must love and be passionate about History to inspire students to learn."

PV:The History team of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted has just finished the national excellent student competition season with a very outstanding result with 100% of the students winning prizes, including 2 first prizes, 3 second prizes, 4 third prizes and 1 encouragement prize. Can you tell us what factors determined that success?

Teacher BuiMarketBich Hau:For more than 10 years, the results of the National Excellent Student Exam of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted have been quite stable and all students have achieved high scores. But this is a breakthrough year when for the first time, 2 students won First Prize, including a National Top Student, Thu Hien. I often tell my students, this year we have a champion.

To some extent, it can be said that this is a surprise. But it is not completely lucky or coincidental. Because, before that, when there were competitions and tests according to the exam questions of the Excellent Student Selection Exam for High Schools in the Coastal and Northern Delta regions, I always let the students do the test and asked the teachers to grade it and these tests were all praised. The teachers even asked us why we did not let the students take the test and if they took the test, they would definitely get high scores.

I also think that the students who won the First Prize are completely deserving. Like Ngoc An, this is the first contestant in grade 11 but won the First Prize in History. However, before that, during his studies, he always proved to be an excellent student. I still tell the seniors in grade 12 to read and refer to some of his exercises. I often take good writings from students to pass on to students to read, so that they can learn from each other and learn from their own experiences.

Through this year's competition, we also see that in order to get a high score, students must first have a solid knowledge base, must be able to write very well, both concisely and with soul, and must have sublimation. They also need to be meticulous in doing their work... Let's imagine, each History exam has 7 questions but only 180 minutes to do the test. So, for candidates to do well in the content and express themselves well and with emotion is not easy, and they have to prepare for a very long time.

PV:Many people think that it is natural for students from specialized schools to be excellent students. But in reality, is it that “easy”, especially in History?

Teacher BuiMarketBich Hau:Just a few months ago, at the provincial professional meeting on History, many colleagues congratulated me and the teachers in the team for topping the provincial History Competition with 17 excellent students, including 3 first prizes, 11 second prizes, 2 third prizes and 1 consolation prize. Many opinions also said that "if the teacher is good, the students are good" as a normal thing.

However, when I shared that although I was the homeroom teacher of a History class with 35 students, only 13 of them were in block C, meaning they chose History as a subject for university entrance exams, many colleagues were very surprised. That said, if in other specialized classes, choosing a team of excellent students is very easy, in our class it is the opposite. There were cases where parents saw their children in the team and called the teacher to ask not to let their children take the exam so that they could focus on studying for the university entrance exam.

So in that situation, what should a teacher do? Personally, I have to teach the right students. For example, with students in group A, I do not put pressure on them to go to school to take exams, but there will be historical stories for students to listen to and find interesting, but still have to ensure knowledge. In our class, even if you decide not to study History, I still have to teach harmoniously. For students who study History, I try to instill love and passion so that they see that they study History not for teachers, for school or for family but for themselves. From there, let them determine their learning goals and "go the long way" for themselves.

For the remaining students, when they major in History but do not choose History, we teachers are indeed very sad. This has many reasons, one of which is inevitably the reason of “immediate benefits”. But after the sadness, I understand and sympathize with the students because in reality, if students follow the C block, they do not have many choices after graduation. Therefore, to attract them to this subject, we still have to try to influence and arouse their passion. In this process, teachers and students must truly trust, students trust teachers, trust in what teachers have taught. In return, teachers trust students, trust in their determination, trust that they can do it despite the difficulties.

In fact, there are many students who choose block D but still take the History exam and still achieve high results like Nhat Vy - Second prize in the provincial excellent student contest, Second prize in the Youth Study and Follow Uncle Ho contest... And I still remember a few years ago, there was a student who took the Literature exam but did not have enough points and then switched to History major. For nearly the first semester, he still innocently thought that if he studied History, he could still take the Literature excellent student exam and persevered in realizing this dream and determined to follow block D. Later, knowing his wishes, I analyzed and let him see that his choice was completely inappropriate. At the end of grade 10, he asked me to study History and determined to take the exam to join the team. The first year, grade 11, he was not successful. By grade 12, he persevered and was selected to join the official team and later won the national second prize. Now he has graduated and is a police officer.

PV:As she shared, it is not easy to train an excellent student and it is even more difficult to have students achieve high scores. However, there are also many concerns about the process of training the excellent student team, considering it as training "fighting cocks". So, is that opinion fair to the students and does it not help the efforts of the teachers?

Teacher BuiMarketBich Hau:It would be really unfair to the students to say that. I affirm that the students who achieved national excellent students are not “fighting cocks”. Because the students who were selected for the team were all in the top of their school, of their class. And these students are not only good at one subject but also good at many subjects. Moreover, if they are to join the team, first of all, they must be passionate, must like it. If the teacher “forces” them, it can lead to the opposite effect.

Having been a homeroom teacher for many years, I truly admire the students. Previously, when I was studying at Nghi Loc 1 High School, in 1999, I also participated in the National Excellent Student Competition. But compared to the amount of knowledge we learned then and the amount of knowledge we have today, I see that the students are much better than before. I also sympathize and love them very much because when they join the team, they have to sacrifice and suffer a lot. During the years of training the team, we never finished school on time. But after the training class, the students had to go to other classes to prepare for the university entrance exam with exhausted, haggard faces.

I also want to thank you because it is the passion of the students that motivates teachers to try and strive.

PV:History is considered a subject with many ups and downs, with many times of "raising and putting down" between elective and compulsory subjects. However, most recently, the Ministry of Education and Training has planned that from 2025, History will be a compulsory subject in the National High School Exam. As a History teacher, have you ever wondered about this?

Teacher BuiMarketBich Hau:I remember, when the Ministry decided to make History an elective subject, this was our second sadness. Before that, many years ago, there was also the idea of ​​abolishing History. While this is a subject that has great significance in educating patriotism and national traditions. As a History teacher, I and many colleagues sometimes feel sad and even have professional pride.

However, thinking is thinking, but for us, whether it is compulsory or optional, our responsibility is still to teach well. And through ups and downs, we appreciate this subject more and more, and if there are no opposing opinions, we will not see the value of history.

PV:As you said, the value of History is undeniable. But in your opinion, do students today “fear” History or still “love” History?

Teacher BuiMarketBich Hau:I have taught in both regular and specialized schools, and I have found that students still love history. For example, in our school today, there are many students in the natural sciences who are still passionate and love to listen to stories about history. Many students are willing to discuss with their teachers until late at night about historical issues that concern them.

To maintain that passion, the teacher must be the number one factor, the teacher must love, must like, must be passionate to inspire students to learn History, to be respected by students. I remember, a student once asked me "Teacher, you train the team and teach History year after year, don't you get bored?". I answered, yes, when you only eat the same dish for many years. But the lesson is old and the students are new. Before each lesson, I still think that the students have not learned this knowledge, they do not know this event... and try to convey it to the students.

For me, every History lesson must be taught with the same effort as the first day. We must also constantly learn, "learn more, learn forever", not only must we be solid in knowledge but also must be good at information technology to be able to delve into the lesson, know how to select information, know how to expand the issue, regularly exchange expertise with colleagues... Teachers must also have pedagogical skills, innovate teaching methods and be ready to assign tasks to students so that they can accompany us in each lesson, proactively receive knowledge...

PV:Thanks for chatting!