原文链接：If John Taylor Gatto and Maria Montessori Could Meet
作者：Lori Bourne
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

编者注：Maria Montessori（玛丽亚·蒙特梭利）知名于建立针对儿童教育的蒙特梭利教学法，于1952年逝世；本文另一位主人公 John Taylor Gatto 出生于1935年，虽然是不同年代的人，但他们都曾竭力为教育事业发出自己的非社会主流声音。

When New York State Teacher of the Year, John Taylor Gatto, published his essay The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher in 1991, something seemed to resonate within the minds of people across the nation. Perhaps they remembered only too well the intense boredom, frustration, and enforced conformity of their own public school years. Perhaps the truth in the essay is simply too evident to be dismissed or denied. Now, in 2007, over two million American children are being homeschooled. Millions of others have been removed from the public school system and enrolled in some sort of alternative education, including Montessori. Clearly, many parents have taken up Gatto’s challenge to look beyond the ‘norm’ of public schooling out of love and respect for their children.

当纽约州年度教师 John Taylor Gatto 于1991年发布 The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher 时，在全国各地人民心中引起了共鸣。也许，对于自己接受公立教育那些年所经受的强烈厌倦、挫折以及被迫顺服，他们都记忆犹新。也许，文章的真理太真实太明显，无法忽略或否认。2007年，有200万名以上美国儿童在家受教育。还有数百万名从公立学校退出，在其他类型的教育机构报名，包括蒙台梭利。很显然，许多家长接受了Gatto的挑战，出于对子女的厚爱与尊重，他们的眼光超越了“正常”的公立学校教育。

Who is John Taylor Gatto and what does he believe?

John Taylor Gatto是谁，他的信念是什么？

John Taylor Gatto (see picture) spent 26 years teaching in a variety of public schools in New York. In 1991, after winning the New York State Teacher of the Year Award, Gatto left his job, stating that he was “no longer willing to hurt children.” Disheartened and concerned by the very fundamentals upon which the system of public education is based, Gatto went on to become a celebrated public speaker and author. His books include A Different Kind of Teacher,The Exhausted School, Dumbing Us Down, and The Underground History of American Education. Gatto’s basic premise, outlined in The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher, is that the American public school system is largely responsible for a national humanitarian crisis. As Gatto points out, this system:

John Taylor Gatto（见图）在纽约多所公立学校教书多达26年。1991年，在获得了纽约州年度教师奖之后，Gatto辞职，声明他“不再忍心伤害孩子”。Gatto对公立教育体制基本要素很灰心很担心，他转而成为了知名演说家和作者。其著作包括A Different Kind of Teacher, The Exhausted School, Dumbing Us Down, 和 The Underground History of American Education。Gatto的基本观点是美国公立学校体制应对整个民族的人道主义危机负主要责任。

如Gatto所说，这种体制：

• Teaches children that their worth is determined by other people
• 教育孩子他们的价值由他人决定
• Causes children to be dependent on teachers/experts rather than on themselves
• 使孩子依靠老师/专家，而非自力更生
• Praises total conformity and condemns individuality as a threat to the system
• 表扬完全顺服，谴责个性化，因为这对体制造成威胁
• Teaches that schedule, not interesting work, is what has value
• 教育学生课表，而非有趣的功课，才有价值
• Teaches that value is only possible under conditions of competition
• 教育学生只有在竞争的条件下，价值才有可能存在
• Leaves children with almost no private time
• 基本没给孩子留私人时间

Gatto asserts that the public school system is expertly designed to produce dependent human beings who cannot think for themselves or take care of themselves. He proposes that the cruelty, materialism, and aimlessness one sees in a major portion of the U.S. population are the result of the combination of absent parents, television, and the institutionalization of public education.

Gatto宣称，公共学校体制由专家设计，培养依赖性很强的人，无法独立思考，无法照顾自己。他认为在大多数美国人身上所见到的残忍、物质主义、毫无目的等特性是由于缺乏家庭教育、电视以及公立教育机制的综合结果。

Mr. Gatto urges parents to cut ties with the belief that going to public school enables mastery of a curriculum. Rather, he says that the public school experience enables mastery of mindless obedience to authority figures, and lifelong habits of dependency. This system is unlikely to produce brilliant, unconventional thinkers such as Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln – who were themselves almost completely the product of self-education.

Gatto先生恳请家长们摒弃进入公立学校就能掌握功课这种信念。他说，其实公立学校的经验使孩子不动脑筋地遵守权威人物、养成终生依赖他人的习惯。这种体制不可能培养出如本杰明富兰克林或亚伯拉罕林肯这样充满智慧特立独行的思想家——他们基本都完全属于自学的结果。

How Dr. Montessori and John Taylor Gatto see eye to eye

蒙台梭利博士和John Taylor Gatto如何所见略同

One of Gatto’s chief indictments of the public school system is that it forces children to believe they must wait for the instruction of the teacher in order for learning to take place. Good kids do what Teacher says; only bad kids don’t conform. The Montessori classroom or homeschool presents a startlingly different atmosphere in which each child works independently, at his own pace, teaching himself. The child learns to be a learner. Maria Montessori advocated respect for the mind of the child, within the prepared environment, as the way to stimulate curiosity, inquisitiveness, and life-long learning.

