繪本之力 Revisit（2005）

Part I: Picture Books about Sounds 繪本中的音與歌 河合隼雄

1. 有魔法的語言 – how animals communicates with sounds and sounds became languages between humans
2. 非洲的聲音 –  drums pertains the life of a goat through the sounds it makes (rhythm)
3. Inch by Inch The garden song
4. 夜裡的幼稚園
5. Doodle Flute by Daniel Pinkwater
6. The Violin by Robert Thomas Allen

 

Part II: When Picture Books Become the Focus 當繪本成為焦點時 松居直

1. In the Forest by Marie Hall Ets
2. Millions of Cats by Wonda GagMillions of Cats by Wonda Gag
   • Suspension created using pictures and words. Before the readers turn the page, readers have the opportunities to pause and create their own mental image before they see the picture.

 

Part III: Pictures are for Adults too 大人更應該看繪本 柳田邦男

1. Badger’s Parting Gifts by Susan Varley 、 口袋裡的禮物 – death
2. 熊啊 – interconnection of lives and the world  (Photo Book with words)
3. 基洛努普的狐狸、美代 、一千把大提琴的合奏 – war

 

Part IV: What Does Picture Books Mean to Adults? 繪本對大人是什麼

1. 夏天的早晨
2. 神奇的竹筍
3. 鳥獸戲話 – Japanese love to tell stories with pictures which can be dated back to the 12th centuries （繪卷）
4. 工匠和鬼六
5. 手套
6. The Little Kind December 、 Ernest and Celestine: on life
7. Children’s Reading
   • Children listen to the sounds and follow the flow of the words with focus. If the words do not provide an imaginary world then their attention walk away
   • Children read objectively. If a narrative morph into a argumentative, the suspense created will fall apart.
   • Words confine our imagination. Reading is a solitude activity between one and himself/herself. Listening to reading, however, is to walk hand in hand with another into the co-created imaginary world.
8. Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban : children fears the monsters but love to hear all about them. “Is there a need to cultivate fears?" According to Yanagida, the fear children feel in the stories are different from what they can feel in reality, there is a need for children to feel the fear in his/her emotions to cultivate empathy.
   • The Sea-Thing Child by Russell Hoban:
   • Tommy and the Lion (Laci and the Lion) by Marek Veronika : a boy grows courageous happiness with the company of his red little lion
   • A Hedgehog Lost In A Fog by Yuri Yabusova:  touching, well painted pictures
   • The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg : touching, well painted pictures
   • The Widow’s Broom by Chris Van Allsburg:

Story Time

英文老師應該都幻想過這景象：小朋友團團坐在你的身旁安靜但充滿興致地聽著你唸故事書，時間慢慢流過，空氣中充滿著愛、平和並夾雜著少少小小孩的咯咯笑聲….小孩排排坐好，想說話的時候舉手，每個人都輕輕柔柔的，老師一點也不必嘶吼，學生也不需要彼此怒目相向，埋怨別人不守規矩，誰又踩了誰，誰又搶了誰的。教學一點也不必費力在「控制」孩子待在自己的位置上！

希望，這不是一場夢而已。

Story Time

看了這麼多北歐的教育理念，這樣以人為本的想法與文化，我想試著把她帶進教學裡，就從故事時間開始。

我常覺得教學其實就在營造一種文化，一種氛圍。就像是我們進了國家圖書館會自然的把音量放小；進了五星飯店會舉止文雅。聽故事，也應當可以看作一種文化。難的是，30多名小小孩，充滿著無處可發洩的精力（畢竟小孩屁股上三把火），要怎麼樣培養這種文化，真的需要我極大的耐心。

在我們的教育裡，我們常常用許多的方式去規範孩子什麼可以做什麼不可以做。小的時候，老師用威權的方式恐嚇我們，使我們就範。現在的老師沒法恐嚇，只好利誘。乖的孩子加星星，不守規矩的孩子扣星星。這樣的方式，雖然十分有效率成我們希望孩子們達成的目標（例如：安靜坐好, 使秩序排好隊…），卻失去了許多孩子讓去試誤的機會，和同學、和老師彼此溝通去尋求一個大家都感覺到舒服的平衡點。也讓孩子在衝突的時候，總是希望能找一個權威的仲裁著，而不試著理性解決問題（長大老師不在了，只好找議員、找媒體、找警察仲裁、爆料發洩）。

Seating 

為了讓孩子能夠有機會去嘗試溝通，我想先從讓孩子選擇開始。有了選擇，就可能有衝突，有了衝突，溝通的機會就會提高，我們也可以選擇性的介入。

說故事的時候，我讓孩子離開自己的座位，選擇一個自己舒服喜歡的位置，和同學比肩而坐。這可能是孩子一天上課中少數可以自由離開座位的卻仍有課進行的時間，孩子對能夠離開座位的自由，興奮不言可諭。果不其然，不到五秒衝突立刻發生。

「老師，他一直擠我！」「那你要不要跟他說說你的心情？好好地說。」

「Miss Winnie, 他一直擋住我！」「你跟他說過了嗎？他知道他擋住妳了嗎？」

今日冷處理，效果不賴。從選擇座位，到故事開始進行，大概五分鐘。會發生爭執的孩子，大概都是比較以自我為中心的孩子，不太看得到別人。

故事開始進行的時候，孩子們立刻忘記了之前的爭吵。被告狀的孩子，也立刻從失落中進入故事中。短短的故事 Go Away Big Green Monster 很能抓住小朋友的心。Good choice!

