Self-Directed Learning (2)
Self-directed learning (2) — The child I met in exile has awakened his talent as a Spiritist. However, since Spiritists are so rare, I have no advice to offer. If you know anything about spirit arts, would you kindly share it with me?
That was the entirety of the letter Patrick had sent. A simple question that barely filled half a page. Yet Robin seemed overjoyed to finally have something to do in his place of exile. While the village chief of the mountain village where he had been banished entertained the soldiers with drinks for the night, Robin had stayed up all night writing his reply. True to his nature as a wizard who had dabbled in all sorts of magic, he knew quite a bit about spirit arts. Of course, he had no knowledge of the secret techniques unique to Spiritists, nor any interest in them, but his broad magical research had naturally led him to many related topics.
“……Still, isn’t this a bit much?”
The “reply” that eventually reached Patrick’s hands looked less like a letter and more like a thin book. The fact that the pages had been sewn together with thread suggested Robin himself had thought the same.
Do I really have to study spirit arts when I’m not even making progress with my own magic?
His original plan had been to study spirit arts first and then impress Ben with a grand declaration like, “Ah—this is what makes a teacher truly magnificent.” But an overwhelming amount of material can easily kill one’s motivation to study. That was exactly how Patrick felt now.
Right. Everyone should study on their own. How long does he expect me to spoon-feed him? I have no intention of raising my student to be so helpless!
Excuses were convenient.
“Ben! Come here.”
“I’m busy, though?”
“What could you possibly be busy with?”
“You told me to correct the writing my friends did in your place!”
“……Ah.”
He had always thought the boy was clever, but he really was quite sharp. Ahem, ahem.
“Put that down for a moment and come here. It’s time for you to do your own studying.”
“My own studying?”
“Your spirit. You need to learn how to raise it properly, don’t you?”
“You said you didn’t know anything about spirits.”
“That was until yesterday.”
“……?”
Ben’s expression was clearly laced with suspicion—What on earth is he talking about?—but the disciple who was more mature than his teacher didn’t voice it aloud.
“I could have explained it myself,” Patrick said, putting on a deliberately solemn face, “but knowledge gained too easily tends to fade quickly. It’s the same reason people don’t treasure things they can obtain whenever they want.”
“Is that so?” Ben replied, playing along for now.
“That’s why this teacher has decided to introduce a new learning method.”
“A new learning method?”
“It’s called self-directed learning.”
“……?”
Patrick pulled out the book he had received from Robin and handed it to Ben.
“For the next week, devote yourself to mastering this content completely!”
Ben’s eyes widened as he glanced at the first few pages.
“Spirit arts!”
“That’s right, you rascal.”
“T-Teacher! Thank you!”
It clearly wasn’t Patrick’s handwriting, but Ben had no time to care about that. Though he hadn’t shown it, he had been suffering from a terrible thirst for knowledge all this time—knowledge about spirit arts. Born with a love for exploration, Ben had awakened to the power called the force of nature and even succeeded in contracting with a spirit, yet he had no idea how any of it worked. The frustration had been unbearable.
“Three days! Three days will be enough!”
“No. Take the whole week and study slowly. There’s a saying about how rushing your food gives you indigestion. I’ll be testing you in a week, so prepare properly.”
Even at the mention of a test, Ben’s face bloomed with a bright smile as he clutched the book to his chest and dashed off.
Does that kid actually like studying? Patrick couldn’t understand it at all, but what did it matter?
If he grows up well and succeeds, maybe he’ll go around mentioning my name. Heh heh.
Imagining titles like “The Last True Teacher of This Era” or “The Visionary Who Recognized Raw Talent” attached to his name already lifted his mood.
“By the way, Teacher, night school starts tomorrow, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Can I help as an assistant?”
“Forget it. The adults might feel embarrassed if a kid is hanging around while they’re trying to study.”
“Oh…… Teacher, you really hit the nail on the head sometimes.”
“Sometimes? Take this!”
Patrick tried to give him a playful smack on the head, but Ben had already sensed it coming and bolted, sticking out his tongue before disappearing into the house. Left alone on the wooden platform, Patrick began pondering how to run the night school’s first class.
The teaching materials can just be the same ones I used for the kids.
The real issue was the method. Teaching the children had been easy because Ben was there. Without much direct instruction, the clever boy had simply followed along with the textbook, asked a few questions, and mastered reading and writing in no time. After that, he had enthusiastically helped his friends with their studies, so Patrick hadn’t really needed to do much himself.
“Today, memorize the alphabet.” “Today, I’ll teach you how to write letters.” All he had to do was set the daily goal, like a professor giving instructions to graduate students.
“Ugh. I should have done this properly from the start.”
He couldn’t exactly scold or nag the adults the way he did with the children. After all, they’re the ones helping with my livelihood. In a way, they’re the ones in charge.
