2009年3月19日 星期四

最有效的教育工具﹕家族老故事

Children Find Meaning In Old Family Tales

2009年 03月 19日 08:02
最有效的教育工具﹕家族老故事


三 個子女成長過程中﹐來自科羅拉多的史蒂夫•蓋勒(C. Stephen Guyer)喜歡把自己祖父的故事講給他們聽。作為一位銀行家﹐儘管在30年代的經濟危機中失去全部家產﹐蓋勒的祖父卻沒有忘記人生最重要的東西。蓋勒告 訴孩子﹐在最黑暗的日子﹐瀕臨破產的曾祖父仍然用一輛車載著全家人奔赴加拿大看望親人。蓋勒說﹐這個故事的寓意是﹐“生活中還有很多比錢更重要的東西。”

Matt Collins
這 個故事最近有了姊妹篇。蓋勒要比較從奢侈的大房子搬到小房子裡去了。他曾擔心三個孩子會感到沮喪。但他驚奇地發現﹐15歲的女兒和一對22歲的雙胞胎不但 不沮喪﹐反而表現得像當年的曾祖父一樣。蓋勒說﹐孩子們告訴他﹕他們真正關心的是家人在新家裡是否感到溫暖﹐是否能敞開心扉。

當家家戶戶 忙著縮減開支的時候﹐很多父母發現﹐家族故事具有神奇的力量﹐能夠幫助孩子度過艱難的日子。講故事專家表示﹐父母的這種認識說明美國人對於講故事的興趣正 在增加﹐與此同時﹐有關講故事的聚會和慶典也越來越多。最新研究也揭示出家族故事的價值﹐將青少年在這方面的瞭解與改善行為和心理健康聯繫起來。

心 理學教授羅賓•菲伍什(Robyn Fivush)透露﹐艾默里大學(Emory University)曾對65個擁有14到16歲子女的家庭進行研究﹐發現孩子復述家族故事的能力越強﹐就越不容易出現抑鬱和焦慮情緒﹐出於挫折或憤怒 而產生的行為也越少。菲伍氏說﹕“瞭解家族故事使孩子們更為全面地看待自己的經歷。”

講 故事的技巧在於﹐要以孩子樂於接受的方式進行。以這種話開頭的故事就不要講了──“在我小的時候﹐每天都是走路上下學﹐來回都要爬山﹐下雪天也光著腳。” 按照田納西州瓊斯伯勒地區非營利機構“全國講故事網” (National Storytelling Network)主席沙利•諾夫爾克(Sherry Norfolk)的說法﹐故事應該針對孩子的需求﹐講述的時候要有目光接觸﹐創造“身臨其境”的感覺。“你不需要點出故事裡面的道理﹐”諾夫爾克說﹐“孩 子們憑直覺就能懂得故事的寓意。”

幾年以前﹐面對被迫轉校﹐亞特蘭大卡拉•弗里曼(Carla Freeman)的女兒顯得很焦慮。弗里曼就把自己小時候在社區內轉校的故事講給孩子聽﹕剛轉校的時候﹐老朋友失去聯繫﹐在新學校里也顯得很不合群﹐但自 己很快就振作起精神﹐結識了新朋友。弗里曼認為這個故事對女兒的成長起到了幫助﹐如今12歲的女兒不僅能承受打擊﹐也樂於迎接各種挑戰。

幽 默感可能使故事更受歡迎。達拉斯的斯科特•普雷格(Scott Prengle)曾在家裡給17歲的兒子鮑比(Bobby)講述祖父的故事。在祖父成長的年代﹐人們非常貧困﹐吃不飽飯的同學會把祖父午餐吃剩的蘋果核狼 吞虎嚥地吃下去。一天吃晚餐時﹐鮑比拿著幾乎空了的沙拉醬瓶子往盤子裡到沙拉醬﹐斯科特笑著建議兒子效仿祖父的做法﹕往沙拉瓶子裡加些水﹐確保不浪費每一 滴沙拉醬。斯科特說﹐儘管祖父節儉的生活習慣把大家逼得要發瘋﹐但是背後的理念很簡單──不要浪費任何東西。

