Dong Zhihua: Assiduous Young Teacher

Great ZUEL standing beside the Yangtze River, lots of inspiring stories sprang up during our schooling years, which continuously nourish us with spiritual power. In order to deliver the stories all around us and appraise the role models our school especially to publish good stories series of session, make it as a business card of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. So that the model deeds could pull our socks up, and contribute our energy for double top university construction.  

Dong Zhihua: Assiduous Young Teacher

Dong Zhihua，a teacher from the school of finance at ZUEL, stood out from 87 teachers all around the province and won the first prize during the 5th Hubei provincial teaching contest in August，2016. What lies behind this honor? The 35-year-old teacher prepared 20 version PowerPoint files plus lots of handouts and practiced in front of his wife throughout his summer time.  

Having got an offer from China Merchant bank in Shenzhen, Dong zhihua chose to continue his master degree after undergrad. Occasionally, he got a chance to study abroad then he went to Louisiana University and got his doctor degree there. In 2011, he come back as an analyst in a foreign consulting company. however，his experience as student cardre and instructor, als his homesickness made him choose to be a teacher at Zhongnan university of Economics and Law. 

  For Dong zhihua, the identity of teacher is no stranger to him. The third day he went on his doctor course, the school decided to appoint him as assistant lecturer, although he felt his oral English is not good enough at that time. He told us honestly that teaching contents were just simple algebra but he was very nervous and didn’t know how to communicate with foreign students. So he memorized all the content he’s going to talk in class in case that his brain would go blank. He judged himself with joking, “Others are preparing for lessons but I’m reciting lessons. My shirt was wet with sweat after class and I did not dare to look at the students sit in front of me.”  

It is due to experience of studying abroad and giving lectures, Dong zhihua formed his own feeling and comprehension on teaching. In his point of view, teachers should stand in as a student to carefully consider what do students need? And in what kind of way to give lectures are more acceptable? He made great effort to make his course relatively grounded.  

While lecturing on humanity and social science knowledge such as insurance，he would combine the recent news and the function of insurance closely. On the other hand, while teaching science subjects such as insurance actuary, he would pay more attention on practice, and encourage his students to learn some skills such as computer programming and data mining. He advocated learn to use and know about what kind of skills that the society need, make it as your own strengths. All of his students know and that on the first class of the semester he will give as a warm-up to set rules for students. He told students do not be absent and do not cheat. Absence will be a great loss and cheat is something to do with morel. Students come here to be educated so I am here to make them aware that they should be responsible for themselves. While I see they gain something, agree with my point of view and being praised that my teaching part was good, I feel really moved. This kind of achievement and satisfaction is the best to reward to a teacher.  

Being as deputy director of finance school insurance subject, Dong zhihua start up insurance actuary subject construction in 2014. The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries is the first Society of Actuaries in the world, and its actuary qualification certificate is regarded as the most authoritative one in this field. Dong zhihua, along with other teachers reach out to professional organizations and societies of actuary. In October of 2016, our school became the 4^th university that acquire the exemptions of examination. Thanks to their unremitting effort, our school has got 6 subjects eligible for exemption of 8 subjects so far. “Basically we did nothing except for preparing application documents during that summer, because of the exemptions some famous foreign universities show a strong will to cooperation with our school.” He was very proud while mentioned this.  

His quality of assiduous not only applied in studying and employment, but also in somewhere beyond the teaching. Dong zhihua chose to exercise them himself in Suiyang County at the end of 2016. “This is another new field so I just start from the very beginning to meet local working requirement.” Dong zhihua realize that the finish the project work is the best way to alleviate the poverty. He took the lead on Suiyang government and social capital cooperation （PPP）project.  

Last September 1st, on behalf of Chongyang County, Dong Zhihua made a characterized speech at the on-spot meeting of sanitary sewage treatment of townships, which is highly praised by Cao Guangjin, the vice governor, and Li Changhai, the director of housing and urban-rural construction agency. Dong Zhihua, as a researcher of the collaborative innovation center in Hubei Province and the industrial consultant of Chongyang County government, summarized the practices and experiences of this project into texts, thus writing a report - “enabling market to work for beautiful China— the enlightenment of PPP model innovation in treating domestic sewage of Chongyang County’s townships”. The deputy mayor of Xianning City also gave an approval of this report, whose payment mechanism was exclusively reprinted by the internet public number PPP that had the most impact on domestic media, with five thousand pageviews. “The greatest value of my work lie in helping government to economically save money”, Dong Zhihua said.

Behind the work is the guilty for his families. Dong Zhihua still feels sorry for his families although it is a two-and-half-hour drive from Chongyang to Wuhan once a week. “As a father of two children,, the elder child is three years old and the younger one is eight months, he always tries his best to stay with them as soon as possible when he is in free time”.

Do it while you’re young, written by Dr. Yuan Yue, is a book that Dong Zhihua likes. He hopes he can attempt to step on different roads in life to appreciate unique views, instead of living the monotonous life. Meanwhile he also wishes to guard his three-foot teaching platform, and works better in this field.