Get close to Truck Drivers: Let Research Extend into Society

During the summer vacation, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Xi 'an Jiaotong -Liverpool University signed a formal agreement with Weifang Anxin Station Social Work Service Center to jointly build an internship base and witness the successful conclusion of the "Big Hand Holding Little Hand, Parent-Child Growing Together" parent-child camp activity, providing care and educational support for truck driver families and their children, and practicing the educational concept of university connecting the community with practical actions.

Starting from social reality: Focusing on the "hidden predicament" of the truck driver group

Weifang Anxin Station is the first professional social work organization in the country that was initiated by truck drivers themselves and established in a standardized manner with the support of foundations and the government, focusing on serving this group.

"Truck drivers face many difficulties at work, such as inconvenience in food and accommodation, high work intensity, oil theft, cargo theft, etc." Dr Lin Lefeng, Assistant Professor of the Department of Chinese Studies, HSS, and the coordinator of the event, said, "They are constantly on the road, have low incomes, are burdened with huge loans and have a high accident rate. Therefore, this industry has given rise to a new group - 'Truck Ladies'. Many of these wives accompany their husbands in the car, and some even take over the driving to allow their husbands to rest. New problems arise around this labour process: their children - 'truck kids' - often become left-behind children because their parents are away for years."

Dr Lin explains that the project focuses on women's empowerment and children's growth, hoping that through the model of parent-child study Tours, the women will take children into cities and universities to experience the atmosphere of university campuses firsthand, broaden their horizons and inspire their imagination of the future, which is also the original intention of the parent-child camp.

Encounter the direction of growth in the XJTLU classroom

With the support of organisations such as the China Women's Development Foundation and Cummins (China), Weifang Anxin Station held its third parent-child camp in Suzhou and Wuxi from August 4th to 8th this year. Thirteen families from six provinces gathered in Jiangnan for a five-day, four-night journey of integrated learning and growth, and made a special trip to HSS.

The Department of Chinese Studies offers a unique "career planning class" for children to help them set learning goals and growth directions. Parent-child camp families immerse themselves in the open, diverse and international campus atmosphere of XJTLU in teaching buildings, museum and library. Dr Lin interacted affectionately with the children on the theme of "Dreams and Efforts", guiding them to understand the meaning of learning and clarify future goals.

In the "Me in Ten Years" keynote speech, the children bravely envisioned the future, showing confidence and hope. Six undergraduates from the Department of Chinese Studies, Boyuan Zheng, Ruohan Yang, Yuanbo Guan, Likun Wei, Meixin Bao and Jianing Zheng, also participated throughout the event. They interacted with the children from the perspective of "college students ten years from now", sharing their experiences of learning and growth, giving the children a more intuitive understanding of the meaning of learning and making the "HSS Classroom" warmer and more inspiring.

School and Society work together: Make academia take root in society

During the event, Dr Lin Lefeng, on behalf of HSS, officially signed the internship-based cooperation agreement with Weifang Anxin Station Social Work Service Centre.

The head of the Weifang Anxin Station said in his speech that the institution has always been committed to improving the actual situation of truck drivers and hopes that this joint construction will provide a real social research scenario for XJTLU students, and also looks forward to more teachers and students continuing to participate in the research and practice of the topic of truck drivers and freight China.

Professor Yuan Shen, director of the Public Welfare Research Institute of Transfar Charity Foundation and a professor in the Department of Sociology at Tsinghua University, believes that the cooperation has built a new bridge of interaction between academia and industry and provided a new model for the training of social work talents. The Transfer Foundation, which has long been concerned with the group of truck drivers, has launched the "Truck Driver Peace of Mind Station" program across the country after publishing the "China Truck Driver Survey Report" in collaboration with the Tsinghua University team, providing a support network for drivers.

Dr Dan Ma, an assistant researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences and a sociology professor at Peking University, also expressed his expectation that the collaboration would produce more socially influential research and practical results on livelihood issues such as truck driver services. Zhuoqun Wang, executive director of the Transfar Charity Foundation, added that the foundation will continue to support the deep connection between universities and public welfare organisations and promote professional social services to take root at the grassroots level and benefit more groups.

Dr Lin said XJTLU is an open and inclusive university that welcomes and embraces exchanges and connections from all sectors of society. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has always been focused on social reality, responding to real social needs through academic research and genuine care.

This collaboration is precisely a manifestation of XJTLU’s spirit of openness and its sense of social responsibility in the humanities. "It not only promotes the deep integration of classroom theory and social practice, but also enables academic research to take root in society, allowing society to see the value and power of learning humanities and social sciences," Dr Lin said.

Dr Lin hopes to use this collaboration as an opportunity to work with Weifang Anxin Station to create a collaborative platform for college students' social practice and academic research with exemplary significance.

He looks forward to seeing more XJTLU students interning at Weifang Anxin Station in the future, and continuing to follow up and study social issues related to the work and family of truck drivers, rather than just one-off activities.

"In the long term, we hope to build an interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences laboratory and establish a 'China Truck Driver Concern Group' to enable students to engage in related academic research and public welfare activities for a long time.
Understand society through research and respond to society through action."

Source: Weifang Anxin Station Social Work Service Centre
Reporters: Yiyi Gu, Ruohan Huang
Translator: Ruohan Huang