Randy Pausch — Life Teacher

Friday, Jul. 25, 2008 By NANCY GIBBS

By NANCY GIBBS

Randy Pausch.

Kaylin Bowers / Daily Progress / AP

There were times I couldn't bear to watch. But then there were others when his exuberance — physical and spiritual — made it easy to convince myself it would never happen, and so I would call up Randy Pausch's Last Lecture on YouTube and watch it with my children, receive the gift he was giving us and reject the idea that it would come at an ultimate price: that Pausch would indeed die one day of pancreatic cancer, as he did this morning, at the age of 47.

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You cannot change the cards you are dealt. Just how you play the hand.

With his child's smile and nimble brain and breathtakingly simple instructions tumbling out one after another, Pausch made the infernally complex machine that is modern life look like anyone could put it together if they just had the right tools and the crib sheet. Come on, he seemed to say, you can do this; I have the secrets, and I'm giving them to you, for free.

Don't complain. Just work harder.

Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.

When his cancer was diagnosed in August 2006, doctors said he had maybe a few months. He went through an aggressive course of treatment, surgery, chemotherapy; but a year later the disease had spread to his liver and spleen, and he was told it was terminal. A popular computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, he delivered his "Last Lecture" on September 18, 2007. It was a university tradition for popular professors to think hard about what mattered most to them and distill their ideas as though they had only one message left to give to the generation that followed. Randy Pausch was the first for whom the exercise was literal.

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

It became a YouTube sensation, viewed many millions of times by people charmed by his easy manner, engaged by his lively insights into work, science, exploration, in awe of his complete lack of self-pity. He was the picture of health, with his thick dark hair and Muppet eyebrows, dropping to do push-ups on the stage, a defiant portrait of life with its edges all sharpened. Every sentence was soaked in gratitude, and listening to it could make you flinch at every time you'd whined or cheated or quit.

The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough.

You wondered whether, all across the country, children were whipping out the brushes and paint while parents stood resignedly by, remembering the pictures he showed of his own bedroom growing up, covered in doodles and math problems and rocket ships, and honoring his injunction.

"If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it."

Last October Pausch appeared on Oprah, and his audience widened even further. He testified before Congress for better cancer-research funding. He got 10,000 e-mails recommending possible therapies. He spent a day hanging out with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which he'd mentioned as his own childhood dream. ABC News did a prime-time special in which we got to meet his wife Jai, his three young children, watch them playing and planning for what lay ahead.

In April his book, The Last Lecture, swooped high on the best-seller list; his wife called it a "manual" for their family.

Wise men have said they're not scared of death, but they're a little scared of dying. Death is just a mystery; but dying is the journey we don't want to take, and he used it to lead the living to a new place. It was as though he already knew more than he should, had dipped a ways into eternity and brought some pieces back for the rest of us to use in whatever ways and for whatever time we can.

The end of the lecture, it turned out, was just the beginning.

Did you figure out the head fake? It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way ... the dreams will come to you. Did you figure out the second head fake? The talk's not for you. It's for my kids.

台灣的"假考部隊"這一現象有趣

台灣的這一現象有趣
或許說許多教育界之病態




假考部隊 鎖定不合格校系

〔記者胡清暉／台北報導〕大學指考今起至二十八日網路登記分發志願，假考部隊已揚言消滅兩科系。被外界推測可能目標的稻江科技暨管理學院與真理大學都聲明，假考部隊不應專斷否定該校全體師生的努力，也不應剝奪學生就學權。

假考部隊發起人hero指出，已開會決定要狙擊的目標，鎖定大學評鑑不合格的三十一所校系，包括真理、稻江、致遠管理學院、興國管理學院、立德大學。

至於「萬人考大學活動」部落格有文章提到「我想去稻田裡和稻草人說話，應用一下語文能力」，被視為暗示要消滅的是稻江應用語文系，並質疑該系有畢業生連高 中程度全民英檢都無法通過，hero不願明確透露到底要消滅什麼科系，只強調填志願是考生的權利，原則上應該三十一個不合格科系都會填。

