In May last year, SIFC's "Week Without Walls" field trip allowed students to form an indissoluble bond with the youth groups in the mountain areas of Hunan. For the first time, they carried out public welfare teaching; the second time, they deeply explored the problems of children lost and abducted; this time, they started from the "heart" and looked into the psychological problems of the youth in mountainous areas. The team named "Leiyang 3.0" launched a series of project-based learning activities addressing the mental health of the youth in mountainous areas.  

In SIFC, there are no standard answers for each project, and each student can find his/her own answer. Let's see what kind of answers they found this time?

The students of SIFC's "Leiyang 3.0" team found that although urban adolescents' psychological problems have attracted greater social attention, few people are aware of the mental health problems of adolescents in the mountain aeras  solve them from the perspective of positive psychology.

They boldly made conjectures—

Do the teenagers in mountain area lack confidence and self-esteem? Do they suffer from a low sense of self-efficacy? Can it be improved through mental health education? What kind of mental health education is better for them?

The "Leiyang 3.0" team hopes to use positive psychology education to solve their problems and help these peers and friends in the mountain areas to regain their self-confidence, find their own value, and get more opportunities in life.

They believe that compared with the pathological psychology and negative psychology models widely used in school education, positive psychology is more suitable for the youth in mountain areas. The former focuses on preventing and correcting various psychological problems and problematic behaviors of students, while the latter actively seeks out and uncovers students’ positive inner qualities, which can cultivate their positive spirit and character, promote their sense of well-being, and disclose their potential.

Around this point of view, the "Leiyang 3.0" team began to explore suitable courses, trying to introduce the concept of positive psychology into the psychological education of  schools in the mountain areas.

| “耒阳3.0”走过的乡间小路

The country road that the "Leiyang 3.0" team walked through

After determining the research priorities, "Leiyang 3.0" consulted a large number of relevant documents, and also compiled a set of questionnaires suitable for this project, which were distributed to the four classes of Hunan Faxin Middle School for a survey.

The team had the opportunity to teach from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. One day of classes included:

1. English class: Students were often encouraged, to increase their sense of achievement and joy.

2. Psychology art class: Students were instructd to refer to the "Virtue and Character Strengths Table" to draw self-portraits of their own strengths, and to draw each other at the same table, so that students can realize that they are better in the eyes of others than they are in their own eyes. This exercise can improve self-confidence and perceived self-efficacy.

3. Talent show class: Students were organize to show their talents, improving their self-confidence and resilience through encouragement.

4. Breaks between classes: Students were guided to meditate between classes to relax their brains and relieve stress, leading them to have a more positive attitude towards learning and life.

5. Gratitude Class: Students were asked to write thank you letters and share them on stage to help them realize that they are recognized by others, so as to realize their own value and enhance their sense of happiness.

"Leiyang 3.0" team members are with

the students in Hunan

Seeing the innocent smiles of the students in Faxin Middle School, the "Leiyang 3.0" team sincerely felt that all the efforts were worth it. They handed in a complete answer sheet for their project research, and also opened the gates to a new spiritual journey for the students of Faxin Middle School.

Nick Li from Leiyang 3.0 team shared his experience, saying that "It was a valuable experience and a wonderful memory. This experience helped me to learn how to carry out an academic project in a systematic way, and also let us  city people come to the mountain area to experience the difference between urban and rural areas and witness life in another part of China. I want to major in psychology in the future, and this experience gives me more motivation to pursue my dream."

Compared to traditional learning, in project-based learning, nothing is determined or fixed, the time, space, knowledge, social identity, and interpersonal relationships all flow. Everything that is ordered and structured seems to be dissolved, the student can be the teacher, and the teacher is "learning" in the process of teaching.

Through this project research, the team came to the following conclusions:

1. There are serious deficiencies in both traditional psychological education and positive psychology education in schools in mountain areas.

2. Many students have a pessimistic attitude towards life and generally a lack of happiness.

3. Some students lack a positive attitude towards themselves, self-confidence and self-esteem.

4. Positive psychology education based on well-being can effectively improve the sense of self-efficacy of adolescents in mountain areas.

Through questionnaire surveys and data comparison, "Leiyang 3.0" proved that positive psychology education based on happiness can effectively improve the sense of self-efficacy of the youth in mountain areas. They believe that although this project has come to an end temporarily, the journey to improve the mental health of the youth in the mountain areas does not stop there. They hope that this project will draw attention to related issues from all sectors of society, and use the project as a lever to mobilize more resources to invest in the youth in mountain areas across the country, so as to help them find self-confidence, self-love, and ultimately, happiness.

During the whole project, SIFC's Chinese and foreign psychology teachers also provided a lot of professional guidance for the "Leiyang 3.0" team. As teenagers, the members of the "Leiyang 3.0" team may have also encountered pressure from their studies and interpersonal relationships, but they not only maintained a positive and healthy attitude, their motivation to actively learn, but also showed their empathy towards the vulnerable groups they were working with and made a contribution to society. They are caring for others and society in the way they are cared for.

The project won the first award in the field of social responsibility of the CTB competition and advanced to the global competition stage. Instructor Tracy Yang received coaching honor

Arthur conducts field research in Hunan

Talking about the project, Arthur Huang said: "When I first came to Leiyang, Hunan province for charity teaching, we were shocked by the education and living environment of poor children in Hunan province. This was the beginning of everything. What we want to change is not only their living conditions and life safety, but also their happiness. It's not just the mountainous area of Hunan, but we hope our project can draw the world's attention and free children around the world from the suffering of mental illness."

Project instructor Tracy Yang shared: "In project-based learning, students can fully express themselves, explore their own values, and create connections with their society. By understanding questions such as 'who am I' and 'what can I do', they can better decide who they can become in the future."

This way of learning, to a certain extent, can keep students curious and motivated to explore the world. In their continuous exploration and introspection, they are also constantly broadening the boundaries of academic knowledge and their own abilities. It is not difficult for us to see that SIFC’s students dare to challenge authority, think outside the box, and express their true inner opinions and views. And these are valuable learning experiences that will influence their lifes.