Joy:A Subject Schools LackBecoming educated should not require giving up pleasure.A)When Jonathan Swift proposed, in 1729, that the people of Ireland eat their children, he insisted it would solve three problems at once:feed the hungry masses, reduce the population during a severe depression, and stimulate the restaurant business. Even as asatire(讽刺), it seems disgusting and shocking in America with its child-centered culture. But actually, the country is closer to his proposal than you might think.B)If you spend much time with educators and policy makers, you’ll hear a lot of the following words:“ standards,”“results,”“skills,”“self-control,”“accountability,”and so on. I have visited some of the newer supposedly “effective” schools,where children shout slogans in order to learnself- control or must stand behind their desk when they can’tsit still.C)A look at what goes on in most classrooms these days makes it abundantly clear that when people think about education, they arenotthinking about what it feels like to be a child, or what makes childhood an important and valuable stage of life in its own right.D)I’m a mother of three, a teacher, and a developmental psychologist. SoI’ve watched a lot ofchildren—talking, playing, arguing, eating, studying, and being young. Here’s what I’ve come to understand. The thing that sets children apart from adults is not their ignorance, nor their lack of skills. It’s their enormous capacity for joy. Think of a 3-year-old lost in the pleasures of finding out what he can and cannot sink in the bathtub, a 5-year-old beside herself with the thrill of putting together strings of nonsensical words with her best friends, or an 11-year-old completely absorbed in a fascinating comic strip. A child’s ability to become deeply absorbed in something, and derive intense pleasure from that absorption, is something adults spend the rest of their lives trying to return to.E)A friend told me the following story. One day, when he went to get his 7-year-old son from soccer practice,his kid greeted him with a downcast face and a sad voice. The coach had criticized him for not focusing on his soccer drills. The little boy walked out of the school with his head and shoulders hanging down. He seemed wrapped in sadness. But just before he reached the car door, he suddenly stopped,crouching(蹲伏)down to peer at something on the sidewalk. His face went down lower and lower, and then, with complete joy he called out,“Dad. Come here. This is the strangest bug I’ve ever seen. It has, like, a million legs. Look at this. It’s amazing.”He looked up at his father, his features overflowing with energy and delight. “ Can’t we stay here for just a minute? I want to find out what he does with all those legs. This is the coolest ever. ”F)The traditional view of such moments is that they constitute a charming but irrelevant byproduct of youth—something to be pushed aside to make room for more important qualities,like perseverance(坚持不懈),obligation,and practicality. Yet moments like this one are just the kind of intense absorption and pleasure adults spend the rest of their lives seeking. Human lives are governed by the desire to experience joy. Becoming educated should not require giving up joy but rather lead to finding joy in new kinds of things: reading novels instead of playing with small figures,conducting experiments instead of sinking cups in the bathtub,and debating serious issues rather than stringing together nonsense words, for example. In some cases, schools should help children find new, more grown-up ways of doing the same things that are constant sources of joy:making art, making friends, making decisions.G)Building on a child’s ability to feel joy, rather than pushing it aside, wouldn’t be that hard. It would just require a shift in the education world’smindset(思维模式). Instead of trying to get children to work hard, why not focus on getting them to take pleasure in meaningful, productive activity, like making things, working with others, exploring ideas, and solving problems? These focuses are not so different from the things in which they delight.H)Before you brush this argument aside as rubbish, or think of joy as an unaffordable luxury in a nation where there is awful poverty, low academic achievement, and high dropout rates, think again. The more horrible the school circumstances, the more important pleasure is to achieving any educational success.I)Many of the assignments and rules teachers come up with, often because they are pressured bytheir administrators, treat pleasure and joy as the enemies of competence and responsibility. The assumption is that children shouldn’tchat in the classroom because it hinders hard work;instead, they should learnto delaygratification(快乐)so that they can pursue abstract goals,like going tocollege.J)Not only is this a boring and awful way to treat children, it makes no sense educationally. Decades of research have shown that in order to acquire skills and real knowledge in school, kids need to want to learn. You can force a child to stay in his or her seat, fill out a worksheet, or practice division. But you can’tforce the child to think carefully, enjoy books, digest complex information, or develop a taste for learning. To make that happen, you have to help the child find pleasure in learning—to see school as a source of joy.K)Adults tend to talk about learning as if it were medicine: unpleasant,but necessary and good for you. Why not instead think of learning as if it were food—something so valuable to humans that they have evolved to experience it as a pleasure?L)Joy should not be trained out of children or left for after-school programs. The more difficult a child’s life circumstances, the more important it is for that child to find joy in his or her classroom. “Pleasure” is not a dirty word. And it doesn’t run counter to the goals of public education. It is,in fact, the precondition.1.It will not be difficult to make learning a source of joy if educators change their way of thinking.2.What distinguishes children from adults is their strong ability to derive joy from what they are doing.3.Children in America are being treated with shocking cruelty.4.It is human nature to seek joy in life.5.Grown-ups are likely to think that learning to children is what medicine is to patients.6.Bad school conditions make it all the more important to turn learning into a joyful experience.7.Adults do not consider children’sfeelings when it comes to education.8.Administrators seem to believe that only hard work will lead children to their educational goals.9.In the so-called“effective”schools, children are taught self-control under a set of strict rules.10.To make learning effective, educators have to ensure that children want to learn.