對於可能成為攻擊目標，稻江昨晚以聲明稿說明，該校已啟動「稻江改制大學卓越計畫」，積極為明年改制努力衝刺。此外，稻江表示，應用語文學系九十四至九十六年畢業生約二百人，就業率八十四％，其中擔任外語翻譯五十一％，從事外語教學三十三％，表現不錯。

至於今年未設最低錄取成績門檻的真理大學也被認為是目標之一，主任秘書郭崇仁坦言，沒有辦法阻擋假考部隊，一旦成真，對學校是很大打擊，「現在只能祈禱」。並於明年增設最低入學門檻。

對於部分評鑑不佳的大學動輒以新大學為由，希望外界給予時間改善，hero痛批：「這種說法根本是藉口。」新大學也有辦得不錯的。評鑑不佳的大學，教學資 源不足，還敢收一年十多萬元學費，「究竟良心何在」？hero指出，網路上已有高中生預約兩年後加入假考部隊，只要爛大學不改善，假考部隊的響應人數只會 越來越多。

"Middle - aged school boys" to "Lifelong learner" (1995-2008)

"Middle - aged school boys" to "Lifelong learner" (1995-2008)

中年學童

歲末，把年前經濟學人出版的《1995年 的世界》拿來溫習一下，發覺其中管理學名家談的，都是可以令人深思的主題。Tom Perers十來年前的《追求卓越》，曾經風行全球，而他卻早已否定有所謂「卓越」，轉而倡導《亂中求繁榮》、《解放管理》。現在他談的是《追求狂野 (In

Search of Craziness)》，鼓動超越「效率」而追求創新及想像力，不要被經典、習慣所困，例如以往研究發展等等活動，都局限在「溫室」方式，反而應到野草叢生處去發掘最有活力、野氣的繁花。

最令人感動的則是Charles Handy的《中年學童(Middle - aged school boys)》。他力陳人生應追求多重事業，不斷學習。Handy先生是組織學的名家，曾擔任過某大石油公司主管多年，轉業為教授，出版的《非理性時代》、《了解組織》都曾洛陽紙貴，可惜他用希臘諸神來譬喻不同組織形態的佳作，最近才有美國版本。他教授之餘，也轉業為神職人員，之後，再成為自由作家。台灣有他的名著《覺醒的年代》譯本，是本好書，以後有機會再詳談。現在我們介紹他的「中年學童」說法，我認為台灣十年內就會到達此境界--終生教育學習，人生事業群組構成人生四季之美等前景。

現在的「組織人」，應把學習機會看成是個人的「權利」。因為以後社會、經濟情勢的演變，會使一般人前途的唯一安全憑藉，在於能賣得出去的技能，而且它必須常常更新。所以有遠見的洋公司，己要求其成員投資一定的金錢(通常公司出錢)及時間「充電」或做各種「志工」、「義工」，而在公司內部，也以「平行調職方式豐富化工作」，不再強調升遷。

Handy先生引以為憂的是，大部分組織內的上班族，尚未意識到公司的工作，不再有終生保障，公司也不再能凡事妥善照顧員工。值得警惕的是，「學習」必須由「學習者」自行覺悟，自發有此不斷學習的需求才能開始。所以，現代政治的最大挑戰，是在於喚醒眾人的危機意識，因為社會上永遠會「人浮於事(工作)」，然而社會對於許多尚未被創造出的產品及服務，卻仍是需求孔殷。換句話說，要不斷創新，才談得上工作或事業的「供需暫時平衡」，而大眾要徹底轉變以「工作」為主導的事業規劃，而要以「顧客」為主導，從而學習發展出服務顧客的「技能」與「訣竅。」

Handy先生認為世界性的工作革命，必須由供給面來領導，而學校必須是這種大轉型的充電站。換句話說，學習性社會要由學者自行決定其命運，而腦力的開發，固然價值高，然而也更加困難。不管怎樣，人生不再一戰決勝負，而有多重機會、選擇，這些都是美事。
在這種脈絡下，人人不要以成為「學子」是「小朋友」上學的事，能夠儘早脫離苦海為妙。學校的新角色，也很值得我們深思。
----台灣立報1995 .12.8.----

Lifelong learner would impress literary giant

通識課?