Gatto对公立学校体系的主要非难之一是，这种体制强迫孩子们相信必须等老师指导他们才能学习。好孩子听老师话，只有坏孩子才不服从。蒙台梭利教室或居家教育则呈现了截然不同的氛围，每个孩子都独立学习，按照自己的节奏自己教自己。孩子学会成为一名学习者。蒙台梭利提倡在有所准备的环境中尊重孩子的思维，从而刺激他们的求知欲，养成爱提问、终身学习的习惯。

I wish that time travel would make it possible for Maria Montessori and John Taylor Gatto to sit down together in conversation. I can almost imagine how passionately they would agree with one another about the fact that the purpose of education is to produce a self-sufficient adult, not an eternally dependent consumer. Both educators would eschew homework as an invasion of the child’s limited time for privacy and home life. Both educators would agree that non-violent conflict resolution is an essential life skill. Both would agree that concern for the community and the world must be learned at an early age if we are ever to experience world peace.

我希望时光旅行可以让蒙台梭利和John Taylor Gatto坐在一起对话。我几乎可以想见他们的观点如何高度一致，同意教育的目的是培养自给自足的成人，而不是永远有依赖性的消费者。两位教育者都会避免让家庭作业侵害孩子有限的私人和家庭生活时间。两位都会同意如果我们期望世界和平，必须在年幼时就学习对社区对世界的关怀。

Compare the following quotations (emphases mine):

比较以下引言：

John Taylor Gatto: “Wherever I go in the United States these days I hear of something called the crisis of discipline, how children are not motivated, how they resist learning. That is nonsense, of course. Children resist teaching, as they should, but nobody resists learning.”

John Taylor Gatto: “如今不论我到国内什么地方，我总听说纪律危机，听说孩子们没有动力，厌学。这当然是无稽之谈。孩子们抵制接受老师的教育，这是他们应该做的，但绝不会有人抵制学习。”

Maria Montessori: “And so we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.”

蒙台梭利：“所以，我们发现教育不是老师所做的什么事情，而是人自发形成的自然过程。”

We Montessorians wonder, sometimes, whether or not the Montessori method is truly valid. How refreshing to receive validation that we are on the right track – from someone with years of experience in traditional education, no less. Clearly, choosing Montessori is more than just embracing hands-on materials or mixed-age classrooms. It’s a choice for the development of children as intelligent, capable, self-aware human beings and not automatons who depend on teachers, textbooks, and rules to govern their decisions.

我们这些蒙台梭利追随者有时难免好奇蒙台梭利学习法是否真正有效。而得到证据表明我们在正轨上，这让人多么心旷神怡——何况是由有很多年传统教育背景的人证明的。很清楚，选择蒙台梭利不仅是拥抱方便的教材或者混合年龄的教室。这种选择将孩子培养为有智慧、有能力、有自知之明的人而不是依靠老师、教材、制度来管理其决策的机器人。

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原文链接：Can You Get an Education in Spite of School?
作者：Lori Bourne
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

A few weeks ago my family and I attended a large homeschooling conference in St. Charles, IL. This is the 13th year this conference has been held and it is attended by hundreds of homeschooling parents and children.

几周前，我和我的家人出席在伊利诺伊州圣查尔斯举行的大型居家教育会议。在这第13届会议上，有几百位居家教育的家长和孩子参加。

The featured speaker this year was John Taylor Gatto, a former New York state public school teacher who now speaks out against traditional schooling. The values he espouses are very much in line with Montessori philosophy; you can read my take on the Montessori/ Gatto connection in my previous post If John Taylor Gatto and Maria Montessori Could Meet.

本年度的特约发言人是John Taylor Gatto，他曾是纽约州公立学校的一名老师，现在大胆地反对传统学校教育。他所倡导的价值观与蒙台梭利理念非常一致，你可以看看我之前的帖子《如果John Taylor Gatto和玛利亚·蒙台梭利可以相逢》中就蒙台梭利与Gatto之间联系的观点。

Mr. Gatto is a hero of mine, and I was thrilled to hear him speak. I got to shake his hand and talk to him briefly afterward, which was very exciting. The topic of his talk was “How to Get an Education in Spite of School”, which immediately tells you where he’s at when it comes to education.

Gatto先生是我的偶像，能聆听他讲话，我激动万分。会后我同他握手，并进行简单交谈，太激动人心了。他演讲的主题是“即使在学校，是否仍可接受教育？”，这立即告诉了你他关于教育的立场。

Mr. Gatto’s thoughts are radical and he makes no apology for that fact. I most appreciate that he calls us to question our long-held assumptions about education and learning. He finds interesting information from unlikely sources.

Gatto先生的思想很激进，对此他毫无歉意。我最欣赏的是他让我们质疑我们关于教育和学习由来已久的假设。他居然从完全不可能的来源发现了颇值得玩味的信息。

What’s Really Important for College?

什么对大学真正重要？

Gatto has spent some time talking to the admissions directors for both Harvard and Princeton. They told him that every year they turn away hundreds of students who have perfect SAT scores and perfect GPAs. What are they looking for, then? The answer might surprise you.

Gatto花了些时间与哈佛及普林斯顿的招生主任进行交谈。他们告诉他，每年校方拒绝数百名SAT分数和GPA成绩都非常优异的学生。那么他们到底看重的是什么？答案可能会让你大吃一惊。

At both schools, they are looking for evidence that the student in question made a difference to society (as one of the admissions directors put it, “Special people usually distinguish themselves before the age of 18”). They look at hobbies and special interests, because that’s where children make their own choices about what they do with their free time.

