In each class, brocade is not just a pattern, but a memory woven with needles and stitches; Then and Xoe dances are not memorized movements but the breath of a generation. The panpipe dance, brocade embroidery, folk song clubs... become living spaces where teachers, artisans and elders in the village sit together to teach - not only techniques but also meanings, responsibilities and pride. The lessons escape the limits printed on the pages of books, so that children can touch the fabric, open their ears to the stories, and enter the flowing source of cultural life.
The scarf dance and panpipe dance club of Che Cu Nha Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Mu Cang Chai Commune, has over 200 students practicing. Teacher Dao Thi Huong, who is not of Mong ethnic origin, stands in the middle of the school yard as a bridge - instilling in the students a love for culture, inviting artists to come, so that the students not only practice the rhythm but also understand the story hidden in each movement. "I teach the students so that they realize that preserving culture is a responsibility" - Ms. Huong said. There, teachers do not just teach letters, they pass on their roots.
Not only in Mu Cang Chai commune, in Yen Binh commune, right in Yen Binh Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities, teachers have tied up the invisible strings of the regulation of wearing ethnic costumes on special occasions, bringing folk songs and folk dances into extracurricular activities, turning the school yard into a small festival. And at Nam Lu Primary School for Ethnic Minorities, Muong Khuong commune, the Nung Din singing of People's Artist Hoang Xin Hoa resounds with the method of "singing to where, explaining to there" - each sentence, each word is extracted, explained so that the children understand the content, value and morality hidden in the lyrics. During the activities, the children wear colorful costumes, feel the source and sometimes, whisper to themselves: "This is mine".
Every small activity contains a big lesson. When children participate in sewing and embroidering each brocade pattern, understand each pattern, know why each stitch carries a message from their mother or grandmother, they learn patience, appreciate manual labor, see the connection between labor and identity. When they wear traditional scarves and play a piece of music, they learn to be confident, know how to maintain etiquette and feel the value of preserving their national cultural values.
In Muong Lo schools, there is a Thai Xoe Club with members who love and skillfully perform 6 ancient Xoe dances. These members will be the core in Thai Xoe performances during mid-school physical education, or to welcome visitors to the school, extracurricular activities, local holidays... The fact that Thai Xoe is maintained in schools is an important factor in helping Thai Xoe of Muong Lo region of the province to be included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2021.
Bringing heritage into schools is not just about maintaining or preserving, but about empowering. Empowering children to become cultural ambassadors, knowing how to tell their relatives and friends, knowing how to bring their identity to the community. When folk songs resound at flag salutes, when the sound of the panpipe and dances are mixed into children's songs, heritage is quietly transformed into soft skills, developing creative thinking, and nurturing community responsibility. Children grow up knowing how to respect the elderly, knowing how to preserve rituals, but also being ready to accept new things, integrating while still maintaining themselves.
In modern education, the goal is not only to impart knowledge but also to cultivate character, and cultural heritage is the raw material to create these qualities. Traditional craft skills may not become the main occupation for each child, but they open up livelihoods, develop community tourism, and create creative cultural products - where tradition brings economic and spiritual value.
When we see the children singing, the children carefully embroidering each brocade pattern, the sound of the flute, the village elder entering the classroom to tell old stories... makes us imagine the saying "the origin is where we return". Here, the origin is no longer waiting, but is invited into the classroom, cared for, and given the responsibility to continue. The picture of education thus becomes complete with modern knowledge meeting traditional identity.
To make that path last, we need resources and, above all, the community's solidarity. When each flag-raising ceremony is a colorful picture of traditional costumes, when the school yard is filled with the sound of the flute and the skillful embroiderers, the heritage will no longer be the past but will become the breath of the future. When those young generations grow up, carrying both knowledge and identity, they will become the ones who preserve and spread the cultural treasure - through the lives they live, through the songs they pass on, through the embroidery they give to the next generation.
Source: https://baolaocai.vn/khi-di-san-vao-truong-hoc-post883443.html
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