原文:http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzU1MDQwNTgzMg==&mid=2247491726&idx=1&sn=ccfdb8c8dcd65028deb7312cd899ab6b&chksm=fba3b329ccd43a3f3be7d3ec990eef35c4035025076ec574d8b1ae31ad9f7f55fea9d09ab29a#rd
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导读
肯·罗宾逊:学校扼杀创造力
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听力|精读|翻译|词组
Obituary:Sir Ken Robinson
讣告: 肯·罗宾逊爵士
英文部分选自卫报讣告
Educationist who argued that children’s creativity is stifled by school systems that prioritise academic achievement
他是一位教育家,认为以学业成绩为首的学校体系扼杀了孩子们的创造力。
The educationist Sir Ken Robinson, proponent of the encouragement of creativity among children, who has died aged 70 of cancer, was largely ignored by politicians of both main parties as he insisted that the policy of successive UK governments, that literacy and numeracy should predominate, was a false priority. As he told interviewers: “That’s like saying let’s make the cake and if it’s all right we’ll put the eggs in.”
教育学家肯·罗宾逊爵士(于2020年8月21日)因癌症去世,享年70岁。罗宾逊爵士(生前)极力支持培养孩子们创造力,坚持认为英国历届政府把读写和运算能力作为教学重点的政策是错误的,因此一直被英国主要政党所忽视。正如他接受采访时所说:“这就像是说来我们一起来做蛋糕吧。如果没问题,我们就把鸡蛋放进去。”
Reputedly one lesson can change the course of a pupil’s career – Robinson became an exemplar of the much rarer idea that one speech can change a teacher’s whole trajectory. It was an off-the-cuff, 19-minute address without notes entitled Do Schools Kill Creativity? at a TED (technology, entertainment and design) educational conference in California in 2006 that propelled him to something approaching worldwide celebrity within and beyond education.
众所周知,(老师的)一堂课可能会改变学生的发展轨迹——而老师的教学生涯因为一个演讲而改变要罕见得多,而罗宾逊则成就了这样一个典范。这是他于2006年在加利福尼亚举行的TED(技术,娱乐和设计)教育大会上做的一个长达19分钟的即兴脱稿演讲,题为《学校扼杀了创造力吗?》,。正因这一个演讲,他一举成为了教育界内外的全球名人。
His wry and witty extempore style, honed in Liverpool, was characteristically engaging. Subsequently posted on YouTube, the talk has reputedly been viewed by 380 million people in 160 countries and has influenced schools around the world.
他在利物浦练就的正话反说又妙趣横生的即兴演讲风格,极具特色又引人入胜。这个演讲后来上传到Youtube网站,有来自160个国家高达3.8亿人次所观看,也影响了世界各地的学校。
In that speech, and at other less noticed conferences and less well attended seminars over many years, Robinson argued that children do not grow into artistic creativity but are educated out of it by school systems that prioritise academic achievement and conformity instead of liberating imagination and initiative.
不管是在那个演讲里,还是多年来在其它不那么知名的各个会议和研讨会上,他都坚持认为,学校的教育体系以提高学业成绩和强化规则意识为主而不是解放想象力和提高积极主动性的做法非但没有培养反而还扼杀了孩子们的艺术创造力。
He told the audience in 2006: “I believe our only hope for the future is to adopt a new concept of human ecology, one in which we start to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity. Our education system has mined our minds in the way we strip-mined the earth for a particular commodity. We have to rethink the fundamental principles in which we are educating our children.”
2006年,面对听众,他说道:“我相信我们未来唯一的希望是采用一套全新的人类生态理念。这套理念能重构我们对人类能力多样性的概念。一直以来,我们的教育体系开发大脑的方式,就像露天采矿一样,简单粗暴。我们必须重新思考教育孩子的基本原则”。
Understandably, this was much more enticing to the education profession than it was to government ministers, but it was based not on a single speech but Robinson’s whole career in academic education, which culminated in a professorship at Warwick University (1989-2001), before he became a senior adviser to the J Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles.