這則新聞可以有許多解釋 基本上 評鑑之power 應用無窮 名校通識課 不再是大補貼

2008/07/16

【聯合報╱記者薛荷玉／台北報導】 「牙醫概論」、「認識護理」算是通識課嗎？找十幾位學者，每人負責一堂演講的「名人講座」，內容五花八門，也算通識課？教育部昨天公布11所五年五百億大學通識課程的評鑑結果，以台大表現最優，陽明大學則位居末位，有2項指標得D等（差），與4年前相比，並無進步。 教育部曾在4年前首次針對台大、成大、陽明等7所頂尖大學的通識課程評鑑，今年則擴大到五年五百億的11所大學，希望能夠改正許多大學通識課就是「營養學分」、聽聽演講或欣賞音樂就輕鬆得高分的印象。 教育部顧問室專門委員劉文惠表示，第二度評鑑的7所大學中，以台大的表現最好、且進步最多；交大、中央、成大也有進步；清大、中山進步「有限」；陽明則無進步，93年時7項指標只有1項得D等（差），今年則有2個D等，3個C等（尚可）。 劉文惠指出，陽明的「自我評鑑機制」得D等，是因幾乎沒有自評機制，等教育部聘的外部評鑑委員要去評鑑前，才急就章地自評一下；此外，陽明的「課程規畫」也得D等，是因缺乏統籌的規畫機制，如「牙醫概論」、「認識護理」也被評委認為應列入專業課程。 評鑑報告中指出，陽明的「通識教育中心」有14位專任教師，負責全校學生28學分的通識課，但經費卻只有二百餘萬，豈能足夠？且陽明除了通識教育中心，還有通識委員會等3個類似組織，各管各的，無法統整。 陽明大學校長吳妍華說，該校有3個通識教育中心、委員會，無法整合，也是陽明的「痛」，校務會議已通過要調整組織架構；且陽明新成立人文社會學院，有2個新的研究所，未來也有師資可開更多人文的通識課。 教育部指出，台大4年前的評鑑也不好，但近年卻有很大改善，主管都十分重視通識教育，規畫出文學與藝術、歷史思維等8大領域通識課，且為每位老師都請了教學助理。

Deming Lecturer Award

Deming Lecturer Award (American Statistical Association, 2008)

轉載美國統計學會2008年度各項獎項得主之聲明
只略譯Deming博士部分

Deming Lecturer Award
The Deming Lecturer Award was established in 1995 to honor the accomplishments of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, recognize the accomplishments of the awardee, and enhance the awareness among the statistical community of the scope and importance of Deming's contributions. The 2008 recipient is Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, MA. Berwick was chose on the basis of his "extraordinary contributions to improving health care delivery and the human condition throughout the world through his visionary leadership, his passion for health care quality improvement, his appreciation of Dr. Deming's philosophy, and his application of statistical thinking."

The Deming Lecturer Award設立於1995年
旨在表彰Dr. W. Edwards Deming在多種領域上的成就
認可得獎者的成就 以及
在統計學共同體中提醒 Deming 諸多貢獻的範圍和重要性
2008年的得講者為 Donald M. Berwick (麻州劍橋市醫療改善學會的醫學博士兼 MPP (待查))
得獎主要基於
他的前瞻性領導
他對於健康保育之改善方面的熱忱
他對於 Deming 哲學的心領神會 以及
他對於統計思考方式的應用

教育界成果(OBE)導向之弊 與 TQM 神話

教育界成果(OBE)導向之弊 與 TQM 神話

書名：沒有資優班，珍視每個孩子的芬蘭教育

書名：沒有資優班，珍視每個孩子的芬蘭教育
作者：陳之華
出版社：木馬文化

新書內容搶先看：

教育，一切都是為了學生

2007年入冬的十一月間，我在約瓦斯曲萊大學教育主管學院，與院長和一位資深研究學者聊了將近兩個多小時。他們都分別當過幾十年的中學老師，因此實務經驗和教學理念都相當豐富。

