文 / 4B班 王若祎的爸爸
Written by 4B Roye Wang’s Father
我是4B班王若祎的爸爸。女儿自去年进入青浦协和已一年余,最大的收获就是从丰富多样的活动中得到了快乐和人文博雅教育启蒙。
Since my daughter’s admission into SUIS QP more than one year ago, she has gained happiness from the abundant and diverse activities in her class, and she has absorbed elementary knowledge from the humanities and liberal arts education offered to her. To date, this has been the most rewarding part of her education.
从刚一入学的亚洲主题嘉年华到本学期的欧洲主题嘉年华,从音乐课的音乐欣赏和乐器体验到课后长笛兴趣班,从美术课艺术启蒙到课后漫画兴趣班,还有探究课和体育课,就连基础文化课她也上得兴致勃勃。
She takes delight in the activities organized by the school – from the Asia-themed carnival held upon her admission to the Europe-themed carnival held this semester, from enjoying music and experiencing musical instruments in music class to playing the flute in her extracurricular class, and from having preliminary access to fine arts in the art class to drawing cartoons in her extracurricular class. That’s not even mentioning her inquiry class and PE class. Attending classes on basic knowledge puts her in high spirits.
“学不至于乐,不可谓之学。”孩子的学习之路上能够从内而外地开心是我最根本的期望,而这喜悦也常不经意间出现在生活中,为全家带来快乐。比如,有时听到了某段音乐,她就会突然愣一下,然后跟我们讲学到的贝多芬和维瓦尔第;比如,看到某个视频片段,她也会告诉我们在学校看过这个音乐剧并跳上一段;比如,在写作业之余她会兴冲冲地跑过来说:“爸爸,我给你表演一个魔术!”比如,在周末她会全神贯注花半天时间做一个手工、几个实验或画几幅画。几年前在加州朋友家里,下午四点上小学三年级的朋友的女儿放学推开家门开心地大喊“快来尝尝老师教我们烤的饼干”时绽放的笑容和迸发的活力,现在我也常能看见。
“Learning cannot be regarded as learning in a real sense if it doesn’t bring happiness.” A child’s heart-felt happiness stemming from her learning is what I expect the most. This kind of pleasure, which unexpectedly appears from time to time throughout daily life, brings happiness to my family. For instance, my daughter might fall into deep thought for a moment when listening to a piece of music and then tell us that the piece was written by Beethoven or Vivaldi. This is what she learned at school. Likewise, she once told us that the video clip she had just watched was from a musical she had seen at school, after which she performed a dance from the musical. One day after completing her homework assignments, she happily told me, “Dad, I want to perform a magic trick for you.” She also spends half a weekend day attentively doing hands-on work, conducting experiments or drawing pictures. One day during my stay at the home of a friend in California a few years ago, I happened to come across my friend’s daughter who had returned from school at four o’clock in the afternoon. A third grader, the girl pushed open the door of the house and happily shouted, “Come and try the cookies we baked with the help of our teacher!” As her face burst into a smile, she brimmed with vitality. Now I often see a similar smile and a similar vitality in my daughter.
近一年来,女儿实现了我对一个普通的十岁孩子几乎最美好的想象。我能看见她在学校包粽子做月饼,过十岁集体生日;跟着老师们到田地里拾稻穗,策划排练各种文艺活动及体验科学实验;还有有趣的睡衣日;在家里共同完成有趣的亲子作业,一起过无作业狂欢日;同龄人间的各种互动也越来越多。最让我开心的是她阅读和体育锻炼的时间大大增加,而这两点也是我个人最看重、最确定的年轻人应有的坚持。
For nearly one year, what my daughter has experienced has met my greatest expectations for an ordinary 10-year-old child. I saw her make zongzi (rice dumplings) and moon cakes and celebrate her 10th birthday along with other children at the school. I saw her pick rice ears on a paddy under her teachers’ guidance. And I’ve seen her plan and rehearse various kinds of art and sports activities, as well as do scientific experiments. I saw how she attended pajama day, an interesting event, and I see how she is increasing her interactions with children of the same age. She is spending much more time reading and doing physical exercise, which is much to my pleasure. Young people should read and exercise often — undoubtedly the most valuable habits in my eyes.