可以理解的是,这些话对于教育界人士来说,显然要比对政府部长们的吸引力更大。但是,对罗宾逊而言,这不仅仅只是演讲词,而是基于整个学术教育生涯的总结。他在教育领域的研究成果使他成为了华威大学的教授(1989-2001),之后他去了洛杉矶保罗盖蒂信托基金做高级顾问。
注:
entice: attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage 引诱
If the argument was that individual creativity was stifled by the system, it was less easy to discern how that might be recreated within a state education with its emphasis on attainment targets and examination results. The Blair government at least invited him to chair an inquiry in 1997, which produced a report, All Our Futures, but then largely ignored it; while Michael Gove as education secretary and his special adviser Dominic Cummings chose snide derision to dismiss the establishment “blob” of which they felt he was clearly a part. Robinson himself said in an interview with the Independent in 2018: “If I didn’t piss somebody off I’d probably be doing something wrong, but I don’t set out to do it.”
如果说教育体系扼杀了个人创造力,那么在以目标成就和考试结果为重点的教育现状下,找出重塑这种创造力的方法则更为棘手。1997年,布莱尔政府至少曾邀请他展开一项调查,并形成了一份报告,名为《我们的未来》,虽然后来并未引起重视;而教育部长迈克尔·戈夫(Michael Gove)和他的特别顾问多米尼克·卡明斯(Dominic Cummings)则把他视为利益既得者的一员而冷嘲热讽,视而不见。2018年,罗宾逊在接受《独立报》采访时提到:“如果我没有激怒一些人,那我才可能在犯错。但我本意并非如此”。
注:
1. stifle: restrain (a reaction) or stop oneself acting on 镇压,扼杀,阻止
2. snide: derogatory or mocking in an indirect way挖苦的
3. derision: contemptuous ridicule or mockery嘲笑
4. blob: A group of similar things or people positioned or occurring closely together
5. piss off: 激怒
He told Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs in 2013 that schools should have discretion to develop creativity: “Don’t treat children as the same or over-programme them, they find their talents by trying things out.”
2013年,他在荒岛电台(Desert Island Discs)对柯斯蒂·杨(Kirsty Young)说,在培养创造力方面,学校应当有自主权,孩子不能一概而论,也不要过度塑造。让他们在尝试中发现自己的天赋。
But Robinson admitted on the programme that he had benefited from an academic education system and insisted he was not opposed to a national curriculum, but just wanted one with different priorities and parity of esteem between core subjects and artistic ones such as dance.
但在电视节目中,罗宾逊承认,自己曾从学术教育体系中获益,因此他并不反对全国性的课程安排,只是希望这种体系能够有不同侧重,舞蹈等人文科目能够和心科目一样被同样看待。
The fifth of seven children of Ethel (nee Allen) and James Robinson, he was born in an impoverished household in Liverpool, close to Everton’s Goodison Park football ground. His father worked at various jobs, including running a pub and as a docker, and was left paraplegic after his back was broken in a dockside accident when Ken was nine. He himself spent eight months in hospital after being diagnosed with polio at the age of four, thereafter walking with a limp, ending any chance of playing for the local club, though his brother Neil did so.
罗宾逊出生在利物浦埃弗顿的古迪逊公园足球场附近一个贫穷家庭,是家里七个孩子中的老五。他的父亲詹姆斯·罗宾逊从事过各种不同工作,经营过酒吧,也当过码头工人。在他九岁的时候,父亲在一次码头事故中背部受伤,从此瘫痪。他本人在四岁时被诊断出患有小儿麻痹症,并在医院待了八个月,从此他只能一瘸一拐地走路,不能像他的哥哥尼尔一样做为球员加入当地俱乐部。
Instead, Robinson’s parents encouraged him academically. He was initially educated at a special school for children with disabilities but passed the 11-plus and attended Liverpool Collegiate school, proceeding to study for a Bachelor of Education degree at Bretton Hall College, west Yorkshire, founded by the educationist Alec Clegg, which specialised in the arts. It had a formative effect on his career and he went on to complete a doctorate in drama and theatre in education at London University.