在談話中，彼此交換的議題非常多，不過讓我最動容的，莫過於話題談到老師「自由度」與「被尊重」程度的時候…

「如果教育體制對老師們有評比、考核的話，那會是種什麼情形？」我問起。

「我們可以向妳保證，那芬蘭的教師必定集體罷工！大家不幹了！」想不到，這兩位髮髻泛白的資深教育人士，竟是如此即刻斬釘截鐵，搖著頭很酷的大聲說著。

「真的嗎？為什麼呢？」我驚訝的問。

「如果一個社會體制對自己教師的最基本信任都沒有的話，那還談什麼教育呢？」他們中氣十足、異口同聲的說著。

接著兩位教授此起彼落的述說著，他們當年在教學時，所想的都是如何善待學生，怎樣教導才對學生最有益處，從來不是為了要讓學生，或自己的教學成果拿第一，他們壓根沒想過要「爭第一」、「搶第一」。

「我們所做的一切，不過是盡其所能的，去教導我們所知的；一切都是為了學生，如此而已。」他們平心靜氣說了這段話，但其字字句句，卻深深烙印在我的心坎中。

我低頭簡略的寫了下來，其實是為了稍稍掩飾我已動容的濕潤眼眶…

「那當國際評比成績出來後，芬蘭一下子轟動了全世界，你們當時的想法是什麼呢？」我定神之後接著問。

「不瞞妳說，我們嚇了一大跳！」

「因為，我們從來沒有為了要得第一，才如此施行教育理念的。」

「幾十年來，我們就是一直單純的希望，把事情做好！」他們有點不好意思的說。

這兩位學者們，略帶靦腆，卻又誠摯談論教育理念與心中感受之際，讓我覺得何其榮幸在最是灰暗陰鬱的十一月天，風塵僕僕趕到芬蘭中部三天，進行的談話，感受到了人性中的「純」與「善」。這份追求事務的真與善，以及堅持價值核心，讓我上了一堂課！

重視過程勝於結果，其實，這很芬蘭。芬蘭人多半認定，如果過程很扎實、良好的話，那結果一定差不到哪兒去！因為過程的規範與制度，可長可久的設計、執行，要遠比一味的追逐短期成效或只求第一，對每個人的人生與整體社會，更顯得重要、有意義吧！

沒有後段班，只有引導班

我在芬蘭東部拉彭蘭塔(Lappeenranta)市一所中學和一位自稱有「王國」天地裡的老師聊著。

「你看，有這樣的工作環境和專業自主權，我還有什麼不能滿足的？」他萬分驕傲的說。

是啊，他的教學空間之大，真是一處別有洞天的桃花源！教室的黑板上寫著比薩店、花店、洗衣店、餐廳、快餐店等。

「這些記錄是什麼？」我好奇的問。

「這些商家就是班上孩子們正在實習的場所。」他微笑的答道。

「學生們去實習啊？」我張大眼睛問。

沒錯，現在是上課時間，但這間碩大寬廣的教室，卻空無一人。因為老師安排學生們到各個商家去實習，等明後天學生陸續回到教室裡，再一起運用實務所學的經驗來做學習、討論。

校長在一旁補充說：「這群孩子不太一樣，他們的學習方式要從實務面上去鼓勵，因為他們比較坐不住，學習進度和別的學生不同，所以我們特別設計一些可以從實作中學習的模式，並且會和孩子一起規劃課程內容，從他們有興趣的去著手，為他們創造出更多喜歡上學的誘因。」

我聽著校長懇切的言談，心裡有一種踏實的溫暖，他說的這群學生，正是我們所謂的「後段生」；但在芬蘭，沒有人會放棄他們。不但教育體系不放棄，也期望學生不要自我放棄！

我對這位教導需要特別照料和鼓勵學生群的老師，多了一份敬意，因為他付出的時間和關懷，比一般課業老師多，但他所做的卻正是芬蘭教育理念「不讓一人落後」 的精髓。腳踏實地、一步一腳印的去陪著那一群「不一樣」的孩子們透過各種學習方法，學得課本和生活知識的同時，建立起學生的自尊與自重。