鮑比拒絕減少在服裝方面的支出﹐但是他說自己正以其它方式效仿祖父──節省迴形針和橡皮筋。最近﹐當斯科特削減家庭開支時﹐他發現祖父的故事在鮑比身上產生了效果﹐鮑比平靜地放棄了自己經常使用的健身會員卡。

菲 伍什說﹐有時你以為孩子們並沒在認真聽你講故事﹐其實他們在聽。羅德島普羅維登斯的托馬斯•彭特(Thomas Pontes)以為自己16歲、14歲和12歲的孩子對於祖父的故事並不感興趣。他們的祖父是一位移民美國的農場工人﹐他憑借自己的雙手﹐從只能住牲口棚 到擁有自己的家庭。彭特認為﹐這個故事蘊含著樂觀主義精神﹐只要擁有樂觀的希望﹐放牛羊的農工也可以通過奮鬥﹐最終在大西洋彼岸的美國站穩腳跟。

但是當我和彭特16歲的女兒凱蒂(Katie)聊起祖父的故事﹐她告訴我﹐她不僅記得這些故事﹐而且因為這些故事變得更加珍惜生活﹐更加體會到生活的幸福。菲伍什說﹐即使孩子們看上去並不欣賞家族故事﹐慢慢的﹐孩子們也會意識到這些故事的重要性。

2009年3月8日 星期日

天啊!這樣的全面學"笑"漢文鬼扯淡

天啊!小四考這個?可憐可憐孩子吧

最近,我在大學演講,都會有教授向我反映:我完全不懂我的孩子的國文考題,又怕他考不好,只好將他送進補習班補國文。有趣的是這個孩子什麼功課都不需補習,但必須補國文。國文有這麼難嗎?請看以下的考題,這是一位國小四年級學生的考題。


這份給小學四年級學生的考題,令我傻眼,我一題也不會做,我將考卷寄給幾百位我的好友。所有回信者都說不會,只有兩位試做,答案也都不同。我的好友中包含 了多位大學校長和教授,他們一致的反應是:題目太難了,小學生不該學這些東西。究竟難不難?我最後求教於兩位大學的中文系教授,他們也不會,而且他們都說 這是修辭學的範圍,小孩子怎麼可以學這種玩意兒?

我們首先要確定這種題目難不難,答案無比簡單,這當然很難。小四的孩子如何能懂「映襯」。「映襯」絕對是一個抽象的觀念,文學修養好的人也許可以意會,我就問了好多人何謂「映襯」,越問越糊塗,至今不知道什麼樣的句子屬於「映襯」。

在小學考如此艱深的題目,可想而知的是孩子會多麼的沮喪,也可以想像得到孩子們對國文的望之生畏。我小時候不管這些,只學了一些成語和典故。雖然不懂「映襯」,至少會看書,也會寫還算通順的文章。尤其幸運的,我從未為國文而煩惱過,我從小就很喜歡上國文課。

不會這些修辭學,有沒有關係?對我而言,顯然是沒有關係,因為我看得懂文章,也能寫文章。我的那些朋友,也都不會「遞進」和「承接」,照樣在社會生存,好 幾位非常出人頭地。我為了小心起見,又去問了幾位中文系教授,他們都說學了這些學問,無助於小學生的國文程度。我們大家每天都會讀文章,有那一位是因為知 道每一句話的修辭格以後才瞭解文章的意義的?又有那一位在寫某一句話的時候,知道這個句子屬於那個修辭格的。比方說,我們小時候都曾寫過「媽媽愛我,她每 天燒好吃的菜給我吃」。我們恐怕一輩子也不知道這是什麼格。

我不願在此追究這種出難題考學生是如何開始的,很多人說,這種難題的受害者是廣大的無辜小孩子,受益者卻是補習班。我希望這不是事實,因為考試領導教學, 已非好事,補習班領導教學,完全是匪夷所思。問題是:主管教育的政府官員知不知道小學生的痛苦呢?我建議教育部的大官們做做這份考卷。做完以後,總該採取 一些行動吧,我們的小孩子太可憐了。

我們小學生的家長們不能再對這件事沉默了。你們應該讓教育當局知道你們的想法。孩子害怕國文,是一件可怕的事。



老師把國語變恐怖了!

