Educational gravediggers

Note: Subsequent to the events in this piece, the author was removed from a position as homeroom teacher, and was transferred from the Chinese department to the history department.

See this post for the same author's views on China's history curriculum.

On the morning of 14 May, Laoshan District, Qingdao, conducted the "2005 Qingdao Science and Technology Week and Popular Science Month Kick-off Ceremony" at the front gate of the Haier Science and Technology Hall. This was originally a good thing, but it ultimately planted seeds of hate in the hearts of the children who took part in this event. What was the reason? Listen as I tell you in detail -

The 200 students who attended the event set off at 8:55 at a rapid march, reaching the gate to Haier Science and Technology Hall outside Sili Road in 10 minutes. The day was hot, the sun fierce, and the students wore their uniforms over their underclothes. After the march, every class had students whose faces were white. I guessed that there'd be problems - the students would faint! I saw that the shaded northern steps of the Sci-Tech Hall had been made into a platform, on which were tables labeled with the leaders' names, and corresponding bottles of water. I was incensed, so when the members of the committee arrive to make their inspection, I strongly urged that the children's water issue be solved, and said, "The children have run far to get here. They are sweating all over, and their faces have lost color. The leaders will arrive in a few moments seated in their cars - they won't sweat one drop - but in front of each will be a water bottle. What kind of crap Three Represents is this?" After my question, that individual first stared at me (probably he didn't expect that I would shout at him), and then responded quickly, trying to calm me down: "Don't get excited. For heaven's sake, don't be impulsive. I'll go and report to the leaders!" "If there's a problem with any student, you'll be sorry! I won't let up on Xia Geng (Qingdao's mayor)!" He left, and after doing some other things finally went up on stage to find Wang Gang, director of Laoshan's Science and Technology bureau, probably to make a report.

The students had only stood for ten minutes when suddenly a girl left the formation. When I saw that, my blood boiled, I knew that she'd gotten heat stroke. How to address it? Looking about anxiously, I saw the water bottles on the platform, so in front hundreds of watching eyes, I ran to the platform, grabbed two bottles of water, and ran to the student to give her a drink. However, the girl felt so poorly that she said "I want to go home, I want to go home," so there was nothing I could do but let her go home. The guy with the committee also ran over to see what was up, but no one on the platform came down - like a student's essay said, the leaders on the platform were uncaring!!! After the girl left, I angrily threw the two bottles of water into the street. Their direction took them right into a policeman - but he didn't arrest me, thankfully!!!

The platform short of water, there was a swift response to the need. A man quickly came up with two bottles of water to replace the others, but the students' water had not yet arrived!

Not even two minutes of peace, and my own class had problems - Zhang Xuebo was brought to me leaning on someone's arm, tears streaming down his face! No question - sunk again!!! I was really steamed, hopping mad and cursing! When the committee guy saw that something had happened, he hurriedly ran over, and another guy with the Sci-Tech Hall also ran over, trying to soothe the student. Coming to the far-off shaded area, Xuebo drank down the bottle of water they brought in one gulp!!! In the process, the guy with the Sci-Tech Hall kept explaining, "The Sci-Tech Hall didn't organize this, the Sci-Tech Hall didn't organize this!" Right, I know - you rented out the space!

While I was consoling Xuebo, the water finally arrived!!! Probably one bottle for each person, but in any case lots of water arrived. The children had water, and the teachers were relieved. Xuebo was taken to the large hall to recover (according to the students who had gone into the hall to use the restroom, the people inside were like Auntie Xianglin, continually repeating "The Sci-Tech Hall didn't organize this").

Just wait patiently. Wait, wait, wait, wait. As expected the leaders arrived one after another in black cars, and to be specific, the cars basically had all their windows closed - cool air conditioning!!!

The leaders onstage who had been unconcerned about the students shortly before, now that they saw even higher-placed leaders arriving, broke out in radiant smiles as they went up to receive them, proper slaves, all of them!!!

Ten o'clock finally arrived, the assembly commenced. The students quieted and sat absolutely still. Having had a drink, they recovered their spirits, and theoretically should have had no more problems, but after fifty minutes of speeches by the leaders, there were still three students who fainted. I was a bit afraid when I thought, what if after my entreaties for water no water came - how many students would have fainted? A conservative guess would say at least half - one hundred people! When the parents found out, who would they direct their anger at? At the homeroom teacher! We are their fucking scapegoats!!!

The general agenda of the assembly was leaders lecturing ignorant students. I wondered, why were these leaders so eager to lecture students? Xia Geng, who had given the opening address at the Japan Week that Qingdao had put on, was lecturing to the 150 students seated below him. Had all of the adults died off?