举一反三
- What children from adults is their strong ability to derive joy from what they are doing
- ____What distinguishes children from adults is their strong ability to derive joy from what they are doing.
- Each week I receive a number of calls from parents who are concerned about their adult children. Most want to know what they can do to help. Often the parent asks, "Well, I do that, but what else can I do?" "Nothing," I respond. The following silence is deafening. Most parents don’t want to believe there is nothing they can do to straighten out their adult children. One mother asked me how she could motivate her 23-year-old son to finish school. He lived at home, was sullen and uncommunicative, didn’t work, didn’t help around the house, slept all day and was on the computer or out most of the night. His parents were doing their best trying to "motivate" him. They had just bought him a car because he had convinced them he needed one so he could job hunt. His mother was cutting out job ads and strategically placing them in his room. If you want to motivate him, I suggested, give him a month to find another place to live and mean it. At some level this mother knew it was the right thing but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. What's the problem here? This young man has never learned how to take care of himself. He’s never had to because his parents treat him like a child – and so he remains one. If parents want their children to become mature adults they need to let them embrace life, make decisions and face the consequences of those decisions. Even when it seems guaranteed the child is heading for disaster, parents have to step back, watch and pray. Parents who treat their adult children like younger children are, in effect, saying "I don’t believe you can look after yourself, so I’ll do it." The message is "we don’t trust you to run your own life." Parents were once the centre of their child’s life. How quickly that changes! But it’s so important that parents adjust to this change. Parents must embrace a long-term vision that guides them in their decisions that will help, not hinder, their child’s development into a mature person. Part of that vision is letting the child make their own age-appropriate decisions and allowing them to face the consequences. At some point, parents must let go of their children entirely. Then, how could they let go? Mothers seem to struggle with this more than fathers. Fathers often are more willing to take a "tough love" approach sooner than mothers. But tough love is necessary if we want to give our adult children the best chance of making a go of life. I suggest that parents tell their adult children how much they love them, believe in them and know they are capable of handling life with all its inherent risks, failures and successes. Let the adult kids know you’re making some changes. No more suggestions, advice or lectures. Just listen to them, let them know you understand and that you believe they will eventually sort it out. One mother asked, "What if something terrible happens?" Something terrible might happen, or it might not. There are no guarantees. Christ tells us we will have trouble in this world. We cannot prevent our children from suffering, but we can teach them how to deal with it in a proper way.
- He asked his father what he should do. His father said, "You have to make up your own mind. However, I think it is a very important decision for you."
- 根据录音内容填空: A: Sally, our first question today is from Andy. He says, “I’ve just started learning English. My problem is that I’m too (1)__________ to speak. My grammar is not very good, so I (2)__________ saying the wrong thing.” Have you got any advice for Andy? B: OK. Well, the first thing is I think Andy should (3)__________. A: Speaking to himself? I’m not sure that’s a good idea. B: I know it sounds silly, but talking to yourself in a (4)__________ is a really good way to practice. You don’t have to feel (5)__________, because nobody can hear you. You can talk to yourself about anything you like – what you had for breakfast, where you’re going for the weekend – anything. And the more you do it, the more you will (6)__________ hearing your own voice and your (7)__________, so you won’t feel so frightened in the classroom. Andy should try it. A: Hm, I suppose so. Anything else? What about his (8)__________? B: He has only just started learning English, so he is going to make lots of mistakes, but that’s not a problem. That’s how he’ll learn. Andy shouldn’t (9)__________. A: You’re right. So Andy, try talking to yourself, and don’t worry about making mistakes.