小四的國語考題,連大學教授看了都瞠目結舌,不知如何作答。什麼句子叫映襯、排比,什麼是遞進複句、承接複句?才開始學習自我表達的十歲孩童,被老師提早趕進修辭分析的恐怖世界,簡直是反教育。

可怕的是,這還不是一個學校某位怪咖老師的一時興起之作,而是國小語文課的普遍現象。一位國小老師說,國中國文「都在講修辭」,如果小學不教,進了國中就跟不上。原來,台灣的教育是以折騰孩子為己任,而且一脈相承、環環相扣;國小受苦,只是為了國中受難作準備。

這種恐怖教學法,若有助於磨練孩子的心志和能力也就罷了;事實上,卻只加速學生國語文的「火星文」化而已。試想,才認了幾年字的學童,語文課最重要的應是 學習感受與表達,行有餘力再談欣賞進階。但當老師把語文修辭變成了化學分析,學生必須辨識每個句型並加以分類,不僅本末倒置,也著實教人倒盡胃口。

越喊解放,卻綁得越死,十年教改讓人無言以對。許多上一代的人從未學過修辭學,文章照樣寫得精采通暢;現在小學就上修辭,反倒教出許多連句子都寫不完整的學生,這不是揠苗助長嗎?更何況,小四上的只是「國語」課,不能讓孩子先好好學會講話嗎?

多年來,不知道有多少家長和孩子們活在恐怖的修辭的夢魘中,苦苦掙扎,卻投訴無門;最後,只能藉李家同教授的投書代為反映其疑惑與不滿。僅從這個過程,教育體系的知覺遲緩已一覽無遺了。教育部!這回你聽見了嗎?

●延伸閱讀:

李家同:天啊!小四考這個?可憐可憐孩子吧

2009年3月7日 星期六

Parents Sue Trustees Over Prep School’s Shutdown

Parents Sue Trustees Over Prep School’s Shutdown

Kyle Bursaw

One day last September, Conserve School students were at study in a lounge.


Published: March 6, 2009

When the students of the Conserve School in Wisconsin poured into the auditorium on a blustery morning early this year, they had no inkling of what would follow.

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Kyle Bursaw

In a biology class, a student analyzed a leaf.

Kyle Bursaw

Stefan Anderson, Conserve School’s headmaster, told students that the four-year program would be shortened to one semester.

Kyle Bursaw

A Conserve senior, Wendy Eliot, studying. The school was built on land donated by James R. Lowenstine, a steel executive.

The New York Times

Conserve School covers 1,200 acres in Land O’ Lakes.

Stefan Anderson, the headmaster, told them that the trustees were essentially shutting down the prep school because of the dismal economic climate. Its four-year program would be converted to a single semester of study focused on nature and the environment.

“We thought we would hear they were cutting financial aid,” recalled Erty Seidel, a senior on the wooded campus, which is filled with wildlife and sprawls across 1,200 acres in Land O’ Lakes.

Greta Dohl, a student from Iron River, Mich., in her third year at the school, broke down and cried. “I was absolutely heartbroken,” she said of the closing.

Now students and parents are banding together and challenging the action, contending the school’s underlying financial condition does not look so dire. In fact, the school’s endowment would be the envy of many a prep school. With $181 million and 143 students, it has the equivalent of more than $1 million a student.

In a lawsuit filed in State Circuit Court in Wisconsin, the parents argue that the trustees are acting in their own interests — as officials of a separate, profit-making steel company — and want them removed from oversight of the school.

At its heart, the dispute shows how much distrust can build when a nonprofit’s trustees are one and the same as those overseeing a company. And it illustrates what can happen to a nonprofit that fails to diversify its investments.

The trustees counter that they are performing their duty and that the endowment does not have enough money to meet the school’s current needs. Furthermore, they say the school’s trust never specified that the school would have a college preparatory curriculum over four years or that the trust should diversify.

The fight threatens the legacy of James R. Lowenstine, a chief executive of the Central Steel and Wire Company, a Chicago steel company, who died in 1996. Childless himself, he envisioned a school that would provide a general education with an emphasis on nature, and donated land he had accumulated in his lifetime.

Today, the property has eight lakes, 22 miles of cross-country biking and hiking trails, and school buildings completed in 2002. Mr. Lowenstine established a trust that has been providing financial aid to about 70 percent of the school’s diverse student body.