下週，繼續觀察。

“When a student made a poor choice (which we all do), it’s the conversation, not the consequence that makes a difference." @Dr. Justin Tarte

 

 

 

 

 

「娜拉，如果妳在挪威長大」- 令人震撼

 

非常感謝好友嘉文半年前送我這一本好書，今天拿起來之後久久不能放下！想來或許現下，我的想法才成熟到能夠好好接納這一本書的內涵（感謝神，也感謝作者李濠仲先生將這麼寶貴的經驗著作成書，與大家分享）。

未來Family 雜誌節錄許多精彩的內容，從娜拉北鼻在媽媽肚子裡，兩位家長所受到的挪為文化洗禮開始，到娜拉進入幼稚園，娜拉爸爸媽媽和鄰居學齡兒童、青少年家庭的互動….作者一步一步的分享挪威人的對於教育的哲學，以及這樣的哲學如何落實在現實中。

許多人說，北歐的教育理念在台灣已喧騰一時，但是國情不同，我們的家長、我們的老師、我們的社會風氣、我們的經費，甚或福利政策都無法支持我們有類似的教育展現。對於這樣的說法，老實說，我真的不能同意再多！但是，如果我的想法和行動，或是多數人的想法和行動只停留在這，那麼這樣一種以孩子為本的教育展現，真的就要永遠與台灣無緣…這真的不是我想看見的未來呀！

身為教師，我想我們或許可以學習把眼光放在更長遠的未來。如果，我們也贊同「教育的目的是在培養國家的未來」，如果我們也認為「孩子，是一個國家最大的資產」，那麼我們可以做的或許是在我們能力可及的的範圍內，為孩子發聲，而我們的能力取決於自己對於生命恐懼的大小為何。

是否我們擔心，當考試從課程中移除，我們再也無法掌控課室？ — 倘若孩子才是學習的主人，教師對課室的掌控應當如何拿捏，其實學思達在很多部分做了很好的平衡。

是否我們擔心，少了一次又一次的測驗卷練習，孩子就學不會？ — 孩子的學習是一種長遠知識的累積，他必然得現在就精熟一切嗎？比馬龍效應已經明白的告訴我們，我們對孩子的信念就造就了他的表現，不是嗎？

是否我們擔心，孩子的成績不盡理想，我們會得到來自學校或家長的壓力？ — 我是否在教學過程中，真正的與學校或家長做了良好的溝通，這些想法會不會是我過往一廂情願的想法？畢竟，學思達、翻轉教育…等對教育議題的討論也已經打動許多家長和教育人的心。

是否我們擔心，學生的成績掌握他未來的重要關鍵？— 相信在中、小學成長的過程中，對孩子甚或整個國家而言更重要的是孩子的人格和自信呢？

每一天，若我能好好理清並清理自己的想法，孩子就能更享受學習的過程。當有更多的教師一同理清清理自己的想法，就能有越多的孩子享受學習。

A Change of Mind

What can we really learn from Finnish education having the “Finnish Education" phenomenon being around for nearly a decade?

Last night I watched two documentary clips about Finnish teachers invited to teach for a week in England, primary school and secondary school. Teachers in Finland, as we know,  are highly respected and scrutiny selected professionals. I was really eager to learn these two teachers’ magic as to how they would handle the lessons and students differently from teachers that I know of and styles that I am familiar with. From the teachers’ teaching and their reflection, two themes I found quite interesting emerged in their beliefs.

First, both the Finnish teachers seemed shocked when the students responded to their instruction with an unruly manner. Respect and knowing the boundary between teacher and students was an obvious pre-requisite for students of such age groups. If teachers could expect that students express forms of respect toward others, it must be a manner that comes from places other than schools. Etiquette such as appropriate behaviors in class or in the restaurants may be a form of knowledge that we can teach to the children, but mannerism is more than that. It is values that deeply rooted in the culture and expressed in daily life. In this case, it is a cultural belief of how one should treat another being realized in the classroom.

Second, the Finnish teachers were also surprised at how course content was hastily introduced to the students with little freedom aside from the curriculum. To the Finnish teachers, lessons shall be created according to the students’ learning pace instead of rigidly following a curriculum that appeals to the notion of how average students can perform and achieve. Teachers’ respect for individual differences was demonstrated by making sure that the learners have fully grasp of the learning concept at a deeper level and utilizing possible approaches to reach the learners. As in the primary section, we could see the teacher encouraged the learners to use manipulatives and she led lots of games and activities in different lessons accompanied with her lecture.

Indeed, Finnish success is a goal for many countries but it came from a national beliefs of respect of human beings. So I think that leads us to two questions:

1. Do we agree with such belief as an important element to produce quality education?
2. If so, how can the education system move towards that direction at different levels? At the level of adult education, family education, school system, teacher education, teacher selection and curriculum design.