这两所学校看重的都是学生能对社会做贡献的证据（正如一名招生主任所说，“特别的人通常18岁以前与众不同了”）。他们注重学生的爱好和特殊兴趣，因为这些能反映出孩子们在怎样利用闲暇时间时所做出的自己的选择。

How can someone under the age of 18 make a meaningful contribution to society? Some ways include:
. starting and running a successful business
. serving in the community
. founding an organization that serves others (especially those in need)
. completing an apprenticeship

未成年人怎么能对社会做出有意义的贡献？有以下方法：

• 创建并经营成功的生意
• 为社区服务
• 成立组织，服务他人（尤其是那些有需要的人）
• 完成实习期

Mr. Gatto repeatedly says that there is no significant correlation between grades, test scores, and real life achievement. He listed many extremely successful people who dropped out of school at some point and didn’t attend college, including Bill Gates and his partner Paul Allen, co-founders of Microsoft; Michael Dell (founder of Dell Computers); and Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook).

Gatto反复说，分数、考试成绩和现实生活中的成就并没有明显的相互关联。他列举了很多极其成功的人士，他们辍学，不上大学，包括比尔盖茨和他的搭档保Paul Allen，微软的合作创建人；Michael Dell（戴尔计算机的创办人）及Mark Zuckerberg（Facebook的创办人）。

Life Skills that Really Matter

生活技巧才真正重要

He also suggests that we re-think what we teach children based on our own life experiences. He asked us to take a week or two to reflect on the skills that have served us best in life, and then make sure we are introducing children to those skills and giving them a chance to exercise them.

他也建议我们根据自己的生活经验重新思考教孩子们什么。他让我们花一两周时间反思在我们生活中最起作用的技巧，然后确保我们向孩子们介绍这些技巧，并给他们机会练习。

Some of his top life skills include:
1. Being able to successfully convey yourself through the written and (publicly) spoken word
2. Being able to spend time in solitude without feeling uncomfortable
3. Finding ways to be useful to others
4. Developing connections with other people that can be used for their benefit and your own
5. Being able to read at a high level (not just the skill of reading but being able to understand what you’re reading and internalize it)

他所谓的关键生活技能包括：

1. 能够通过写和（公开地）演讲，成功地表达自己
2. 能够独处且不会感到不安
3. 找到可以帮助别人的方式方法
4. 建立与他人的连接，这种关系对他人和自己都有好处
5. 能够进行高水平的阅读（不仅仅是阅读技巧，而是能够理解你所读的内容，并将其消化，变为自己的东西）

As he points out, the things that serve us best in life are often not taught in school. Children often graduate without these life-skills, having instead spent dreary hours memorizing dates and filling in workbook pages.

正如他所指出的，生活中最有用的东西通常学校都不教。学生花了大量时间死记硬背和做作业，毕业的时候根本没有具备这些生活技能。

Real Life Lessons

现实生活课

He also shared some remarkable examples of how he gave students a chance to really “stand out from the crowd” even within the confines of the New York public school system. For example, one girl in his class dropped a glass bottle with a note inside into the water off of Coney Island. The bottle was found by a New York police chief who read the note and contacted the girl.

他还分享了些例子，讲述他如何在纽约公立学校系统的禁锢内为学生提供成为真正“卓尔不群”的机会。例如，他班上一名女生将一个玻璃瓶丢进了科尼岛附近的水里，瓶子里还有张纸条。这个瓶子被纽约一位警长发现，他读了纸条，联系了这名女生。

With help from Mr. Gatto, the girl met with the police chief to discuss environmental issues like littering. Seeing where her bottle ended up was a practical lesson for her, and her meeting with the police chief was covered by a local newspaper which led to a meeting with the head of an environmental action group.

在Gatto先生的帮助下，女生与警长见面，探讨诸如乱扔垃圾等环境问题。看到自己的瓶子最终如何，对她而言是很实际的教训，她和警长的会谈还上了当地的报纸，进而导致与一家环境行动组织负责人会面。

He had children running up and down New York state completing internships with politicians, businesspeople, newscasters, and all sorts of other accomplished people. Children in his classes influenced legislation, mobilized public opinion, wrote newspaper columns, and volunteered in their communities.

他让孩子们在整个纽约州跟着政治家、商人、新闻主播以及所有其他功成名就者实习。他班上的孩子们影响了立法、左右公众意见、写报纸专栏，并在各自的社区做义工。

What Makes a Person Educated?

什么成就一个受教的人？

Mr. Gatto ended his presentation by talking about traits that a truly educated person possesses; they bear little resemblance to traditional school curriculums:
. An educated person writes his/her own script in life; destiny is self-determined
. An educated person is never at a loss for what to do with his/her time
. An educated person has a blueprint for personal values, a philosophy
. An educated person understands his/her own mortality and learns throughout life, right until the end
. An educated person has the capacity to create new things, new experiences, and new ideas

Gatto先生用一个真正受教的人所拥有的优点来结束他的演示；这些优点与传统的学校课程几乎毫无相似之处：

• 受教的人书写自己的人生剧本；命运由自己掌握
• 受教的人在面对如何处理自己的时间时，绝不会不知所措
• 受教的人对于个人价值和人生观有自己的见解
• 受教的人理解自己的生命有限，一生都在学习，直至最后一刻
• 受教的人有能力创造新事物、新体验、新思想

Even as a Montessorian, I was inspired to re-think how I approach education. I never want my focus to be on “achievement” in things that are easily measurable. Real life skills are harder to measure, harder to pin down, but so much more beneficial.

