Chinese Student Wants to Use U of A Doctorate to Help 'Left-Behind Generation'

Photo Submitted

Jingshu Chen, pictured with her husband and son, hopes to help children in China with her dissertation research.

In China, an estimated 61 million children are referred to as the "left-behind generation." Their parents have moved from rural areas to cities to earn a living but they don't bring their children with them because of a residency permit system that would require the adults to pay for the children to attend school.

Workers for nongovernmental agencies and others who have encountered these children report they are suffering emotional trauma, depression and anxiety.

Jingshu Chen is in the first year of a doctoral program in curriculum and instruction at the University of Arkansas. She wants to design her dissertation research with the goal of helping some of those 61 million children.

The U of A recently celebrated International Education Week. Chen is one of 1,466 international students representing 112 countries who are enrolled for the fall semester. She came to the United States seven years ago with her husband, who is on the University of Arkansas faculty in the animal science program. The couple has a 5-year-old son.

Chen received an undergraduate degree in teaching Chinese as a second language from East China Normal University and worked one year as a teacher before deciding she was more interested in literature. She returned for a master's degree in comparative literature that included both Chinese and American works. In her early 20s, she began writing short stories for children and published two books. They were fiction but she drew on her own childhood. When she came to the United States, she began translating books into Mandarin for several publishers in China. She has completed 23 books and will finish 10 this year. A few at the beginning were books for adults, but then she chose to focus on children's books.

The translation work allowed her to learn more about Mandarin. Sometimes, she has to contact an author to be sure she understands the meaning of a phrase or to ask how to explain something that may not make sense to a reader not familiar with American culture. It's also helping her learn more about American culture and history.

"It has really helped me with my studies," Chen said. "I'm learning about trends and issues and history of education in America. Children's books talk about education in different times through history."

Last summer, Chen participated in the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project directed by Chris Goering, Chen's faculty adviser and an associate professor of English education, and Vicki Collet, an assistant professor of childhood education. Chen is interested in how early childhood literature can help with literacy.

As she gets further along in her doctoral program, her thoughts return to China.

"As a writer, I learned a lot of new things about writing from that workshop," Chen said. "I am trying to bridge the education between China and the U.S. by bringing workshops like this to China and by making my voice heard here.

 "I have been thinking a lot about the leftover children," she continued. "Many stay with grandparents who are illiterate and are having difficulty raising them in a contemporary environment. I would like to find a way to help these children."

Chen visits China several times a year and has visited learning centers set up to help children in the left-behind generation. She was invited to speak with teachers and administrators. She would like to help design curriculum for these learning centers, specifically integrating children's literature into programs.

She is exploring specifics now. At first, she considered whether more technology would benefit the children, but she discovered on a visit to China that many of the children were not lacking technology. In fact, video game addiction is adding to the problems faced by these children, she said.

"I got lost for a while," she said, of the time before she decided to a seek a doctorate. "I have found my passion now. I wish I could be an open window for the American people getting to know about China as well as for the Chinese people getting to know about the U.S., especially in the field of education. It not only takes a village to raise a child, but also several generations across the whole planet. We could make an impact together."