Guiding Bricks on Ch'en Ching-k'ai's Path to Vindication ｜ Educational Brick: Remembering Teacher Cho Kuan-wei

I am Teacher Kuan-wei. Let's defeat the forces of evil together!

In February 2021, on an afternoon shortly before the Lunar New Year, it was lingeringly cold yet faintly warm.

The winter sun cast its gentle rays as a group of middle and upper elementary school children, wearing goggles pasted over with opaque black tape, frolicked on the park's grassy lawn.

Some children felt somewhat at a loss because their eyes were covered; some children were busy seizing the rare opportunity to tease their blind friends close by; others burst into loud laughter due to an experience they had never had before.

Although the children's reactions varied, in the eyes of the teachers hosting the experiential activity on site, these were all materials for helping the children understand the world of the visually impaired later on.

Lectures Blossoming Across Taiwan: Over 20 Sessions, 1,000 Attendees

In the process of assisting with the vindication of Ch'en Ching-k'ai's wrongful conviction, aside from the unflagging legal team, Ch'en Ching-k'ai himself who never gave up, and his family who have always supported and accompanied him, there is actually a group of volunteer lecturers who have quietly gone to campuses at all levels across Taiwan to conduct campus lectures sharing the "Former Handball National Athlete's Feigned Blindness Wrongful Conviction."

In the second half of 2020, the Judicial Reform Foundation held seed lecturer training workshops for the "Former Handball National Athlete's Feigned Blindness Wrongful Conviction" in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung respectively. We hoped to connect more volunteer lecturers willing to share this case across various regions through seed lecturer training, allowing more people to pay attention to the Ch'en Ching-k'ai case together and ponder the connection between blindness and disability.

The lecture is divided into two segments: activity experience and case introduction. If time permits, it is supplemented by the screening of the documentary "Blind Spot." Pingtung Senior High School, Taipei Municipal First Girls' Senior High School (note: text says 衛理女中 - Wesley Girls' High School), Department of Law at National Cheng Kung University, Department of Financial and Economic Law at Asia University, Department of Medicine and Department of Law at Fu Jen Catholic University, Department of Social Work at Tunghai University... More than a year has passed, and although activities were temporarily brought to a halt in between due to the disruption of the pandemic, as of today, the "Former Handball National Athlete's Feigned Blindness Wrongful Conviction" has been shared nearly 20 times at high schools, universities, and other institutions, with participating attendance exceeding 1,000 people.

However, back when the lesson plan was still immature and it was still unclear how lectures could attract students' attention, an invitation from the Photosynthesis Humanistic Education Studio in Hsinchu not only brought us immense challenges, but also made us very fortunate to get to know Teacher Cho Kuan-wei, a special education teacher from Hsiuluan Elementary School in Jianshih Township, Hsinchu County.

Activity Experience + ORID Focused Conversation Method: Lectures Enter an Independent Group for the First Time

During my first phone call with Teacher Cho Kuan-wei, I was actually somewhat startled by his enthusiasm. His booming voice was so loud that I had to hold the phone a bit further away so my ears wouldn't hurt.

In January 2021, we received an invitation from the Photosynthesis Humanistic Education Studio, inquiring whether the lecture sharing on the "Former Handball National Athlete's Feigned Blindness Wrongful Conviction" would be suitable for middle and upper elementary school students.

The Photosynthesis Humanistic Education Studio is an independent humanistic/educational group dedicated to building tripartite cooperation among students, parents, and teachers. Unlike the conventional educational system, its students frequently encounter the debate and deliberation of public issues due to the curriculum design.

However, the lesson plan for the "Former Handball National Athlete's Feigned Blindness Wrongful Conviction" was actually designed for students in high school and above. Just as we were caught in a dilemma, Teacher Cho stated that he could try combining activity experiences with the ORID Focused Conversation Method to let students comprehend the lives of the visually impaired and Ch'en Ching-k'ai's story.

"Leave it to me." Just like Teacher Cho's voice, it was booming and reassuring.

Spring Breeze Ruffling the Water, Ripples Endless: The Gift Teacher Cho Left Us

Recently, we interviewed the students and Teacher Hsu who attended the lecture hosted by the Photosynthesis Humanistic Education Studio that day.

"I remember we wore glasses pasted with tape, couldn't see anything with our eyes, and I also remember running around was a lot of fun. This was an experience I had never had before." Perhaps due to the passage of time, the young boy's impression of the Ch'en Ching-k'ai case was actually already very vague, yet faintly, it still revealed the novelty of experiencing blindness through goggles.

"If children lack the experience of interacting with the visually impaired, it is actually very difficult to imagine how they live their daily lives. Obstacle-clearing activities can prevent children from directly entering discussions of right and wrong, and instead add a life-oriented touch of contact, allowing children to better imagine the daily lives of the visually impaired."

"For the children, the gap between the activity experience and the case sharing is actually huge. But it is precisely because of this gap that I feel the children could better appreciate the daily lives of the visually impaired, and through their daily routines, ponder the questions behind the case—pondering why a person who cannot see knows for themselves that they cannot see, yet is not believed by others, and even faces legal punishment as a result."

During the conversation, Teacher Hsu spoke highly of Teacher Cho, a fellow educator, and expressed hope that we would have the opportunity to share different cases with the children again.

Toward the end of the interview, Teacher Hsu asked, "Why was Teacher Cho willing to invest so much time to assist with this case?"

In the process of assisting with the vindication of wrongful convictions, we have been very fortunate to receive all kinds of help coming from all directions. And many times, this help is encountered unexpectedly.

In fact, it is not just Teacher Cho Kuan-wei. Since the inception of the "Former Handball National Athlete's Feigned Blindness Wrongful Conviction" campus lectures, every single session has relied on volunteer lecturers carving out time from their busy schedules for meticulous and careful preparation; has relied on school clubs and teachers for prior invitations and coordination; and has relied on every student and partner who personally participated and provided feedback afterwards.

"Because Teacher Cho's activity initiated our discussion on the visually impaired, this will not be a one-time class, but rather prompts us to look for different perspectives and materials from different stances when viewing a certain social event. We are very grateful for Teacher Cho's ripple-like impact; we will carry his lesson plan and continue telling the story." Perhaps just as Teacher Hsu said, the ripples stirred up by Teacher Cho are ceaseless.

Let us continue telling the story, so that more people can care together about the vindication of the Ch'en Ching-k'ai case.

Those words still linger in our ears.

Teacher Cho Kuan-wei, thank you.