老師和校長隨後還說明，參與這項計畫的城裡商家，都是志願或經過徵詢同意的。透過這樣的學習方式，這些學生在暑假，還因此比別人多了打工的機會。

這樣的課程設計，從裡到外，除了人性化之外，更令人欽佩。

有一次，我在約瓦斯曲萊大學的教育研究院訪談時，院長瓦里亞維教授斬釘截鐵的對我說：「我們未來挑戰之一，還是專注在如何減少中輟生的比例，因為百分之五 到十五的比重，對芬蘭這種小國來說，實在太高了！我們承擔不起這樣的人力資源耗損，我們的社會不能容許這樣的學習不平衡。」

約瓦斯曲萊陰濕、黑暗，細雨小雪間隔綿綿下著，我和院長談了超過三個小時，心中對芬蘭重視「弱勢」學生，盡全力鼓勵「後段」學生透過特別設計課程，學到義務教育中所應該傳授的知識與內涵，我百感交集，至今難忘。

在拉彭蘭塔看著這班只有十人的國三孩子，他們沒有被社會和師長遺棄，反而享有著更多的教育資源和社會關懷。除了有一間屬於自己班級獨有的廣大空間外，還有一位樂觀靈活的好老師帶領著。

雖然他們在其他重視考試或分數比高下的社會裡，可能就因為「遊戲規則」不同而玩不過「好」學生，但他們一生中最重要的啟蒙、學習階段，卻因為芬蘭老師更多的愛心與耐心，而能較真實、無憾的成長。

Improving Japanese Education

這雖然是日本的狀況 不過多少可以參考

EDITORIAL: Improving education

2008/7/3

Following the 2006 revision to the Fundamental Law of Education, the government has set its first basic plan for the promotion of education. While the plan covers a variety of policies, its apparent attempt to please everybody makes it seem wishy-washy.

Numerical targets for the number of teachers and educational budgets that were the focal points of the debate were all deleted from the education ministry's original draft.

The basic plan was supposed to set policies and measures for the next five years with an eye on how education ought to be 10 years from now. But the report submitted by the Central Council for Education, an advisory panel to the education minister, did not include numerical targets. The inadequacy of the report prompted a loud outcry from not only schools and teachers, but also the ruling parties, who argued numerical targets are necessary to improve education.

So the ministry hastily added numerical targets to the basic plan, including these: Educational budgets' share of gross domestic product should be raised to 5 percent, which is the OECD average, from the current 3.5 percent. And 25,000 more teachers and administrative staff should be hired.

Those figures were thrown together in a hurry. Why 5 percent? Why 25,000 additional teachers and staff? What results can be achieved by this investment?

The ministry draft failed to provide a convincing explanation. With the government already urged to cut expenditures, there was no way a simple demand for money and personnel could pass.

Even if the way the education ministry set the targets was naive, that does not mean we don't need a bold investment in education. What the basic plan lacks is a summary of the problems facing Japanese education and a prescription for solving them. If solutions had been clearly presented, the proper education funding could have been found.

For example, a big problem in today is the decline in academic standards. In particular, international surveys showed that Japanese students have not learned to think analytically and that there is a growing gap between high and low achievers.

To solve these problems, greater attention must be given to each child to meet their individual needs. The only way to do that is to increase the number of teachers dealing with students on a daily basis and improve the quality of education.

Teachers today face greater hardships than ever before. The presence of a few incompetent instructors prompted the government to introduce a system by which all teachers must renew their teaching licenses periodically. Apart from problems of bullying and truancy, there are also "monster parents" who make unreasonable demands on schools. It is no wonder fewer people are applying for teaching jobs. To recruit competent teachers, the education system must offer better pay, working conditions and effective training programs.

Distrust toward the public school system has been growing for a long time. Stopgap measures, such as the private night cram classes started at a public junior high school in Tokyo's Suginami Ward, are attracting attention and are a testament to such distrust.

As always, the government is running under a tight budget. Instead of just droning on about the importance of education, the government must steadily increase its investment in education.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 2(IHT/Asahi: July 3,2008)