即使作为一个蒙台梭利的追随者，重新思考自己如何受教，也让我备受鼓舞。我从未希望我的焦点侧重于可以轻易测量的“成就”上。真正的生活技能难以测量，难以确定，然而却使人受益匪浅。

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Mr. Gatto’s ideas and how they might be compatible (or contradict) the Montessori method.

我想听听你们对Gatto先生观点的看法，以及这些观点与蒙台梭利法如何相符（或相矛盾）。

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原文链接：How to Be a Master at Anything
作者：Christina Quick Henderson
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

In the 1960 summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games, despite running on a sprained ankle. She was nicknamed the “Tornado” the fastest woman on earth, and the Black Gazelle.

1960年意大利罗马夏季奥运会上，威尔玛·鲁道夫成为全美第一位在单次奥运会上获得田赛与竞赛三枚金牌的女性，尽管她跑步时脚踝扭伤了。人们赠给全球跑得最快的女性一个绰号——“龙卷风”，也称她为黑瞪羚。

By all accounts, Wilma Rudolph was a master at track and field. Some called her a “natural athlete.” But if you know Wilma Rudolph’s story, you’ll know the truth is that Wilma wasn’t a born athlete. She was a sickly, crippled child who turned herself into a world-class runner through tremendous determination and discipline.

从方方面面看，威尔玛·鲁道夫都是田径场上的大师。有人称她为“天生的运动员”。可如果你知道威尔玛·鲁道夫的故事，你就会知道事实是威尔玛并非天生的运动员。她原本是一个病怏怏有残疾的孩子，但通过巨大的毅力和自律，将自己蜕变为世界级跑步选手。

Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely at 4.5 lbs., the 20th of 22 siblings born into a black family in the South in 1940. She was struck with polio as a very young child, leaving her with a twisted foot and leg. She wore a brace and her family drove her to Nashville regularly for treatments. By the time she was 12 years old, Wilma had also survived scarlet fever, whooping cough, chicken pox, and measles.

1940年威尔玛·鲁道夫出生时是个4.5磅的早产儿，是南部一个黑人家庭里22个孩子中的第20个。幼年时，她患了小儿麻痹，腿和脚都变形了。她戴着支架，由家人定期开车送她去纳什维尔进行治疗。到威尔玛12岁时，她先后经历了猩红热、百日咳、水痘、麻疹。

Wilma was determined to overcome her physical challenges and become an athlete like her older siblings. Eventually she left the leg braces behind and became a star on her high school basketball team. Wilma was discovered by Tennessee State track coach Ed Temple, the man who prepared her to win Olympic gold in the 100 and 200-meter dash and the 400-meter relay.

威尔玛下定决心克服自己的生理挑战，成为她哥哥姐姐那样的运动员。最终，她丢掉了支架，成为高中篮球队的明星。田纳西州的田径教练爱德·坦普尔发现了威尔玛，并且帮她做好准备，赢得奥运会100米、200米冲刺及400米接力赛的金牌。

What would YOU like to become a master of? If you’re in the work force, you may wish to become a master at your job. If you’re retired, maybe you would like to achieve mastery at a hobby – become a master gardener, or a master fisherman. Or we could apply mastery to people and relationships – becoming the best in the world at being a parent, or a spouse, or a friend to those in need. But what does it take to truly achieve mastery in any area of our life? Why do only a select few ever become great at what they do?

你想成为什么样的大师？如果你在工作，也许你想成为职场高手。如果你退休了，也许你想在自己的爱好上取得成就——成为大师级的园丁或大师级的渔夫。或者，我们可以将这些技巧用于人际关系——成为世界上最明智的家长、最忠心的配偶或者成为那些有需要的人最可靠的朋友。不过，在生活的任何领域中取得真正成就需要什么？为什么只有一小部分人取得成功？

It is a common myth that talent is what makes some people great. From an early age we’re taught that some of us just have a natural aptitude for athletics, or managing companies, or playing an instrument. God given talent is what makes some people masters. So if we try something and discover we’re not all that great at it, or if we experience initial success only to hit a plateau, we give up on mastery, thinking we just weren’t cut out for it. We become a hacker, content with average performance or we give up entirely.

一个普遍的神话是天分造就人才。很小的时候，人们就告诉我们，我们当中有些人天生就有运动或管理公司或演奏乐器的才能。天生的才能是让某些人成为大师级人物的原因。所以，如果我们尝试某样东西，发现我们根本不擅长，或者我们经历了最初的成功之后，却进入高原状态，我们就会放弃追求精通，以为自己不是那块料。我们成为骇客，对于平庸表现也心满意足，或者干脆放弃。

In his book, Talent is Overrated, Geoff Colvin points out that research conducted in the past 30 years or so has proven this idea of inherent talent false. Studies of a variety of subjects – violin players, chess champions, golf pros, etc. – all indicate that the difference between great performers and average performers is hard work and practice, not natural talent. Masters in a given field did not show unusual giftedness, but rather logged many more hours of practice time than their peers and engaged in “deliberate practice” – systematic practice of techniques involving specific goals and regular feedback to improve performance.

