One
Some AI technologies, including DeepSeek, have made many teachers feel a sense of crisis, or rather panic. The fundamental reason for this panic is the fear of losing the authority of teachers.
If the authority of teachers is derived from knowledge, then this authority has long been lost. From ancient to modern times, teachers have been the monopolizers of knowledge, even the embodiment of knowledge itself. Indeed, in traditional education, if the teacher does not speak, the student does not know. Of course, there are a few who can become successful through self-study, but that is not the norm—otherwise, why would a self-taught person be widely publicized? For the vast majority of students, the teacher is the only channel for acquiring knowledge, or rather, only the teacher holds the switch to the ‘knowledge faucet’.
However, human technological progress has suddenly turned the long-coveted equal relationship between teachers and students into reality. Note that in the past, the equality of the teacher-student relationship depended more on the democratic qualities of the teacher, which is a kind of personal moral cultivation, a form of charisma. If he wants to be equal with students, equality is naturally achieved.
But that is not the case now. The educational revolution brought about by technological advancement has subverted many previously ‘self-evident’ norms, such as learning methods, teaching models, classroom structures… In terms of the teacher-student relationship, democracy and equality are no longer the ‘grace’ of teachers but are under the backdrop of AI’s redefinition of concepts such as ‘learning’, ‘knowledge’, and ‘ability’, teachers have to ‘lower themselves’ to students, or rather, they are both facing DeepSeek (here, DeepSeek is just a metonymy, representing all AI platforms), and cannot help but be ‘equal’—when both teachers and students have the same powerful tools and the same source of knowledge, the so-called ‘equal’ teacher-student relationship is no longer a subjective pursuit of teachers, but an objective reality.
Therefore, whether it is a ‘crisis’ or ‘panic’, the past knowledge-centered ‘teacher’s authority’ is gone forever. As educators, they should maintain a calm mindset, accept reality, or positively speaking, they should actively embrace this great transformation in education—indeed, it is a great transformation of humanity.
Under this premise of understanding, teachers must (indeed must) re-examine and transform their relationship with students.
Two
In fact, as early as 24 years ago in 2001, experts called for the establishment of a new type of teacher-student relationship: ‘We believe that in such a teacher-student relationship, students will experience equality, freedom, democracy, respect, trust, kindness, understanding, tolerance, affection, and care, while being motivated, urged, inspired, influenced, called, guided, and advised, forming positive, rich life attitudes and emotional experiences.’ (Zhong Qiquan et al.: ‘For the Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation’, East China Normal University Press, 2001 edition, page 273) However, more than twenty years ago, this call remained more in articles, speeches, or school cultural walls. In action, there have been no significant changes.
Now it must change. When a third-grade student presents an article written through DeepSeek that far surpasses the ‘teacher’s model essay’, as a teacher, can you still pretend to have an ‘all-knowing’ authoritative image?
Whether it is educational administrative officials at all levels or ordinary teachers on the front lines, they cannot ignore the great significance of AI to educational reform—
It allows us to rethink the mission of education: knowledge transfer is no longer the primary task of teachers; the role of teachers is more of a spiritual guide for students, navigating their future lives; it allows us to clarify the role of teachers: for children who are still growing and maturing, whether in life or learning, teachers are guides, designers, instructors, and helpers, rather than dominators; it allows us to re-examine the teacher-student relationship: apart from having richer life experiences, teachers and students are entirely on the same starting line facing knowledge and the tools for acquiring knowledge, both are equal partners in a learning community, and the call for ‘learning from students’ by Tao Xingzhi has become a reality; it allows us to reconstruct learning forms: time and space are broken, everyone is a scholar, and everywhere is a classroom…Three
Teachers of Chinese language know that there is also a book that accompanies the teaching materials, called the ‘Teaching Reference Book’ (now it seems to be called ‘Teacher’s Book’). It should be noted that in the eyes of many Chinese language teachers, the ‘Teaching Reference Book’ is the teacher’s unique ‘Sunflower Treasure Book’, which not only contains analyses of each text but also answers to every exercise after the text. With it, teachers have the capital and confidence to present themselves as ‘knowledgeable’ in front of students. To put it bluntly, as long as one has a certain memory and recitation ability, anyone can rely on the ‘Teaching Reference Book’ to step onto the podium to teach Chinese!
