爆米花還是滾雪球？Popcorn vs.Snowball
第167期
張一多，中國科大85級00班，上海人。87年去美國，89年於密執安州Calvin College數學系畢業。94年在芝加哥大學獲得物理化學博士學位，美國大學終身教授。既是美女，也是才女；既有理工科的縝密思維，又有文科生的流暢文筆。目前是天津大學客座教授和上海協和雙語學校教學主任。曾客居法蘭西多年，除中文外，其英文法文皆流利。
小女孩坐在一架三角鋼琴前，學習彈奏一首用於通過九級鋼琴考試的高難度作品。儘管十分專註，孩子最多能做的也不過於勉強地模仿老師的樣子敲琴鍵。一個音符接著一個音符順著樂譜彈下去，只是老師偶爾地看一下琴譜，女孩不識琴譜。沒有學過樂理知識，沒有識聽訓練，也從來沒有練習過音階，從學鋼琴的第一天，女孩就是練這首鋼琴曲。但家人相信這是最快通過鋼琴九級考試的方法。「哪怕是練習一萬次，我們還是跑著人家的前頭。」 家人堅信這條路是對的。
A child, sitting in front of a grand piano, learning an advanced piece that』s used to pass the level-9 examination of piano performance. Although fully engaged, the child is resigned to the only task of mimicking the teacher』s key striking, one note after another down the music sheet in front of them, which, between the two of them, only the teacher can read. It is the child』s first and only piano piece she has ever played. No music theory, no sight reading or ear training, and no practicing scales, but the family believes it』s the quickest way to get to level 9. 「Even if it means to play a million times, we still save time from passing all the other levels.」 The family believes in the plan.
我給這種方法一個的名字：爆米花法。 像空心爆米花一樣，我們把所有的資源和精力集中在擴展我們的空間，美化自己的形象，走捷徑，跳步驟，喜悅於給外界造成的錯覺，而不在乎（或者盡量學會不去在乎）那膨化後的表面背後空虛的本質和脆弱的結構。它已經成為一種時尚的方法，一個當今社會的一種大流的生活方式。在生活的方方面面都有它的影子，不僅限於小孩子學東西。
I call this the popcorn method. It has become a popular method - more precisely, a lifestyle- applied in every aspect of life, not just limited to learning. Like a puffed corn kernel, we maneuver and concentrate all our resources and energy on expanding our space to reach the furthest frontier possible, finding ways to skip steps or defy established procedures. We take pleasure in claiming such enlarged volume and our illusory image, not caring or learning not to care about the empty nature of the space inside as well as the fragility of the structure.
每當我看到有學生翹課去SAT培訓中心上課，或是不做學校的作業而去學習AP模擬考試時，我就會心痛的想起上面的故事裡的那個女孩。儘管這個情形是我在想像中虛構出來的，兩者地共同處是用爆米花方法設法達成目標。其實我們的學生原本具備足夠的能力去學習常規美高課程。即是有些學生因為英語水平還不夠而需要比一般的美國高中生花更多的時間學習每一門科目，花時間努力學習每一門科目是可以達到順利畢業的目標的。可是我們的學生卻決定放棄這個學習機會，選擇花相當一部分時間測試備考，從10年級就開始全力以赴地攻SAT。要知道SAT是一門非常合理的考試，不像中國的高考那樣有競爭性的。SAT考試的內容著重於美高課程中偏基本的知識和技能。所以，在這裡，我想為家長們分析一下為什麼我認為用刷題代替學習的方法不僅是低效而且是有害的。
Whenever I see a student skip school to spend the day at an SAT training center or abandon school assignments to study AP mock exams, I think of the girl in the opening story. Although a much exaggerated, fictional scenario of my imagination, our students nevertheless resemble the girl in their approach to reach their goal, namely, the popcorn method. It saddens me to see our students, who are equipped with the necessary faculty to learn all the material scaffolded in a normal USHS curriculum, turn down the learning opportunity and choose to spend a sizable chunk of time preparing for a test-a very reasonable test-that is designed to check the learning outcome of the curriculum. In this article, I』d like to elucidate the matter by giving some of my reasons why I think such a test-preparing method in education is not only inefficient but also harmful.
首先，投入是巨大的。如同在故事中，「練習一萬次」，顯然這是需要時間的。當父母給孩子報名各種備考課程時，父母通常只考慮經濟成本，而且覺得同樣的價格，課程時間越長，性價比越高，卻不計算這些課程所佔用的學生的時間。時間是生活中最昂貴的商品。只是因為學生沒有花時間在提高成績上，並不意味著他們的時間就沒有價值。孩子可能需要一些空閑時間來思考如何更好地學習，更不用說，美國高中的課程與一般的錯誤觀念恰恰相反，本身需要學生們花大量的時間：閱讀、反思、分析、參與討論、準備演講等等。另外，我個人認為美高課程最大的特點是幫助學生從問老師「你能教我什麼？」過渡到問自己「我能學到什麼？」。這個轉變需要相當的時間和投入去實現。如果父母不給學生時間，那麼這個轉變就不能實現，而這個轉變是學生高中畢業後在美國大學成功的必須條件。
First, the investment is huge. When parents enroll their children to a test-preparing class, they often consider only the financial cost of it-whether it』s worth the money-but seldom the huge investment of time on the student』s part. Time is the most expensive commodity in life though, and just because the student is not spending his time directly on improving grades does not mean his time has no value. The students might just need some free time to figure out how to best utilize his time, not to mention that, the USHS curriculum, contrary to the general misconceptions, demands huge amount of time from students, to read, reflect, analyze, participate in discussions, prepare for presentations, and so forth. One of the accomplishments of a USHS curriculum is to help students transition from 「waiting to be taught」 to 「identifying resources to learn」, which is a long process requiring both time and effort.