在《被夸大的天才》一书中，Geoff Colvin指出，过去30多年研究表明天生才能的观点不正确。对各种各样主体——小提琴家、象棋冠军、高尔夫职业选手——的研究，都表明伟大的表演家与普通表演家的区别在于勤学苦练，而非天才。给定领域的大师并没有表现出非同寻常的天赋，但却比其他人练习的时间多得多，而且进行的是“有意练习”——涉及具体目标的系统化技巧练习，还有定期反馈改善表现。

George Leonard wrote an inspiring little book called Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-term Fulfillment. Leonard identifies 5 principles that can help you achieve mastery in any area of your life.

George Leonard写了本鼓舞人心的小书，名为《精通：成功及长期成就的关键》。Leonard列了5条原则，可以帮助你在生活的任何领域成为大师。

1. Instruction

There are some things you can learn on your own, but if you really want to be a master in your field you must find a good teacher or coach to guide your efforts. It’s no accident that Bela Karolyi’s gym produced so many Olympic gymnasts or that Meisner, Adler, and Strasberg taught so many great actors – including Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, and Paul Newman. Find someone whose students are performing with excellence and learn your craft at their feet.

1. 指导

有些东西你可以自学，但如果你真想在自己的领域成为大师，你必须找个好老师或好教练为你指导。Bela Karolyi的体育馆产生如此多奥运体操明星或Meisner, Adler, Strasberg教出那么多伟大的演员——包括Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman，绝非偶然。找一位有众多高徒的师傅，然后拜他们为师。

2. Practice

This weekend I watched my friend, Jeff, play his acoustic guitar so beautifully and masterfully it seemed effortless. But I know that Jeff goes home every night after work and practices his guitar for at least two hours. Deliberate practice is the key to mastery. We have to learn to love to practice in order to become great. You have to love playing scales on your instrument as much or more than you love performing in the concert hall. An old martial arts saying goes, “The master is the one who stays on the mat five minutes longer every day than anybody else.” Be that guy.

2. 练习

这个周末，我见我的朋友杰夫弹原声吉他，弹得太优美太娴熟了，似乎不费吹灰之力。可我知道每天晚上下班之后，杰夫要练习至少两个小时。专门练习是掌握技能的关键。为了出类拔萃，我们必须得学会爱上练习。你爱练习要跟你爱在演奏大厅里表演一样。如俗话说，“大师就是每天比别人多练习5分钟的人”成为这样的人。

3. Surrender.

The courage of a master is measured by his or her willingness to surrender. To your teacher. To the constant routine of hard work to become better. And sometimes we must surrender our own expert status and become beginners again in order to reach the next level of achievement. Tiger Woods famously remade his golf swing AFTER he had already achieved tremendous success in his sport. For the master, surrender means there are no experts. There are only learners.

3．顺服

大师的勇气是用他是否愿意顺服来衡量的。顺服老师。遵守勤学苦练的永恒规则，以期卓越。有时我们必须放弃自己的专家身份，重新开始，以达到下一阶段的成就。泰格·伍兹在已经获得了辉煌成就之后，调整了自己的挥杆。对于大师而言，顺服意味着没有专家。只有学习者。

4. Intentionality

Intentionality is mindfulness, mental practice, having a vision mindfulness of what you want to accomplish. Arnold Schwarzenneger argued that pumping a weight one time with full consciousness was worth ten without mental awareness. Average distance runners let their minds wander during a race in order to forget about the pain. Master runners focus on their bodies the whole time in order to perform to the best of their ability with every stride.

Cognitive psychology has discovered that visualizing an activity triggers the same parts of the brain as if we were actually DOING that activity. Mental practice can be as effective as actual practice in achieving mastery.

4. 意向性

意向性是留神、头脑练习，对自己想要成就的进行愿景培养。阿诺德·施瓦辛格认为用全部意识击打某个重量1次，比没有精神意识下击打十次还值得。普通的长跑运动员在比赛中让他们的思绪随意飞扬，以忘记痛苦。大师级的长跑运动员则在全程中注意自己的身体，以便每迈出一步都能表现得最好。

认知心理学已经发现，幻想某样活动可以触发我们实际进行该项活动时所触发的相同的大脑部分。在获得大师级水准时，头脑练习可以和实际练习一样有效。

5. The Edge.

The edge is the point where the master takes a flying leap. It seems to be a contradiction of what got the expert performer to the height of their field in the first place. After dedication to the fundamentals of their discipline and years of small, incremental steps forward there comes a point where these masters take a leap off the edge. “They challenge previous limits, they break the rules they’ve worked so hard to learn, they take risks for the sake of higher performance.”

5. 边界

边界是大师之所以飞跃的地方。看起来，这与使专家表演者达到事业巅峰的东西相矛盾。在投身到自己学科的基础之后，经过多年细微的进步，有那么一刻，这些大师越过边界向前迈出一大步。他们挑战从前的极限，打破如此辛苦所学习到的规矩，为了更好的表现，他们承担风险。

With All Your Might

Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 verse 10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Like Wilma Rudolph, you don’t need to be limited by challenges or the myth of talent. Whatever you’d like to be a master of, apply these five principles and be satisfied with the slow, steady rewards of deliberate practice.

全力以赴

《传道书》9章10节：“凡你手所当作的事，要尽力去作。”像威尔玛·鲁道夫一样，你不要被挑战所限制，也无需被天才神话所束缚。不论你想成为什么大师，遵循这5条原则，然后对有意练习所带来的缓慢而稳定的奖励感到心满意足。

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原文链接：Education Needs to Be Turned on Its Head
作者：Leo Babauta
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

Let kids use their natural curiosity and love of learning.