父母转而鼓励罗宾逊在学业上多下功夫。他一开始在一所为残障儿童开设的特殊学校上学,但顺利通过了中学入学考试,随后就读于利物浦联合中学(Liverpool Collegiate school),并在西约克郡布雷顿霍尔学院继续攻读教育学士学位,该学院的特色是人文教育,由教育学家阿莱克·克莱格创立。这段学习经历对他的职业生涯影响很大,他之后又在伦敦大学继续攻读了话剧与戏剧教育博士学位。
注:
11-plus: Eleven-plus, in England, competitive examination given between primary and secondary school at about age 11.
His subsequent career focused on the arts in education, working on a schools’ council project which became his first book, Learning Through Drama (1977), and running courses for teachers. In the early 1980s he was lead researcher and author of the Arts in Schools project for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and after that became the director of the Arts in Schools project, which in turn helped to shape the national curriculum after the 1988 Baker Act.
他随后的职业生涯紧紧围绕人文教育。他加入了一个学校理事会的项目,由此撰写了他的第一本书《通过戏剧学习(1977)》,并为教师们开设课程。20世纪80年代初期,他担任古尔班基安基金会旗下“人文科学在学校”项目的首席研究员并著有项目同名图书,随后成为该项目负责人,该项目在1988年《贝克法案》出台之后又帮助制定了国家课程。
He founded and chaired Artswork, the national youth arts development agency and founded and co-edited Arts Express magazine, before joining the staff at Warwick. The invitation to join the Getty Trust in California came in early January 2001: “It was cold and wet – what would you do? We went as fast as we could.”
在华威大学任教以前,他建立了一个国际青年艺术发展机构“艺术社”,担任主席,还创立了《艺术快讯》杂志,并担任该杂志的联合主编。2001年1月初,加州的盖蒂基金会送来了入会邀请函:“那会儿(英国)又冷又湿——你会怎么办?我们立马动身了。”
Robinson was the author of several more books, including Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative (2001), Finding Your Element (2014) and Creative Schools (2015). He was knighted in 2003.
罗宾逊另外还著有好几本书,包括《超脱意识之外:学习创造》(2001),《发现天赋之旅》(2014)和《创学堂》(2015)。2003年,他获封为爵士。
Robinson’s success at the TED conference, where he spoke three times over a number of years, propelled him into a different financial and celebrity league. His friend and agent Brendan Barns said: “What really set Ken apart from other speakers and educationists was his ability instantly to create rapport with his audiences. He made everyone feel he was talking to them personally.”
多年来,罗宾逊在TED大会上演讲过三次,收获了巨大的成功,使他进入到另一个金融和名仕的圈子内。他的朋友兼经纪人布兰登·巴恩斯说道:“肯和其他演讲者、教育家们最不同的是他能很快和观众打成一片。肯让每个人都觉得他在跟自己单独对话。”
Robinson met Marie-Therese Watts, known as Terry, while giving a course in Liverpool in 1977. They married in 1982 and had two children, James and Kate. The couple returned to live in London last year to be near Kate and her baby daughter, Adeline.Terry and their children survive him.
