Chapter 162: Trivial Matters
Chapter 162: Trivial Matters
Chapter 162
Class division has been a school tradition, and it wouldn't change just because one class doesn't want to be divided.
The Grade Director had clearly told the homeroom teacher before that they must divide the classes, but this seemed to have no effect on him.
The Class 1 Homeroom Teacher still came every day to present feasibility reports on not dividing the classes.
The director now understood that this guy only wanted to hear her say that this year's classes wouldn't be divided.
Everything else she said was meaningless to him.
Even the director's warnings about salary deductions had no effect on him.
The Grade Director was exasperated by the Class 1 Homeroom Teacher's persistence. She was busy every day and just wanted to find an excuse to brush him off.
So she said, "My words don't matter in this. You need to talk to the Principal."
Her intention was merely to find an excuse to dismiss him. Anyone with a brain wouldn't bother the Principal with this matter.
She had underestimated the homeroom teacher's determination. He actually went to discuss the matter with the Principal.
The Principal hadn't expected that one day, an ordinary teacher would come to discuss not dividing the classes with him.
The Principal pushed up his glasses and said, "Teacher, dividing students into arts and science streams in the second semester of the first year of high school, and then into fast and slow classes based on their grades, teaching according to the students' acceptance levels - this is a policy we've been implementing for many years. This teaching method has proven very effective. Your suggestion of not dividing the classes doesn't seem reasonable to me. You should go back and reconsider the feasibility of this matter."
The homeroom teacher wasn't just acting on blind courage when he came to see the big boss.
He took out the monthly test results of Class 1 students from this semester. "Principal, these are our class's monthly test results. As you can see, every student has made significant progress, and our class's average score has been the highest in the grade for these tests."
Mentioning grades piqued the Principal's interest. He took the materials the homeroom teacher brought and examined them carefully.
He nodded as he looked, not just because of the students' significant grade improvements, but also because the materials included a software analysis of the students' progress, clearly showing a substantial improvement in grades over the semester.
The Principal thought to himself that this teacher seemed quite adept at preparing materials.
Nowadays, everything was about data. He wondered how this young teacher had managed it.
After finishing the materials, the Principal closed them and said, "You've done very well this semester. You must have worked hard."
He praised the homeroom teacher's good work but said nothing about not dividing Class 1.
The homeroom teacher had to continue, "Actually, asking you to allow our class not to be divided is a bit of a personal wish. During my time away on a learning trip, I learned some advanced concepts from other schools. I found them very reasonable. As you can see, Class 1's grades have improved very quickly, precisely because of applying those teaching methods."
Director Zhu's initial intention of sending him on a business trip might have been to give him a hard time, but now it had completely turned into his advantage.
Hearing the teacher speak like this, the Principal became more interested. He nodded, signaling the teacher to continue.
The homeroom teacher went on, "I've only experimented for one semester, and the students have shown such significant changes."
"In that case, we can arrange a sharing session for you to share your educational experiences," the Principal said.
He continued slowly, "But it's only been one semester of experimentation. We can't guarantee the results won't backfire later. I think the best scenario would be to use Class 1 of the first year as a trial, with a two-year experiment cycle. If the students in Class 1 achieve good results in the college entrance exam, it would prove that my teaching method is effective. We can share it then."
After hearing the homeroom teacher's words, the Principal looked very troubled.
He sighed, "You know, the students in our school are different from ordinary students. If you use students for experiments, their parents might cause trouble for the school when they find out."
The Principal nodded at him, "You should go back to school and think about it. I have a meeting to attend soon, so I won't keep you."
He clearly meant to refuse, but the homeroom teacher wasn't discouraged by being turned away.
On one hand, he told the students every day about class division to scare them.
He also made frequent visits to the Principal's office.
The Principal was thoroughly annoyed by this young teacher. The next time he came, his attitude was very clear.
This matter was not up for discussion. No means no, no matter how many times he came.
Having been a leader for a long time, the Principal preferred to beat around the bush when talking to people, rarely stating his purpose directly.
He was someone with a seemingly good temper who liked to keep notes behind people's backs.
The homeroom teacher had forced him to change his nature.
Faced with a clear rejection, the homeroom teacher wasn't discouraged at all. He played his trump card!
"Principal, I heard you divorced your wife recently?"
The Principal's face changed. "Are you investigating me?" His wife was the Principal's weak spot, absolutely not to be mentioned. Once mentioned, he would think the other person was implying something or trying to insult him.
The homeroom teacher thought to himself, this kind of thing doesn't need investigation, does it?
But he quickly realized his words sounded a bit like a threat, so he changed to a more gentle tone, "How could that be? I'm busy every day supervising students' studies. I really don't have time for that."
"Of course, the reason I know about this is related to the Dao Fa course."
"You can hear it too?" The words slipped out, and the Principal immediately regretted it.
He simply shut his mouth tightly, with a look that said, "I'll just watch you make things up."
"Don't you want to know where that voice comes from?" the homeroom teacher asked.
The Principal did want to know, but he felt it would be undignified to speak up now.
Seeing that the Principal remained silent, the homeroom teacher continued on his own, "Yes, that voice is indeed related to our class."
"The reason I came to ask you not to divide our class is also because of this."
The homeroom teacher's previous words were ambiguous, and the Principal finally couldn't help but ask, "What reason?"
"If our class is divided, that voice will disappear."
He didn't say it might disappear, but that it would disappear, knowing full well that the Principal could hear the voice but knew nothing about its cause.
It was like parents deceiving young human cubs who haven't been to school, mainly playing on the information gap.
The Principal had never heard of such an outrageous thing.
The mystery of the voice that had troubled him for so long was vaguely being solved, but not completely.
What was that voice? Why did it appear? He knew nothing about these questions.
The only thing he knew was that if Class 1 was disbanded, the voice would disappear (according to what the Class 1 Homeroom Teacher said, though its truth was yet unknown).
But looking at the young teacher's confident expression in front of him, what he said should be true, right?
Besides, if it wasn't true, why would he want his class not to be divided?
What benefit would that bring him?
Only if not dividing the class could bring him enough benefits would he go to such lengths.
If this was the reason, he would have to think carefully about it.
After all, despite his age, he also liked to gossip!
If the price of dividing the classes was that he couldn't gossip anymore in the future, it would be really hard to accept!
The Principal cleared his throat, "I understand what you're saying. Using Class 1 as an experimental class is not a small matter. I need to think it over carefully. In the future, I'll need to discuss this proposal with other school leaders at a meeting before it can be approved. You can go back now, and wait for notification about the specific results."
The Principal speaking like this clearly meant he agreed.
Logically, the homeroom teacher should have quit while he was ahead, but he was a person who couldn't read the room and didn't understand this principle.
So he pushed his luck and said, "The class division is about to happen soon, Principal. You'd better consider it quickly."
The Principal gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, I understand. I'll do it as soon as possible."
The homeroom teacher was secretly pleased. Was such a small matter really difficult for him to handle?