Speed or Quality: The Clash of Cultures in Rural Classrooms
速度还是质量:乡村课堂的文化冲突
Dan Wang 王 丹
提要:本文是教育民族志《去政治化的工作空间 — 乡村教师的日常工作》中的一章。该研究考察了中国西南山区一所乡级小学—朝阳小学—的教师们的工作状况。这是一所“戴帽初中”,学校包含小学至处中九个年级。
本章分析的焦点是乡村教师们在实施“新课标”的过程中所遭遇的困境以及造成这一困境的结症所在。以“新课标”为指导的教材和教学组织方式对学生的学习自主性要求更高,而学习自主性的培养必须以扎实的读写算技能为基础,扎实的读写算技能的形成又必须依赖一套严格的学习习惯。一些最普通的学习习惯,如上课带纸笔、记笔记、保护课本、有条理地保存笔记和文具等,也许在城镇家庭教育中被视为理所当然。然而农村家庭由于受教育程度底,学校也没有着重强调学习习惯,导致绝大部分朝阳小学的儿童从小学一年级开始就落后于同级平均水平。随着年级升高,差距不但无法缩小,反而不断加大。原因显而易见。每一个学期、每一个年级、每一门学科都有固定量的教学任务,这是由教材和上级考核指标所限制的。教师为完成教学总量,不得不保持一定的教学进度,没有更多的时间为大批的掉队学生补习以前缺欠的基础。由于学生缺乏自学习惯和基本技能,初中年级的教师不得不在课堂上花大量时间清扫生字词句或回顾小学三四年级的数学公式,学生也没有能力进行有意义的课堂参与。某些科目硬要让学生课堂自主学习,无异于稀释教学质量。教师们在每一堂课上都在面临进度与质量之间的矛盾、平衡和抉择。
我认为,“新课标”之不适合农村教学,并不是教学内容对于乡村儿童的生疏,而在于教学量与进度超过了农村学生的平均接受能力。矛盾的根本是:当前的学校教学活动是以脑力劳动的生活方式为前提,而以体力劳动为主的农村家庭文化很难让儿童从小形成适合学校教学的性格和习惯,以至于乡村儿童从小学一年级就跟不上学校的教学进度,差距逐年加大,到高年级已积重难返。如果农村父母无法培养孩子正确的学习习惯,那么学习习惯的培养便应该正式纳入乡村学校教育的教学内容,分配单独的时间。这意味着农村学生在低年级需要比城镇学生更多的时间去形成正确的学习习惯和巩固基础知识。除非延长整个农村基础教育阶段的学习年限,否则该阶段的知识量和进度都有向下调整的必要。由于目前农村教学的瓶颈是学生的读写算基础技能,那么,农村教育应该花大力气加强而不是淡化基础知识和技能。继续在农村教育中推行“重能力,轻知识”的素质教育,其后果可想而知。
One night, a young teacher, Tian, came to my bedroom for a chat. A care-free and talkative young girl in her early 20s, Tian taught fifth grade Chinese class. I asked casually how many years she had worked as a teacher. “Three years,” she said. The next minute, she continued all by herself into her feelings about teaching:
“[Teaching] is becoming less and less interesting, unlike the days when I just started on the job. Now, every day is the same, the same teaching format, not creative at all. Every day is the same. The more I teach, the more upset (mao zao) I am. Don’t want to teach any more.”
“So, you did like teaching when you first taught?” I asked.
She nodded and said with a frown, “Right, I loved it, especially the first month as a student teacher. I felt so proud being a teacher! At that time, the [normal] school had multimedia equipment for us to prepare for classes. Other students helped me find all kinds of teaching materials. The content was rich and fun. After teaching, I had a strong sense of accomplishment. Now it is all gone. It is all the same each day. There is no sense of accomplishment at all in teaching, no creativity. I feel it [teaching] is so dull. I feel bad no matter students understand or not. I feel I teach poorly.”
“Do you mean the test scores are bad?”
“No,” she said, “I don’t measure [the quality of teaching] by test scores. I just don’t feel I am accomplishing something. I feel bad.”
Teaching in Chaoyang Elementary School was an experience of frustration. Teacher Qian was not alone. Many others also said that they used to have sincere passion for their work at the onset of the career, and yet, within one year or two, they soon burned out. Teachers with connections and other means already escaped Chaoyang to schools “outside” this mountain area. The remaining ones, especially young teachers, thought this place [Chaoyang Elementary School] had no hope.
What were the reasons that contributed to the current dismay? I brought the question to some of the veteran teachers and administrators in casual chats and formal interviews. They replied wittily: “Everyone knows the diagnosis, but nobody can provide the prescription.” Among the top culprits were poor student quality, absence of parental support, lack of administrative assistance, and finally insufficient in-service teacher training. Director Lin added another factor, the distrusting social atmosphere toward the school. Indeed, excellent schools may excel in different ways, but poorly-performing schools are usually poor in similar aspects – that is, falling apart in all aspects. This chapter focuses on the clashes between the rural lifestyle of students and parents and the school system. Chapter 6 will analyze the stifling internal administration and power relations between teachers and administrators/bureaucrats.
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