英國：教育出口大國的教育問題

Pedagogy is a difficult word, and not just in terms of pronunciation. The quality of classroom teaching is the most important aspect of any plan to improve education standards. But, in the UK at least, it has been the hardest factor to prioritise.

教育學(xué)(Pedagogy)是一個比較難的單詞，不僅難在發(fā)音方面。課堂教學(xué)的質(zhì)量是旨在提高教育水平的任何計劃的最重要方面。但至少在英國，教育已成為最難優(yōu)先考慮的因素。

Data released on Tuesday by the OECD, the Paris-based club of mostly rich nations, revealed that the performance of the UK’s schools is “flat in a changing world”. The Pisa survey shows there has been little change in the UK’s ranking during the three years since the last international test results were published, which are taken at age 15 in order to compare standards across the world in reading, maths and science.

總部位于巴黎、成員多為富裕國家的經(jīng)合組織(OECD)近日發(fā)布的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，英國學(xué)校的表現(xiàn)“在一個不斷變遷的世界中無明顯提升”。“國際學(xué)生評估項目”(Pisa)此次調(diào)查顯示出，在上次國際測試結(jié)果公布之后的三年間，英國的排名幾乎沒有變化。該測試的對象是15歲的學(xué)生，目的是比較世界各國學(xué)生在閱讀、數(shù)學(xué)和科學(xué)方面的水平。

In science, the UK managed to improve, climbing from 21st to 15th place in the table of 70 participating nations, but stagnated at 22nd for reading, and 27th for maths is disappointing for a nation with a successful education exports industry (think of the overseas students sent both the UK universities and private schools, swelling the coffers of both).

英國在科學(xué)方面的排名有所提升，在70個參與調(diào)查的國家中從第21位升至第15位，但其閱讀和數(shù)學(xué)排名仍分別停留在第22位和第27位，對于一個擁有成功教育出口產(chǎn)業(yè)的國家(想一想那些被送到英國大學(xué)和私立學(xué)校、給這些學(xué)府帶來大量收入的海外留學(xué)生)來說，這著實令人沮喪。

School standards are rarely out of the headlines and each incoming set of ministers says it is determined for a renewed zeal for improvement. So why does each successive effort fail? Part of the answer lies in a UK score that masks serious differences between schools in England and those in Scotland and Wales, where education policy is devolved and standards have actually been falling.

學(xué)校教育水平幾乎一直是頭條新聞，所有新任大臣都表示，政府決意再下大力氣進行提升。那為什么這些努力都相繼失敗了呢?部分答案在于，整個英國的評分掩蓋了英格蘭的學(xué)校與蘇格蘭和威爾士的學(xué)校之間的極大不同，后兩者在教育政策被下放后，教育水平實際上在下滑。

In England, meanwhile, the emphasis on testing and inspection introduced by the Labour government in the 2000s seems to have contributed at least to preventing a serious drop-off in achievement. But Russell Hobby, leader of a headteachers’ association, accuses successive administrations of “an obsession” with structural change at the expense of focusing on classroom teaching.

與此同時，在英格蘭，工黨政府在本世紀頭十年引入的對考試和督查的注重，似乎至少幫助防止了學(xué)校教育水平的嚴重下滑。但中小學(xué)校長聯(lián)合會負責(zé)人羅素•霍比(Russell Hobby)指責(zé)歷屆政府“癡迷”學(xué)校結(jié)構(gòu)改革，卻忽視對課堂教學(xué)關(guān)注。

Theresa May’s government wishes to expand grammars, the academically selective secondary schools, and faith schools, in spite of controversies about social segregation that attach to both. Before that, former prime minister David Cameron’s government bribed most secondaries out of local government control to make them into autonomous academies, started a new category of parent and charity-led free schools, and wanted to force the academy model on all schools, including primaries (this plan has now been dropped). And before that, Labour began the academies programme in government and the current war of attrition against local education departments.

特里薩•梅(Theresa May)政府希望擴大文法學(xué)校(擇優(yōu)錄用的中學(xué))和宗教學(xué)校的數(shù)量，盡管對于這兩類學(xué)校會造成社會分化存在爭議。在此以前，前首相戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)政府借助實際利益促使多數(shù)中學(xué)脫離地方政府控制，使它們轉(zhuǎn)型為獨立學(xué)院，并開啟一個新的類別：由家長、慈善機構(gòu)主導(dǎo)的自由學(xué)校，還希望將這種學(xué)院模式應(yīng)用于所有學(xué)校，包括小學(xué)(該計劃已被取消)。在此之前，工黨在執(zhí)政期間啟動學(xué)院項目，引發(fā)了當(dāng)下這場與地方政府教育部門的消耗戰(zhàn)。

These schemes have been devised against a background of recruitment and retention problems in the teaching profession that has now become serious enough to be called a crisis. Andreas Schleicher, education director at the OECD, today said teacher shortages were seen as a “major bottleneck” in the attempt to raise standards. So Mr Hobby’s point should be accepted even by ministers seeking to put the best possible gloss on the survey’s findings.

出臺這些改革努力的背景是，教師隊伍的招募和保留如今已經(jīng)嚴重到了足以被稱為危機的程度。經(jīng)合組織教育主管安德烈亞斯•施萊歇(Andreas Schleicher)表示，教師短缺是提高教育水平的一個“主要瓶頸”。因此，即便是那些尋求粉飾調(diào)查結(jié)果的教育官員，也應(yīng)該接受中小學(xué)校長聯(lián)合會的霍比的觀點。

Plausible solutions include building on the success of Teach First, the groundbreaking operation to recruit the highest-achieving young graduates into the classroom, which went nationwide just over a year ago. The Financial Times’ Lucy Kellaway, for example, has started Now Teach, a programme to get later-life career changers into on-the-job training for shortage subjects including maths and languages.

可信的解決方案包括在Teach First(先教書吧)成功的基礎(chǔ)上繼續(xù)推進，該項目開創(chuàng)性地將最優(yōu)秀的年輕畢業(yè)生招募到教室，在一年前推廣至全國。例如，英國《金融時報》的露西•凱拉韋(Lucy Kellaway)發(fā)起了名為Now Teach的項目，旨在鼓勵中年改行的職場人士接受在職培訓(xùn)，以便教一些師資短缺的學(xué)科，如數(shù)學(xué)和語言。

Experts also see continuous professional development for teachers as key, with well-understood, merit-based pathways to promotion. More imaginative measures to retain teachers would also help — for example, with housing costs — as well adoption of better pedagogy where it is backed by evidence. For instance, it has been effective to encourage England’s schools to adopt “maths mastery” techniques modelled on schools in the Asian countries that regularly top the Pisa tables.

專家們也認為，面向教師的持續(xù)職業(yè)發(fā)展是關(guān)鍵，要具備大家都懂、任人唯賢的晉升渠道。留住教師的更具想象力的措施也會有所幫助——如住房費用補貼，或者采用有證據(jù)支持的更優(yōu)秀的教學(xué)法。例如，鼓勵英格蘭的學(xué)校采用效仿亞洲的“掌握數(shù)學(xué)”方法就很有效果，亞洲國家的學(xué)?？偸窃赑isa榜單上名列前茅。

But a culture war still rages between ministers who believe in testing knowledge, and experts who believe the jobs of the future demand more skills-based education. While this continues, the UK can expect to continue to tread water.

但是，在信奉用考試檢驗知識的部長級官員與認為未來就業(yè)需要更多技能教育的專家之間，一場文化論戰(zhàn)仍在激烈進行。只要這種論戰(zhàn)持續(xù)，英國很可能將繼續(xù)原地踏步。