The trust remains heavily invested in Central Steel and Wire and has a majority stake in the company. The trustees, who therefore control the steel company, wear multiple hats, as directors of Conserve School and directors and executives of Central Steel and Wire.

Some parents suggest the trustees are fearful that selling some of the stock to meet the school’s needs could jeopardize their roles at the steel company. If the trust’s stake of 59 percent fell below 50 percent, an outsider could take control of the company.

Conserve School is unusual in several ways. Most endowments aim to diversify their holdings to minimize the risk of devastation from one soured investment. The Conserve School Trust has $132 million of its $181 million endowment in Central Steel stock.

Ronald V. Kazmar, Central Wire and Steel’s chief financial officer and managing trustee for the trust, said in a telephone interview that the original trust document said the trustees did not have to diversify and recommended they not sell the stock.

Even so, the trust has substantial resources. School endowments generally pay out about 5 percent of their assets annually, a rule of thumb among charities.

In the last fiscal year, the trust distributed less than 3 percent of its assets, or $4.9 million of the school’s $8 million operating budget, according to Mr. Kazmar, with paid tuition of $30,000 a year contributing most of the rest.

The financial condition of Central Steel, meanwhile, is difficult to gauge. Mr. Kazmar said that the closely held company was valued annually by J.P. Morgan, and that those figures were not made public. The stock is thinly traded over the counter and appears to have fallen about 10 percent from its 52-week high last April.

Last year Central Steel paid a dividend of $30 a share. According to Mr. Kazmar, the company is planning to cut its dividend to $20 this year. At that level, the trust will still reap about $3.2 million in dividends. The trust could also tap its other, diversified holdings, about $48 million.

In court documents, the trustees said that the trust could provide only $4 million annually to the school, “well short of the school’s current operating needs.” That projected shortfall prompted them to seek “alternative models,” they added. The school will need about $6.2 million from the trust next year to meet its $8 million budget, Mr. Kazmar said in the interview.

The trust could sell various assets and wait out the downturn, contends William Meier, one of the parents bringing the lawsuit.

He said he sent his son to Conserve because he was gifted academically and “our public school in Whitefish Bay does not have a gifted and talented program for the high school.”

“My son fell in love with it,” he added.

In an affidavit, he testified that when he asked the headmaster why the trustees did not diversify, Mr. Anderson replied that the trustees did not want to sell below 51 percent of the holdings in the steel company “or they would lose control of the company.”

Mr. Kazmar, the managing trustee, denied the trustees had any motive other than serving the school. “There has been an economic downturn and based on our projections, it is necessary to make this change,” he said in the interview. “Our only agenda here is to keep the school going.”

Daniel L. Kurtz, a partner at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom who heads its exempt organizations practice and is not involved in the case, said that in his opinion, even if the trustees were not directed to diversify their holdings, they had certain obligations.

In his view, “the trustees have to act in the best interest of the beneficiary, which is the charity,” he added. “Holding on to a stock that declines in value simply cannot be a means of fulfilling your fiduciary obligations.”

On Friday, a judge rejected the parents’ request for a temporary halt to the trustees’ plan, suggested mediation and scheduled a hearing for late April.

The downsizing at Conserve has left many teachers and students adrift. More than two dozen teachers were offered severance packages if they did not disparage the school.

Juniors have been told that they can finish their senior year. Ms. Dohl, however, has applied to college early in hopes of skipping a senior year in a school with fewer than 40 students.

“I feel that the academic program has been compromised,” she said. “The wide variety of classes is not going to be offered. The teachers will be focused on planning the semester school instead of focusing on us. The atmosphere is going to be really, really weird. We are going to look around and say, ‘Where is everybody else?’ ”

2009年3月1日 星期日

科學教育自兒童做起

他兒子Patrict Nolan 小學時就揚名戴明圈 參考第四代管理新經濟學

第 208 頁
Dr. Thomas W. Nolan came one day to talk with me; brought with him a chart that his boy Patrick had made, then at age 11. ...
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Time of arrival of school bus, by Patrick Nolan, 11. Think what a good start in life Patrick had, understanding common causes and special causes of ...
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This was his science project at school. A good start in life. Some essential theory of variation could obviously be ...