让孩子们利用他们天生的好奇心和对学习的热爱之情。

“Our culture lies. They say they want to encourage and reward individuality and creativity, but in practice they try to hammer down the pointy parts, and shame off the different parts.” – Sandra Dodd

“我们的文化在撒谎。他们说他们想鼓励奖赏个性化和创造力，但实际上他们枪打出头鸟，打击异己。” – Sandra Dodd

Going through the traditional school system (in California, Washington and Guam) was never my favorite thing as a kid, but as a parent, I’ve grown to realize that the whole system is upside down.

作为孩子，经历传统教育体系绝非我最喜欢的事情，但作为家长，我逐渐意识到整个系统颠倒了。

Not the system of any particular state or nation, but system of education as a concept.

不是哪个州或全国的教育体系，而是教育体系这个概念。

Traditionally, schools use this model:

传统上，学校采用如下模式：

1. Decide on what kids need to know to prepare them for adulthood.
2. Prepare a curriculum based on this.
3. Give students a schedule based on this curriculum.
4. Have educated teachers hand them the info they need, and drill them in skills.
5. The student reads, memorizes the info, learns the skills, and becomes prepared.
6. Students must follow all rules or be punished. This is actually more important than the info and skills, although it’s never said that way.

1. 决定孩子们需要知道什么，以便为成年做准备。
2. 根据上述决定，准备课程。
3. 根据课程，给孩子课表。
4. 让受过训练的老师给他们需要的信息，然后练习技能。
5. 学生阅读，记忆信息，学习技能，有所准备。
6. 学生必须遵守所有规则，否则就要被惩罚。这其实比信息和技能更重要，虽然大家从不这么说。

Unfortunately, this isn’t a great model. Mostly because it’s based on the idea that there is a small group of people in authority, who will tell you what to do and what you need to know, and you must follow this obediently, like robots. And you must not think for yourself, or try to do what you want to do. This will be met with severe punishment.

很不幸，这种模式乏善可陈。主要是因为其背景思想是有一群权威人士会告诉你做什么，你需要知道什么，而你必须像机器人一样顺服。你不能自己思考，也不能做自己想做的。否则，会遭到严重惩罚。

This is ideal if you’re going to be a corporate employee, and need certain skills in order to work for the corporation — mostly skills of obedience, actually. This isn’t ideal for the workplace of the coming decade, when people are less likely to be employed by a large corporation, and more likely to work for themselves. And have to think for themselves. And figure out, for themselves, what they want to do. And learn new things for themselves, without a teacher.

如果你要成为企业员工，需要某些技能在企业工作——其实最主要是顺服的技能。对于未来数十年的工作场所，这差强人意，到那时，人们不太可能被大企业雇佣，更可能地是在家为自己打工。必须自己为自己思考。然后还要想明白自己想做什么。在没有老师的情况下，自己学习新东西。

Things are changing faster than ever before. Every month, new technology is announced that alters the way people work, or will work in the future, and we need to be able to learn and adapt to this ever-changing landscape.

事物以前所未有的速度变化。每个月，都会宣布改变人们当前或未来工作方式的新技术，我们需要有学习能力，需要顺应这种瞬息万变的前景。

How are we to do that, or how are our children to learn that, if they have no authority telling them what they need to know, or how to learn, or what to do?

如果没有权威告诉他们需要了解什么，如何学习，做什么，我们该怎么做，或者，孩子们该怎么学？

People often grow up to be competent learners, and achieve great things, after going through the traditional school system. But this is in spite of the system, not because of it. We are pretty adaptable people, inherently curious, and we can learn without an authority, but the current school system tries to beat this down. It usually fails to some degree, but to the degree it succeeds, it harms people.

在经历了传统教育体系之后，人们通常成长为合格的学习者，学到很多东西，但这并非教育体系的功劳。我们本是相当变通的人，有着天生的求知欲，没有权威我们也可以学习，可当前学校体系试图颠覆这一点。通常，学校体系通常会失败，但也存在成功的概率，这便是症结所在。

Schools fail not because they don’t impart knowledge or skills, but because they kill curiosity, smother excitement for learning, club down with a furious brutality our desires to be independent, to think for ourselves, to learn about things that actually interest us.

学校失败不是因为他们不传授知识或技能，而是因为他们扼杀了求知欲，窒息了学习的劲头，残忍无情地鞭笞了我们想要独立、独立思考、学习我们真正感兴趣的东西的愿望。

“I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays, and have things arranged for them, that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas.” – Agatha Christie

“我认为这是因为如今几乎所有孩子都上学，一切都有人给他们安排妥当，所以他们才看上去如此悲惨，无法独立思考、创造。” – Agatha Christie

But Teachers are Great

不过老师们很了不起

Yes, I agree, they are. My wife was a middle school teacher, of English, and she worked tirelessly with her students’ interests at heart. She really wanted to teach them to love reading, and did everything in her power to do so. Unfortunately, she was frustrated by the authoritarian nature of school administration, and left. She now homeschools our kids, and is trying to give them the freedom to learn on their own.

是的，我同意，老师们很了不起。我妻子曾是中学英语教师。她不知疲倦地工作，把学生利益放在首位。她真得很想教他们热爱阅读，每件事情都全力以赴。不幸的是，学校管理的独裁本质让她受挫，她离开了。现在她在家教育我们的孩子，让他们有自学的自由。

My grandmother was a teacher for decades. My aunt is a teacher, first of elementary and middle schools, now of children in a juvenile detention center, and is wonderful at getting kids to love reading. My father is an artist teaching others to love art, and to do it well. I love teachers, and have the highest respect for them.