He had already received payment through barter, but human hearts worked in strange ways. When you felt like you had received more than you gave, you naturally wanted to give something back in return. That’s what affection is. Affection.
How wonderful was that? Trust, bonds, and neighborly love that sprouted within the give-and-take of affection. Patrick planned to actively pursue additional income built on this foundation of “affection,” so designing the class program was an important task.
What matters most is making it look impressive. Ah!
At that moment, something flashed through Patrick’s mind.
Though it was called “night school,” classes didn’t actually run at night. If anything, it was more like late afternoon—about an hour before dinner was set aside for studying.
“Hyung-nim, you’re here?”
“Oh! You came too. Haha, this feels a bit embarrassing. At my age, coming and going just to learn how to read and write……”
“Come on, it’s good that you’re learning now. I’m sure everyone feels the same way.”
“Of course.”
When word spread that night school would teach adults reading and arithmetic, quite a few people made additional inquiries. With nearly twenty participants, Patrick’s house couldn’t possibly accommodate them all.
— Why not use the village workshop? Even though it’s for work, it has tables and chairs, so it should be plenty for that many people.
Once again, the village chief had stepped in to solve the problem.
Creak—
The residents entered the workshop they visited every day, but today the feeling of stepping through the door was somehow different.
“Huh?”
The first thing that caught their eyes was the changed desk arrangement. The tables were lined up in neat rows, all facing the same direction. And—
“What’s that board for?”
Each table, which could seat three people side by side, had partitions installed that neatly divided the space into three sections.
“Come, come. Please take your seats. You can sit wherever you like.”
Greeting the incoming guests—no, students—with a generous business smile, Patrick guided them to their seats.
“I know you’re all tired from working, but since this is our first day, I’d appreciate it if you could focus.”
Clap, clap, clap! A round of awkward applause broke out. In response, Patrick raised one hand in thanks and immediately began the lesson.
“Today, we’ll be getting familiar with a total of twenty characters. Now, look up here.”
Though he said twenty, including both printed and cursive forms, there were forty character cards in total, densely pinned to the wooden board behind Dominic. Gulp— The adults swallowed hard as they stared at the letters, some clenching their fists with slightly flushed faces.
They say the world is changing……
They had heard merchants talk about how, in big cities, it was hard to find illiterate people even among commoners. Learning to read and write wouldn’t make them officials, and none of them planned to become merchants anyway. Still, most of the people gathered here remembered the moment Patrick had given them the memorial tablets and nameplates.
Yeah. At the very least, we should be able to write our own family names without any trouble.
Their wishes were humble, but their enthusiasm was genuine.
“Now, you’ll need to copy all these characters onto the wooden boards beside your tables and memorize them. I’ll read them out ten times. If you think you’ve memorized them all, raise your hand and come up to me for a test.”
“Um, Teacher…… What do you mean by a test?”
“Naturally, it’s to check whether you’ve memorized all twenty characters.”
“What? Then what if we can’t memorize them all?”
Patrick grinned.
“You won’t be allowed to leave until you’ve memorized them all.”
To give the adults the “feeling of having studied,” Patrick had chosen a Spartan-style Korean academy system. Why a system that would make Greeks ask “What’s that?” had taken root on the other side of the world in East Asia was a mystery, but it was a proven method that had captured the hearts of millions of parents. Writing practice sheets. Daily tests. Memorization and repetitive drills. The option to not go home until the goal was achieved! Not only was student growth and effort clearly visible, but the students themselves would naturally think, Didn’t I really work hard today? It was the perfect system for Patrick.
Most importantly, I don’t have to do anything special myself.
If the students had been children or if the material had been difficult, the teacher’s ability would have mattered more. But this was education for voluntarily attending adults, and it wasn’t advanced learning that required deep thinking or consideration of various conditions. There wasn’t much need for the teacher to write on the board or give lengthy explanations.
Side effects…… Well, I’ll think about that later.
There might be drawbacks like students losing motivation quickly, the material fading fast, or difficulty applying what they learned, but he decided to ignore those for now.
My homeroom teacher in senior year used to say, “Instead of worrying about this and that, just memorize one more character.”
Back then, he and his friends had grumbled behind the teacher’s back, but now that he was a teacher himself, he understood.
Ah, so Teacher really knew what efficiency was all about!
Scratch, scratch, scratch—
“Ugh—”
“This isn’t easy.”
“Shh! Be quiet while I’m trying to concentrate, hyung-nim!”
“Ah, s-sorry!”
Just look at the classroom atmosphere. This was how a proper classroom should be. While the students were racking their brains trying to memorize the characters, Patrick was half-reclined in the chair at the teacher’s desk, pondering what snacks and drinks he would have tonight.