21 | Ink East

SWFM21: Student or teacher?

After Xu Tingsheng had revealed the statistic of 246, the entire room fell silent.

Ye Yingjing was the first to recover as she stood up, “Student Xu, you...actually, I asked the question arbitrarily. I don’t know the answer to it at all.”

Xu Tingsheng smiled, replying relaxedly, “Actually, I answered it arbitrarily as well. I knew that you didn’t know it.”

Noise erupted.

Some felt a sense of relief, some were rendered speechless, some wanted to laugh, some didn’t know whether to smile or to cry, but virtually everyone here was currently thinking the same, “So it was answered arbitrarily. That’s good, that’s good. I’d still thought that he was really already monstrous to that extent; that would really make people not feel like living.”

The students who had earlier been shocked by Xu Tingsheng’s straightforward and confident answer virtually to the point of falling on the ground and prostrating themselves and the teachers whose confidence had taken a huge blow finally managed to properly straighten their weakened knees once more...they had nearly collapsed and knelt.

Their completely shattered and scattered self-esteem was also in the process of being pieced back together.

“The statistic of 246 might be wrong...I deduced it based on the deployment of the Northern Navy at the time as well as the tonnage of the cruiser Zhiyuan and the firepower it possessed etcetera...therefore, I think that it would not be too outrageously wrong. The deviation between the statistic of 246 and the true number should lie within three people.”

Xu Tingsheng supplemented a lance, a lance that...with great cracking noises, again shattered the self-esteem of everyone here, which had only just been pieced back together, “How is it not an arbitrary answer again? Deduction, based on deployment, tonnage of military cruiser and possessed firepower...this...his mother, it’s even more monstrous than having coincidentally seen it before and then remembered it...deviation of three people at most?...There’s no way to live anymore.”

…

No one asked anything further. Xu Tingsheng questioned them twice further, but there were indeed no further questions.

Whoever asked was a sucker.

“Since you have no further questions, let’s go on with...interaction. What I wish to interact with everyone on is a type of autonomous learning model. I have christened this method as autonomic learning.”

At this time, the concept of ‘autonomic learning’ that would be extremely popular a few years later had still not yet been officially proposed and proliferated. Many students were at a loss upon hearing this term, while the teachers had only vaguely heard of something similar before. Honestly speaking, it was something that left many of them unhappy, “Autonomic learning-what’s the meaning of that? Are you treating us teachers as extraneous?”

Doubt and dissatisfaction left many teachers’ faces ugly.

Xu Tingsheng continued, “What then is autonomic learning? First, it has to be made clear that it is not self-learning. The most important principle of autonomic learning is that it has to be done under the guidance of the teachers. Otherwise, we’d all fall into a trench, the Mariana Trench.”

The students laughed, and the expressions of the teachers turned radiant as sunlight once more.

“My meaning is that when we are revising our work, we must learn to reflect on it under the guidance of our teachers’ teachings as we autonomously sort them out. In simple terms, we should look from the standpoint of teachers in terms of looking at and dealing with knowledge.

“Why do teachers have a better grasp on knowledge than us?...Foundation is one reason, while methods and techniques are another, key factor. When sorting out knowledge in preparation for lessons, teachers have to search for a proper order of logic as well as means of expression in order to transmit that information. As I see it, this is actually the most perfect method of learning. Whether it is in the aspect of memory or understanding, it is the most perfect method, whilst also being the most efficient.”

“Therefore, it is our teachers whom we have to emulate.”

Other than the students here who had been rendered wide-eyed and tongue-tied, many of the teachers present had already unconsciously began taking notes, because a portion of them had already discovered that Xu Tingsheng’s viewpoint could actually already form a thesis, an education thesis that could very possibly generate massive upheaval.

Xu Tingsheng continued, “For example, in the previous month, my two best friends helped me in revising Mathematics, and everyone knows how well that turned out. They guided my results down, while guiding their own results up...why is that?...it’s because they are bastards.”

Amidst the laughter that erupted, Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng threw the caps of their pens onto the stage, “The hell, how shameless, still acting pitiful and tricking a meal out of us.”

Xu Tingsheng pocketed the two pen caps, continuing, “That was just a joke. I believe that many of you here have understood my meaning. Their improvement was precisely because of them having unconsciously stood from a teacher’s standpoint in diligently guiding me, sorting out and gathering together the required knowledge as they searched for patterns and techniques in order to explain to me better. In this process, they themselves benefited very greatly, as greatly as this.”

Xu Tingsheng spread his arms wide, as though opening up his embrace. Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng exchanged glances. They knew that what Xu Tingsheng said was true.

“Since today’s interaction subject is History, I will give an example on this, a complete autonomic learning process, demonstrating to you all the method that I speak of. The topic I have chosen is Diplomacy of New China.”

Xu Tingsheng turned and wrote the title on the blackboard. His writing was smooth and elegant, his movements like flowing water.

The teachers down below seemed all to be in a bit of a trancelike state at this moment. Looking at Xu Tingsheng on the stage, it felt as though they were looking at a colleague, an extremely competent colleague who doing a familiar job relaxedly and with ease. From the beginning till now, in terms of the grasping of rhythm, the moderation of the class’s atmosphere, the organisation of speech as well as his bearing on the stage-all of these had been performed perfectly and without flaw.

One must know that this interaction had begun with him a student under suspicion of cheating. Now however, the situation was already fully within his grasp. For such to have been achieved...very difficult, countless times more difficult for one who was not a teacher.

However, Xu Tingsheng had managed to do it.

“It would be a real pity if this student of yours didn’t become a teacher, but it would be even more of a pity if he really did become one. I feel that he could become a great orator.”

“It is not at all strange that such a child saw great improvements. Whoever still suspects anything must really have problems with their brains.”

The two teachers sitting beside Old Zhou said such to him. In a joyful mood, Old Zhou laughed heartily.

The feelings of the students present were somewhat more complicated. Some people had already completely fallen into a trance.

“Teacher…” someone raised his hand.

Xu Tingsheng was taken aback for a moment as numerous emotions assailed him, “I am not a teacher...do you have any questions?”

“Ah...faint,” the student scratched his head, “About that, teacher...Student Xu, can you wait a while before beginning? I want to head back to my classroom to take my notebook.”

“I want to go too.”

“Me too.”

“Us as well, please wait for a bit.”

…

Nothing had more persuasive power than all these voices. Many of the people present had only come here due to the nature of the occasion, wanting to see a joke take place or purely because they wanted to support or make things difficult for Xu Tingsheng. As such, they had come here empty-handed, all of them regretting it now.

Luckily, Xu Tingsheng still understood his position as he did not make decisions beyond his authority, sending an enquiring gaze to the group of teachers present, Vice-Principal Lou amongst them slapping the table, “You have five minutes; you’d best hurry up.”

The doors of the media classroom opened, a huge crowd of people filling up the area outside.

About to begin hurrying back, those students hesitated. If they made a trip back, wouldn’t their places be snatched away when they had returned?

“That someone; I’ll take your notebook for you. You help me to keep my place.”

“Right.”

Finally, a win-win proposal was thought up.

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