1977年在利物浦教书的时候,罗宾逊认识了玛丽-特雷泽·华兹,大家都叫她泰瑞。他们1982年结婚并且育有两名子女,詹姆斯和凯特。去年,罗宾逊夫妇回到伦敦居住,以便离凯特和她的小女儿阿戴琳近一些。
泰瑞和他们的孩子都健在。
Kenneth Robinson, educationist, born 4 March 1950; died 21 August 2020
肯尼斯·罗宾逊,教育家,生于1950年3月4日,逝于2020年8月21日。
翻译组:
Ronnie,动物保护主义者
Yvonne,努力中的口译新人
Lucia,英语专业学生,经济学人爱好者
Mosy,绘本、演讲、戏剧英文教育践行者
校对组:
Mona,悦读悦译,以译会友
Lee,爱骑行的妇女之友+Timberland粉
Rachel Zhang,学理工科,爱跳芭蕾,热爱文艺的非典型翻译
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观点|评论|思考
本次感想
Vicky,少儿英语老师+笔译新人
我为什么当老师
作为一位立志成为最好的幼少儿英语老师的潘老师,我青少年最惨痛的回忆,也来源于老师。
那是我的初中老师,他让我在初三的时候度日如年。
他性别歧视,在他的口中有一个群体叫做“小个子女生”,而这些女生自然是学不好数学的,他们很笨。(这些人中后来出了一位中科院数学系女博士)。
他成绩歧视,成绩好的同学和成绩不好的同学,在他眼里,就不是一个等级的人类,从纪律到卫生到问问题的态度,区分的清清楚楚明明白白,生怕你误会了自己的所在的区域。
他极度自私,考初中的时候为了自己的省重点公费达成率,哪怕你明明可以自费去更好的学校,他也逼着你考公费的差一点儿的学校,因为这样更有把握,至于会不会耽误你的人生,根本不在他考虑的范围之内。
这些事情我现在想来历历在目,很多人会说,真正强大的人会选择原谅,我现在是否足够强大我不敢说,但是我保证,我一辈子都不会原谅他,你不是我,不要轻易淡化我的伤。而我不原谅的方式,是要向他证明,老师可以不用这么做。
老师要控制自己的私心。你的教学内容,是为了孩子好,还是为了自己好,这两者很容易混淆,但是却是最需要分清。学生某一次考试是99还是100对于老师来说可能有kpi的影响,可是从孩子终身学习而言,这一分的差别微不足道,所以教学安排上应该追求满分的虚荣,还是好的学习习惯的养成,探索精神的培养,课外知识的补充,孰轻孰重,老师心中要有一把尺。我曾经的一个学生,小学五年级,英语考试从来拿不了满分,可是他的课外阅读书是原版哈利波特,因为喜欢,所以阅读,而不是为了成绩,谁又能说他英语学的不好呢?
老师要锻炼自己的细心。作为老师,我们需要的是把世界带到孩子的面前。可是如果我们的世界只有一个标准答案,那么我们带给孩子的最多只是一张地图而已。不要轻易地给孩子下定义,没有两条同样的河流,同样也没有两个一样的孩子。每个孩子都有自己的闪光点,淘金者没有找到黄金,自然是淘金者的问题,黄金一直就在那里。我之前遇到过一个小女生,每次上课学的内容,回家爸爸妈妈问起来都说不知道,完成作业非常吃力,后来我发现她对歌曲非常敏感,于是每次上课学的内容我都努力找到一首对应的歌曲给她,让她回家多听,令人惊喜的事情发生了,以后再问她所学的知识,不但能够答出来,她还可以唱出来,这世上没有学不会的孩子,只有不会教的老师。
老师要培养自己的爱心。这个世界上没有一个孩子是不听话的,只要他足够喜欢你。而让孩子喜欢你的最好方法,是要时时刻刻告诉他,你有多么喜欢他。我曾经遇到过一个小男生,他第一天上我课的时候很认真的告诉我,“老师,我学的很慢的,我在学校就学不好,我很淘气的,我不是一个好学生”。我听后没说话,但是从第一次课开始,我就不断的告诉他我有多喜欢他,他的新发型,新书包,他的阅读,他的作业,他的举手,他的发音......我用我后面每一次课的每一个表扬,每一声赞美,努力向他证明:我不在乎你在学校是“好学生”还是“坏学生”,在Vicky这里,你就是好孩子,永远值得我所有的喜欢。再后来,这个经常被找家长的小朋友,会非常自豪地对别人说:英语可是我的强项呢!老师天然就是要爱学生的,不因为他学得好,不因为他不淘气,不因为他讨好你,只因为,他是你的学生。
我们为什么要当老师?黄埔军校有一句话:贪生怕死请往他处,升官发财莫入此门。当老师贪生怕死说的太大了,可是升官发财,确实很难,当然老师应该有足够维持体面生活的薪资,这样才能后顾无忧地专研教学。
可是最最关键的,是我们这份职业承担的是关系孩子一生的启蒙,是可能影响他未来的人生,那么我们就有必要让自己做得更好。人说幸运的人一生都在被童年治愈,而我相信,好的老师,有能力治愈童年。
“果实的事业是尊贵的,花朵的事业是甜美的,我却愿做叶的事业,只为给你一片绿荫。”与我众多可爱的同业诸君共勉。
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愿景
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