Primary and Secondary School Reading Demonstration Bases

To thoroughly implement the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and give full play to the leading and radiating role of reading demonstration bases, on May 7, 2026, the centralized demonstration and thematic seminar activity (secondary school session) for the second batch of “Primary and Secondary School Reading Demonstration Bases” in Xishan District, hosted by Xishan District Teacher Development Center, was successfully held at Wuxi United International School. Principals in charge of reading projects in all secondary schools in the district, members of the district reading core group, and project teachers from each demonstration base gathered together to explore new paths for reading teaching and discuss a new future of educating people through a scholarly atmosphere.

At the beginning of the activity, two high-quality reading demonstration lessons were presented in succession, showing the diverse forms of reading teaching in Xishan.

Ms. Song from Wuxi United International School delivered a lesson entitled Love and Dignity—Exploring the View of Love in Literary Works. Taking delicate close reading of texts as the starting point, she guided students to explore the true meaning of love and personal dignity in classic literature, making the reading class both profound and warm.

Vice Principal from Gangxia Middle School, Mr. Zhao Chenlin focused on the classic masterpiece Journey to the West. He led teachers and students to reread and appreciate the classic from a brand-new perspective, demonstrating the breadth and interest of whole-book reading teaching and keeping the classic ever-new with repeated reading.

The two demonstration lessons had distinct styles and different emphases, vividly presenting the solid practice and innovative exploration of secondary school reading teaching in Xishan District, and providing vivid teaching references for the teachers present.

After the demonstration lessons, Mr. Meng Xiaodong, National Supervisor, Special-Grade Chinese Teacher and Co-principal of Wuxi United International School, delivered a special lecture. Mr. Meng shared his insights on the current status of reading, the essence of reading and the cultivation of reading habits. He pointed out that current reading is characterized by fragmentation, instantaneity and algorithm dominance, and that mobile phones are a double-edged sword for reading. He emphasized that reading “supplies oxygen to the root” of the spirit, and that one’s reading history is one’s growth history; in the AI era, reading can better cultivate expression, judgment and empathy abilities, and the age of 13-15 is a critical period for forming reading habits.

Combined with the reading project in Xishan District, Mr. Meng put forward systematic construction ideas: build a full-stage reading system from kindergarten to senior high school and clarify reading goals at each stage; formulate reading volume standards for teachers and students and promote whole-book classic reading; establish a three-dimensional reading literacy framework of knowledge, ability and value, and advocate teachers to persist in reading and promote teaching through reading. The lecture was concise and practical, pointing out the direction for the development of regional reading education.

This activity built a platform through classroom practice and clarified the direction through expert guidance, fully demonstrating the solid achievements of reading teaching in Xishan District. In the future, Xishan Education will continue to promote the reading project, let the scholarly atmosphere permeate the campus, and lay a foundation for students’ growth through reading.