其次，爆米花法的學習使知識結構脆弱，及某些必要技能方面訓練欠缺，會使得學生的學業走進一條死胡同。如果我們試著猜想上面的故事中的女孩的將來的職業，我相信，除了「鋼琴家」，任何職業都是可能的。即使這個女孩天資聰慧並且具備很好的鋼琴彈奏模仿能力, 但是她所探索到的練琴的小竅門和所有艱苦奮鬥的經歷和9級鋼琴家所需要的技能沒有任何關係，更不會有任何用場。所以她不可能成為鋼琴家。同樣，花時間和精力練習考題而不真正學習不僅給知識結構留下了無法彌補的漏洞，而且這個經歷會扼殺一個初生學者的生命力，因為真正的學者需要具備好奇、好思、冒險、創新等素質，而用刷題來學習的經歷會塑造恰恰相反的素質。
Secondly, the fragile knowledge structure as well as the lack of the appropriate training puts a stop sign to an academic career for the student. If we were to guess what the piano-playing girl in my opening story would become, anything could be a valid guess except for 「professional pianist」. Indeed, even if the girl were extremely bright and managed to play pretty well from just mimicking, the little tricks she had used to help her get there and the experiences she had accumulated from this endeavor would all stay irrelevant to what makes a level-9 pianist and would be of no help to her becoming one. Likewise, starting learning from the assessment end not only leaves an irreparable hole in the knowledge structure of the learner but all the growth, if any, out of this process enforces an attitude and mold a character that is in opposition to what higher-education aims to build: of curiosity, critical thinking, risk-taking, open-mindedness, and so forth.
最後，在我看來，也是最重要的因素是這樣學習體驗是負面的。我們都知道，沒有人會願意被動地接受零零散散的知識。但是遺憾的是，孩子們的學習過程如果不能說是被忽略了，也可以說是被低估了。大家都把高分作為最終目標，無論殺傷力多大，只要能夠達成這一目標，任何方法都是可以被接受的。因此，父母和學生都很少關注學習的過程。然而，過程對於個人的生命而言是至關重要的。事實上，生活就是體驗的集合。體驗塑造我們的性格，定義我們的角色，支配我們對自己的感知，決定我們如何解釋發生在我們身上的事情，它們比任何可衡量的結果都重要得多。正面的體驗會像催化劑一般帶動一系列的連鎖反應，給人的生活帶來凝聚力和意義，而負面的體驗會阻撓進步。
Lastly, and, in my opinion, most importantly, the learning experience is negative. We all know that no one would say passively accepting fragmented knowledge is enjoyable. But sadly, our undivided focus on the learning result causes us to neglect student』s learning experience. High test scores are excessively emphasized to the degree that, all means, no matter how traumatizing they are, as long as they can help achieve this sacred goal, are justified and accepted. However, learning experience is vitally important. In fact, life is all about experiences. Experiences shape our character, define who we are, dominate how we feel about ourselves, determine how we interpret what happens to us. They are far more important than any measurable outcome. A positive experience can serve as a catalyst to initiate a series of chain reactions that bring cohesion and meaning to one』s life, while negative experiences can put a stop sign on one"s progress.
由於這些簡單的原因，我是非常反對商業備考機構的。最近，當一個知名雙語學校的校長問我上海的哪一個SAT培訓中心是最好的時候，我不客氣地倒問他：「你的意思是說，上海的哪一個SAT培訓中心對學生的損害最小？」
For these simple reasons, I am totally against the test-preparation business. Recently, a principal at a well-established bilingual school asked me which SAT center in Shanghai was the best. I arrogantly asked him, 「Do you mean which one does the least damage?」
作為一名搞教育的，我認為最好的教育模式就是為學生創造最好的學習經歷。好的體驗將使學習像滾雪球一樣，沾滿雪花的雪球會吸引更多的雪，並且隨著雪球的不斷滾動越變越大，成為數學中的「指數性增長」現象。優秀的教師是那些幫學生形成第一朵雪花，引導學生到雪地，並幫助學生滾動雪球的人。
As an educator, I believe education is mostly about creating good learning experiences for students. Positive experience will make learning like rolling a snowball, where each snow flake gathered to the ball serves to attract more snow, and make the volume increase faster and faster as the snowball keeps rolling, an 「exponential」 phenomenon, to say it in a math term. Good teachers are those who help create the first seeding snowflake, identify the snow ground, and initiate the rolling movement.
我希望父母在幫助小孩學業的時候，要三思而行，不時想像一下孩子的學習體驗會是怎樣，而且要知道因人而異，不輕易接受別人的選擇。同時，父母自己也以一種新的心態去做孩子們的楷模，不去注重事情結果或在別人眼裡的形象，而是注重我們自己的經歷，享受好的經歷並為自己能為了得到好的經歷願意努力而引以為豪。我們的萬源美高也會繼續努力，使我們學生的在美高的學習之旅如同滾雪球，而不是爆米花。
Therefore, I encourage our parents to do everything within our ability to protect our students from potentially bad learning experiences, and at the same time, role model for our children with a new state of mind, a fresh focus that is not on results (or our images to the external world) but on our own personal experiences, taking pride in making the effort to create such experiences and taking pleasure to enjoy such experiences. We, as a school, will continue to promote our values and stick to our focus such that our students』 learning journey is one of snowball-rolling not popcorn-making.
編輯：牟志堅796 姚明德1806研
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