至今女儿都没在课外报班学习语数外课程,这一点我跟个别老师和学生家长的想法接近。随着她的各类兴趣越来越多,便越来越主动去探索更大范围的知识。我同意 “问题不在于教她各种学问,而在于培养她有爱好学问的兴趣,而且在这种兴趣充分成长起来的时候,教她以研究学问的方法。不要使她为了学到一些学问而把其他有用的东西都牺牲了”。(恰如毕加索所言——我学画四年就能画得像拉斐尔一样好,却用一生去学习怎么样画得像个孩子)。这有利于在感性认知阶段广泛涉猎信息,并在尽量不破坏想象力的同时向理性的概念建构和逻辑推演阶段过度,也避免成为“天才选拔路上的陪跑者,踩踏式竞争的牺牲品,从独特的自我被拥挤向平均的他者”。
Up until now, my daughter had not registered in any extracurricular classes for the Chinese language, mathematics or foreign languages. On this point, I share the same view with a small number of teachers and fellow parents. As my daughter becomes interested in more and more things, she takes the initiative to explore them more extensively. I agree with the following idea: “Instead of teaching her to study one thing after another, the key lies in cultivating her interest in pursuing learning. This is especially true of teaching her the ways of pursuing knowledge once she fully develops an interest in knowledge. She should not be made to learn certain things at the price of other useful things.” (This is just like what Picasso said: “Though I could draw as well as Raphael four years after learning how to draw, I nonetheless spent my entire life learning how to draw like a child.”) This style of learning will help her access extensive information during the stage of perceptual cognition, and it will help her to undergo the transition to the stage of rationally constructing concepts and making logical inferences. It may also prevent her from “becoming a ‘back-up’ talent,” “falling victim to cut-throat competition” or “being pushed from a ‘unique self’ to ‘another self’ of mediocre attainments.”
关于孩子的教育问题,家庭中的两代人也有过讨论。老一派的焦点是积极准备孩子未来将面对的社会竞争压力——从做个在社会上有竞争力的人推导出当下每天全力以赴考个好成绩——这种由合目的性反推合理性的思路。年轻一代更偏向“要使人不因养成社会效率而抹杀儿童的天性和当前生活,不使教育沦为别的目的的附属物”。从这个角度讲,协和是两代人观念转变的试验场,其结果拭目以待。
The members of two generations in my family have discussed children’s education. My family members of the elder generation stress the importance of actively getting children prepared for social competition in the future. Based on the fact that children need to be competitive in society, they deduce that children need to go all out to obtain satisfactory examination results each day. From an overall perspective, this way of thinking leads to the backwards deduction that an action is reasonable only when it conforms with the purpose it serves. By comparison, my family members of the younger generation prefer the idea that social efficiency should not be fostered at the price of the natural inclinations and present life of children and young people. Likewise, education should not be reduced to an appendage serving a purpose other than education.
百年前蔡元培先生提出的“以美育代宗教”承上启下,恰当的人文博雅教育或可更新数代积习。遥想当年,赫尔德在哥尼斯堡受到康德启发开始欧洲游历,返回德意志时遇到年轻的歌德…… 当歌德结束三年亚平宁之旅后开启了狂飙突进运动,开创了德国古典美学。愿星火之光点缀孩子们的协和学涯。
The idea to “replace religion with aesthetic education” appeared more than 100 years ago and has helped facilitate a transition from the past to the future. After all, appropriate humanities and liberal arts educations can update habits that have been followed for generations. Historically, as inspired by Kant (1724–1804) at Konigsberg, Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) began his travels in Europe, and upon his return to Germany, he met Goethe (1749–1832) who was then just a young man. Having completed his three-year trip to the Apennine Peninsula, Goethe initiated the “storm and stress” movement, becoming a pioneer of classical German aesthetics. It is our hope that this twinkling light may illuminate the many years of children’s education at Xiehe.