There was something funny that happened while the leaders were lecturing. Behind the ranks of students was an impressive drum corps. What for? Before the assembly we didn't know, but when the assembly started we finally knew - evidently, when the leaders had finished their speeches and it was time to applaud, they would beat the drums and strike the gongs, to manufacture a mood! There really was nothing I could say - it was too much!! Such devotion to the leaders!!!

Seated on the stage were many high-ranking leaders; among them was Kong Xintian, the vice-chair of the city People's Congress, and someone called Zhang Ruofei, whose department I don't know. Laoshan leaders attending this ceremony and seated onstage were the current district president and two vice-presidents, Deng Yunfeng and Qiu Guofeng. And the two vice-presidents were inveterate ass-kissers - Zheng Yunfeng, opened his speech with the line, "Respected director Kong Xintian and Zhang Ruofei" - ass-kissing in front of the entire audience, he truly has thick skin!!! And Qiu Guifeng? When the ceremony was over, the leaders, under the gaze of the audience, took from their seats their meeting bags. Qiu Guofeng, who was sitting on the left corner of the platform, hurried to the center of the stage and from the center chair picked up what was probably a memento that the leader did not care for, and gave it to him - I couldn't see clearly. He truly cared for that leader!

Something even more infuriating: During the ceremony, the leaders wanted to give the students some popular science CDs. Each class had two slots; to fill those two slots, I had previously taken a vote in my class, and solemnly elected two student representatives to receive the gifts. However, after the nearly twenty students had received the gifts onstage from the leaders' hands, and had been recorded by the television cameras, something strange happened. When the recipients left the platform they were immediately taken to a small adjacent room where the gifts were taken from them, to be, in a pleasant fiction, "issued later"!!! After the assembly broke, a colleague who knew the truth angrily said, "I had everything prepared - prepared to use those discs to teach the students to love science!!" Fine, issue them later, but something even more nauseating happened at the close of the ceremony - the master of ceremonies declared it "Concluded," and the leaders were getting up, when it turned out that each of them was picking up a dainty gift back from behind his chair!!! And this was in view of the entire assembly!!!! In view of the entire assembly!!!! A crew of fucking bastards, in front of the children, coming in high-end cars without a single drop of sweat, sitting in the shade, and leaving carrying a souvenir. Do they have any shame??? I was so furious that I ran to the stage and under the critical eyes of the others I forced open one of the guys' gift bags - and inside was a popular science disc that had just been given to the students!!! Fuck your eight generations of ancestors (I am a teacher but they've driven me to curse), I am just a lowly teacher, and I don't think I need education in popular science - I long ago realized its importance; however, you all are are progressive and representative people - why do you need to have popular science education? Is it that your science knowledge isn't even up to the level of students? Is it students or you all who are most in need of education??? Your mother's stinking cunt!!!

Heh, a crew of bastards!!!

Afterward, the students wrote essays, and of the students who had attended the event, there was no one who failed to rail at it!!! Among them was one student whose essays were usually outstanding, but who this time committed a basic error - no paragraph divisions - it was all one large paragraph! I asked her, how did you make this basic error? She said, I was too angry, I wrote this in one breath, and forgot to split it into paragraphs!

The essays had shocking titles like "Official-oriented" [以官为本, vs. 以人为本 "people-oriented"], and aspirations to construct a democratic China, cursing corrupt elements. What did these mean? They meant that this event was a dramatic lesson!!

How was I evaluated? A colleague said, "Why didn't you dial 120? Holding a ceremony under police sirens would be wonderful!!"

In an essay, a student said, "I feel that my image of my teacher has grown! My teacher loves his students! My teacher isn't afraid of authority!"

I joked with the students that I was regretful - that I didn't knock over the platform! A student said, "We're surprised, too - if you moved it, we'd have helped you!"

I said, "And if I got arrested?"

The student said, "We'd break you out of prison!!!"

Thank you! Thank you, leaders - this event turned out to deepen my students understanding of me. I truly thank you! Thank you! I salute you!

I ask President Hu, the leaders below you, do they have children? Tell me yourself, were their actions a bit out of line? - Look at the details of this reverential reception given to the leaders - not just the water and the shade, but even the fucking applause needed a percussion accompaniment, and they left with gifts and puffed-up flattery. And toward children, lack of concern, as if they were ants. Is this the Three Represents, a progressive nature?

Or is this not training the people who will dig your grave?

Taken from KDNet, 《如此教育岂非培养自己的掘墓人？》 by Foreleg Forward 前脚迈出.