But as early as the 1980s, shortly after I started working, I hung the ‘Teaching Reference Book’ (now it seems to be called ‘Teacher’s Book’) next to the blackboard in the classroom, allowing students to check and browse. My purpose in doing this was simple: to study the text together with the students. At that time, I was reforming Chinese language teaching, hoping to cultivate students’ learning abilities, and I proposed the idea of ‘creating an academic atmosphere in the classroom’, striving to make my Chinese classroom full of a democratic and equal, critically spirited atmosphere that sparkles with creative intellectual sparks, including guiding students to correctly use reference materials.
I believe that rather than giving students ready-made answers, it is better to teach them how to conduct academic research—although both involve acquiring knowledge, the former is imparted by teachers while the latter is students exploring with their brains under the guidance of teachers, resulting in not only knowledge but also abilities. It is based on this understanding that I disclosed preparation materials to students, including the ‘Teaching Reference Book’ that accompanies the teaching materials. When both teachers and students possess reference materials, studying the text will no longer be just about superficial language phenomena but about deeper aspects. Of course, teachers should guide students to be discerning, selective, and digest the materials rather than become slaves to reference materials.
Four
The reason I thought of this today is that in today’s AI era, teachers have no ‘knowledge advantage’ at all. Not to mention DeepSeek, just ‘Baidu Search’ provides students with an all-encompassing ‘encyclopedia’. Do you still want to rely on the ‘Teaching Reference Book’ to maintain teacher ‘authority’? Isn’t that just as ridiculous as covering one’s ears while stealing a bell?
Education, fundamentally speaking, is not primarily about knowledge transfer; nurturing individuals (i.e., character development) is the essence of education. Of course, character not only refers to moral qualities in a narrow sense but also involves an individual’s internal tendencies and psychological characteristics in adapting to people, events, and oneself. It manifests as the integration of abilities, temperament, character, needs, motivations, interests, ideals, values, and physical fitness. Knowledge transfer is just one important channel for character formation. In other words, the traditional notion of ‘morality, intelligence, physical education, aesthetics, and labor’ are different paths to develop students’ character, ultimately leading to the perfect character of students.
However, for a long time, we have regarded knowledge transfer as the primary purpose of education, and for quite a long period, almost all techniques in Chinese education and nearly all energy of Chinese teachers have been invested in knowledge memorization—this is how the so-called ‘exam-oriented education’ came about, hence the supreme authority of teachers’ knowledge being unshakable.
But is education merely about imparting knowledge? Of course not. Tao Xingzhi said, ‘True education is an activity of mutual understanding.’ Sukhomlinsky said, ‘Education is primarily about understanding humanity.’ Jaspers said, ‘Education is about the education of the soul, not just the accumulation of rational knowledge and understanding.’ These incisive statements point out that the essence of education is directed toward the emotional, ideological, and creative aspects of the spiritual world.
Therefore, when knowledge transfer can be entrusted to AI, teachers are liberated from a large amount of repetitive, mechanical, and burdensome exam-oriented training and can return to their original duties, which is to face the soul, to influence personality with personality, to forge spirit with spirit, and to cultivate emotions with emotions… helping students complete the ‘second birth of a person’ (in the words of Sukhomlinsky), while also achieving the ‘second birth’ of their own professional life.
In engaging in such education that returns to the starting point, why do teachers need to seek ‘authority’ from students?