我祖母当了多年的老师。我姑姑是老师，先是小学老师，然后是中学老师，现在是少年管教所的老师，她很擅长让孩子们热爱阅读。我父亲是位艺术家，教别人热爱艺术，在艺术上有杰出表现。我热爱老师，对他们有着最崇高的敬意。

I just think they’re in a system that doesn’t work. That cannot work, given the nature of what the world has become.

我只是觉得他们置身于无效的系统中。考虑到当今世界的变化，这样是行不通的。

How can we prepare children for a future we cannot foresee? How do we know what skills they will need, what knowledge will be important, in 10 years, or 15? We have no idea what the world will be like then. I sure don’t. Do you? Does anyone know how people will be working 15 years from now?

我们怎么能够让孩子们为我们无法预测的未来做准备？我们怎么知道他们需要什么，在未来10年、15年里，什么知识会很重要？我们压根不知道那时世界会怎样。我肯定不知道。你呢？有没有人知道15年以后大家怎么工作？

I submit this is impossible. And what’s more, it always has been impossible. The workplace now is vastly different than it was when I was a lad in shortpants three decades ago running around in the schoolyard, wiping snot from my nose and learning about the Cold War. People then didn’t have computers in the workplace, at least not most of them, and those who did have computers didn’t have anything resembling what we have today. Most people used electric typewriters, and fax machines weren’t in offices yet. Fax machines.

我认为这不可能。而且，从来就不可能。与30年前我穿着短裤在学校操场上疯跑，擦着鼻涕，学习冷战时相比，如今的工作场所发生了天翻地覆的变化。那时人们上班的地方没有计算机，至少大多数人都没有，而就算有计算机的人所有的东西也和我们如今所拥有的不能相提并论。大多数人使用电动打字机，而传真机尚未出现。

So yes, I love teachers, and think they are incredible at what they do. What I think they need to do, though, is not be teachers, but facilitators.

所以，没错，我爱老师，我认为他们所作的事情无与伦比。不过，我觉得他们需要做的，不是当老师，而是做一名引导师(facilitator)。

Don’t direct learning, because when students grow up they won’t be directed in their learning, they’ll be self-taught. Think about it: when you learn things today, as an adult, do you learn from a teacher, or do you learn things on your own? And isn’t learning on your own more fun? Don’t you love learning new things? Doesn’t that make the learning stick with you for longer than when you had to memorize things in school?

不要指导学习，因为当学生们长大成人之后，没人会指导他们的学习，他们得自学。想想：现在作为成人当你学东西时，你是跟老师学还是自学？而且，自学难道不更有趣吗？你不喜欢学习新东西吗？你学到的东西不比你在学校死记硬背时停留得久？

What we learn in school isn’t nearly as important as how we learn, because how to learn is the lesson of school.

我们在学校里学什么不及我们如何学重要，因为“如何学习”才是学校应有的课程。

“The founding fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on their parents. So they provided jails called school, equipped with tortures called education.” – John Updike

“开国元勋以自己的理解认为孩子们是家长不自然的负担。所以他们提供了名为学校的监狱，还装备了名为教育的折磨。” – John Updike

How to Learn

如何学习

And the way we’re taught to learn is as receivers of information, non-thinkers. Follow the rules. Read pages 100-132. Do the exercises. Memorize the information. Spit it out in a test. Do this project, because we tell you to, not because it’s fun or interesting.

我们受教的学习方式是作为信息的接收者，而非思考者。遵守规章。阅读100至132页。做练习。背诵。考试时把信息背出来。做这个项目，因为我们告诉你们这样做，不是因为好玩或有趣。

The way we need to be taught to learn is completely different. It’s this: learn about what interests you, gets you curious, gets you excited. Figure out where to get the information you need. Read about it, talk to someone about it, find out about it. Try it. Do it, make mistakes. Figure out how to correct the mistakes. Figure out how to solve the problems you encounter. Repeat.

我们需要别人教我们学习的方式截然不同。这种方式应该是：了解什么让你感兴趣，让你好奇，让你激动；明白在何处找到你需要的信息；阅读相关内容，和别人交谈，寻找相关信息；尝试，实践，犯错；明白如何纠错；明白如何解决你遇到的问题。循环往复。

In other words, find problems that interest you, and figure out how to solve them.

换言之，找到吸引你的问题，然后解决问题。

Sometimes, you’ll have to solve problems that aren’t so interesting, just to solve problems that do interest you. That’s OK. That’s how things work.

有时为了解决你感兴趣的问题，你不得不解决无聊的问题。这也可以。事情就是这样运作的。

And here’s a secret: we already know how to do this. From birth. This method of learning is innate in all of us. It’s built in.

秘密是：我们已经知道如何做。打出生起。这种学习方式是我们每个人都固有的。是天生的。

When a toddler wants to do something, like get a stash of chocolate you’ve hidden on top of the fridge, he’ll figure it out. He’ll find ways to move a chair to the fridge, or climb up onto a counter near the fridge, in order to get the candy. Along the way he’ll learn a thing or two about cabinet doors and fridge doors and why you shouldn’t lean too far in one direction on a chair if you don’t want to fall and get bruises.

