為師之道：一個也不能少

When I say I believe all children can learn， people sometimes misunderstand.

Because I have been working with poor， minority children in Harlem for the last twentyfive years， some people think I am talking about good kids in bad environments—that if you give a bright kid from a poor family a good educational support system， he or she can succeed. That’s absolutely true， but that’s not what I mean.

You see， I truly believe that all kids can learn. I believe it， I’ve seen it， I’ve even tasted it.

Back in 1975， when I was coming out of the Harvard Graduate School of Education， I worked in a summer camp in Ossipee， New Hampshire， for kids with the absolute toughest problems： emotionally disturbed kids， autistic kids， oppositional 1）ADHD kids， kids that everyone—even their parents—had given up on.

One of the things that I and the staff would do was cook with the kids. These children didn’t know baking powder from table salt， but once they had eaten a warm biscuit out of the oven， smeared with melted butter and a 2）drizzle of 3）maple syrup， they were very motivated to learn how to make some more.

Suddenly， kids who couldn’t sit still or focus were carefully eyeballing ingredients as we measured them out， learning the simple math and spelling lessons we could 4）slip in along the way. By the end of the summer， I remember parents breaking down and crying when they saw the progress their children had made.

The biscuits， by the way， were delicious， and I can still remember the taste of them today—and more importantly， I can still remember the lesson they taught me： that if we， the adults， can find the right motivation for a child， there’s hope for that child’s education.

Today I run two 5）charter schools and a series of educational programs， and we work with over ten thousand kids a year. I make sure that every single one of my staff understands that I don’t accept excuses about kids not learning. You can’t blame the kids. In my shop， if a child does not succeed， it means the adults around him or her have failed.

That’s because the kids with the really tough problems are not going to suddenly start teaching themselves. I believe that we adults have to help them， and that starts with looking hard at each child， finding out what excites them， and exploiting that excitement shamelessly.

When I was growing up poor in the south Bronx， one of four boys raised by a single mom， I probably looked like I was heading nowhere， hanging out on the street with my friends and getting into fights and trouble. And I would have ended up dead or in jail like many of my friends if it had not been for a couple of teachers and family members who saw something underneath my teenage tough-guy act. They spotted my fascination with reading， starting with 6）Green Eggs and Ham and later with 7）Manchild in the Promised Land， and they made sure I had great books to read.

My first taste of success came way back at that summer camp in Ossipee， New Hampshire. It came with a plate of steaming hot biscuits that tasted so good I believe they could have brought a tear to your eye.

當我說我相信所有的孩子都有學習能力時，人們有時候會對這話產生誤解。

因為在過去的25年，我一直與紐約哈林區的窮困少數族裔兒童打交道，一些人以為我說的是在惡劣環境下生活的優秀兒童——如果你讓家境貧寒的聰明孩子接受優質的教育，他或者她就能成就一番事業。這話絕對正確，但我想說的不是這種情況。

你要知道，我真心地相信所有的孩子都有學習能力。這是我的信念，也是我見證過的情況，同時也是我經歷過的事。

回想1975年，當時我從哈佛教育研究生院畢業，在新罕布什爾州奧西皮的一個夏令營工作，那里的孩子有著最棘手的問題：有的是患情緒病，有的是患自閉癥，還有的患有對抗性多動癥——所有人，甚至是這些孩子的父母都對他們不抱希望了。

我們工作人員要做的其中一件事就是與孩子們一起做飯。這些孩子平時連發酵粉和食鹽都分不清，但是當他們一吃到新鮮出爐的溫熱小餅干——帶有融化的黃油和絲絲楓糖漿，他們的學習沖動就被激發出來了，迫切希望能做出更多的餅干。

忽然間，那些無法靜坐或是無法集中注意力的孩子都全神貫注地盯著我們調配食材，學習簡單的計算，我們一邊做餅干一邊教他們的拼寫內容，他們也學會了。暑假結束的時候，我記得那些父母在看到自己的孩子所取得的進步后感激流涕的樣子。

順道一提，那些餅干很美味，直到今天我還能記得那味道。更重要的是，我還銘記住了它們教給我的一課：如果我們成年人能夠為孩子找到適當的激勵方法，那對孩子的教育就有希望了?！?br>