Five In 1848, Marx and Engels solemnly wrote in the ‘Communist Manifesto’: ‘The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.’ Following this logic and phrasing, we can also say—teachers in this AI technology revolution have lost only the monopoly on knowledge, the unrivaled and unquestionable ‘authority’; what they will gain is the hearts of all students!February 15, 2025 (Proofread by: DeepSeek)
Appendix: After finishing this article, I suddenly thought, why not consult DeepSeek about this question? So, I issued the command: ‘Please discuss how to re-examine the teacher-student relationship in the AI era? What should the new teacher-student relationship look like?’ 19 seconds later, DeepSeek answered me—In the AI era, the reconstruction of the teacher-student relationship has become an unavoidable core issue in education. With the revolutionary change in the way knowledge is acquired, the traditional ‘knowledge authority – passive reception’ teacher-student model is collapsing. This paradigm shift in educational relationships is not only an inevitable result driven by technology but also a reflection of the profound transformation of human cognition.1.Threefold Deconstruction of Teacher-Student Relationships in the AI Era1.Decentralization of Knowledge PowerTools like ChatGPT have democratized knowledge acquisition, allowing students to instantly retrieve information that exceeds the teacher’s knowledge reserves. A 2023 Stanford experiment showed that high school students assisted by AI could propose experimental plans in quantum physics that even professors had not conceived. The authoritative nature of teachers’ knowledge is being dissolved by technology, forming a multi-centered knowledge network.2.Algorithmic Penetration of the Teaching ProcessAdaptive learning systems can now complete 71% of knowledge point instruction (McKinsey 2024 Education Report), and the traditional lecturing function of teachers is being deconstructed into roles such as algorithm optimizers and learning path designers. Teachers in a certain smart classroom in Beijing process an average of 27 AI-generated learning diagnostic reports per day, and teaching decisions increasingly rely on data insights.3.Spatiotemporal Reconstruction of Educational RelationshipsHolographic teaching technology breaks physical boundaries, allowing teachers and students to collaborate deeply even if they have never met. In Harvard’s metaverse classroom, teachers become digital mentors, perceiving students’ cognitive anxieties in real time through emotional computation, which completely overturns the traditional classroom’s experiential presence.2.Four-Dimensional Construction of New Teacher-Student Relationships1.Cognitive PartnershipTeachers transform into ‘metacognitive trainers’, focusing on cultivating critical thinking and innovative framework construction abilities. In MIT’s AI collaborative classroom, teachers and students jointly design experiments for detecting algorithmic bias, with teachers playing a scaffolding role in thinking.2.Emotionally Enhanced AllianceIn the face of AI’s emotional computation limitations, teachers need to strengthen their emotional resonance abilities. Data from Tokyo’s education robotics factory show that even the most advanced educational robots have an accuracy rate of only 58% in complex emotional interactions, while human teachers can reach 92%. The new relationship emphasizes the irreplaceability of spiritual resonance.3.Ethical CommunityIn the face of risks from technologies like Deepfake, teachers and students need to co-build digital ethical awareness. The ‘AI Ethics Workshop’ model in Finnish schools is worth referencing, where teachers and students jointly formulate usage agreements for algorithms, cultivating a sense of responsible digital citizenship.4.Symbiotic Lifelong LearningTeachers transition from ‘knowledge faucets’ to ‘learning navigators’. Singapore’s Teacher Development Agency requires teachers to complete 30% of AI collaborative courses annually, forming a dynamic growth alliance between teachers and students in the context of technological iteration.3.Practical Approaches: From Tool Rationality to Value Rationality1.Paradigm Shift in Teaching DesignConstructing a ‘AI+HI (Human Intelligence)’ hybrid model, such as Seoul Digital High School’s ‘sandwich teaching method’: AI-led learning—deep discussions by teachers—AI reinforcement and expansion, forming a cognitive loop.2.Expansion of Evaluation System DimensionsIntroducing a multiple intelligences assessment matrix, adding dimensions like ‘AI collaboration index’ and ‘innovation transfer rate’ in addition to knowledge mastery. The EU Education Agency’s ‘Digital Literacy Assessment Framework 2.0’ has already included human-machine collaboration effectiveness indicators.3.New Dimensions of Teacher DevelopmentFocusing on new competencies such as ‘algorithm leadership’ and ‘digital narrative ability’. California’s teacher certification has added an assessment module for ‘AI teaching scenario design’, emphasizing the human-centered application of technological tools.In the arena of AI and human intelligence, the essence of education is returning to Socratic ‘spiritual midwifery’. The future teacher-student relationship should be a symbiotic intelligence body, with teachers as ‘guardians of humanity’ and ‘cognitive curators’, anchoring the humanistic core of education amid the technological tide. The ultimate value of this relationship lies not in opposing or submitting to AI, but in nurturing a complete personality with subjectivity in the digital age through human-machine collaboration. When teachers can confidently say, ‘This question is better explained by ChatGPT than I can, but we can think together about the underlying paradigms of thought,’ it may indeed be the true beginning of a new educational era.Source: Zhenxi Teahouse
Focus on Education | Focus on China’s Future