当蹒跚学步的孩子想做某件事，比如找到你藏在冰箱上面的巧克力，他会找到办法。为了拿到糖果，他会想方设法把椅子挪到冰箱跟前，或者爬到冰箱旁边的柜台上。在此过程中，他对柜子门和冰箱门有了一点了解，也知道如果不想摔得鼻青脸肿，就不能站在椅子上往一个方向倾斜太多。

When a kid wants to play a video game, she’ll learn things like how to set up and turn on the PS3, how to navigate menus, how to get started with the game, how to convince mother that she’ll clean her room later and that her homework is pretty much all done so that she can play the game now.

当孩子想打游戏时，她会学习如何设置，如何打开PS3游戏机，如何导航菜单，如何开始游戏，如何说服妈妈她稍后会打扫自己的房间，而且作业也基本做完了，这样，她可以现在就打游戏。

Kids know how to solve problems, when they want to do something.

当孩子们想做某件事时，他们知道如何解决问题。

We don’t need to teach them to learn. We need to get out of their damn way.

我们不需要教他们学习。我们只要别挡着他们的路。

And that’s the problem with schools. They can’t motivate kids to learn, because they’re forcing it. They’re trying to impart on them a rigid system of authority that kids naturally rebel against. In fact, this is the main problem kids face, and they come up with all kinds of incredibly creative ways to solve it, from skipping school and smoking pot to drawing incredible doodles in notebooks instead of listening to a history lecture to finding ingenius ways to communicate with peers, through technologies like texting and iPhones and through old technologies like passing notes and so on.

而且那是学校的问题。他们无法调动孩子学习，因为他们强迫孩子学习。他们试图给孩子们传授他们天生就反抗的严格的权威制度。实际上，这是孩子们面对的主要问题，他们发明了各种不可思议的创造性方法来解决这个问题，从逃学到吸毒，不听历史讲座而在笔记本上涂鸦，找各种天才方法与同伴沟通，既有短信和iPhone等技术，也有传统技术如传纸条，诸如此类。

Creativity isn’t dead in our kids. It’s alive, but it’s being marshaled to beat the forces that are beating them down.

孩子们并没有丧失创造力。他们的创造力生机勃勃，只不过用作抵抗那些打压他们的各种力量而已。

“No use to shout at them to pay attention. If the situations, the materials, the problems before the child do not interest him, his attention will slip off to what does interest him, and no amount of exhortation of threats will bring it back.” – John Holt

“冲他们大呼小叫让他们集中注意力，这根本不管用。如果孩子面前的情况、资料、问题引不起他的兴趣，他的注意力就会溜到他感兴趣的东西上，多少威胁与劝诱都拉不回。” – John Holt

Turn Education on Its Head

彻底改变教育

So how to prepare our kids for tomorrow? Better people than I have written on this. Look up Unschooling — it’s already been invented, and it’s what I’d recommend.

那么，该如如何让孩子为明天做好准备？比我更强的人就此写过不少文章（一、二、三）。 看看非学校教育——人们已经发明了它，而这正是我要推荐的。

It’s pretty much just getting out of the way of kids. Let them learn about what they want to learn about, and you know what? They’ll actually care about what they’re learning, because they chose it themselves. They’ll get excited about things, something schools usually fail to achieve.

简单说，就是别拦着孩子们的路。让他们学自己想学的，你知道吗？他们其实很关心自己学什么，因为那是他们自己的选择。他们会对这些事物兴奋，而这是学校通常做不到的。

They’ll learn how to deal with the delicious problem of freedom, a problem most kids don’t have these days. They’ll get some hands-on, down-and-dirty experience with autonomy, something they’ll have in spades as adults.

他们学会如何处理争取宝贵自由的问题，如今大部分孩子都没有这个问题。他们会体验很多实际而又粗暴的自治问题，作为成人，他们肯定会面临这样的事情。

But what if they watch TV or play video games all day? What if they aren’t interested in math or science and never learn them? What if they’re totally unprepared for the workplace?

可是，如果他们成天看电视，打电玩，怎么办？如果他们对数学和科学没兴趣，根本不学，怎么办？如果他们完全没有准备好就业，怎么办？

These are newbie questions in the world of unschooling, and I won’t answer them all here. You’ll have more, in the comments, I’m sure. I’m not the guy to answer those questions. Google unschooling and read up, because many smarter people have answered all your questions and more.

对于非学校教育，这些都是新问题，我在这里也不能一一作答。我相信在评论里你们会有更多问题。我不是能够回答那些问题的人。搜索非学校教育，进行相关阅读，因为很多比我聪明的人都已经回答了你们的问题，而且还不止于此。

I’ll just say a couple things. One, we need to relax and not look at childhood as a time when every minute needs to be filled up with rigid rules and learning. It’s a time that should be enjoyed, and kids should play, and in playing they’ll learn. They’ll learn to play well and work well with each other. They’ll learn how to figure things out for themselves. They’ll learn to love the lovely freedom and its associates, autonomy and responsibility and choice and time management and, yes, passion.

我只说个别问题。其一，我们需要放松，不要把童年当成每一分钟都充满了严格制度和学习的一段时间。这应该是用来享受的时间，孩子们应该游戏，在游戏中他们学习。他们将学习和他人一起开心游戏，开心学习。他们将学习如何自己处理问题，他们将学会热爱可爱的自由及其相关东西，自治、责任、选择、时间管理、当然，还有热情。

Two, remember what we talked about above: we have no idea what the workplace of the future will be, so stop worrying about preparing them for that. In fact, stop worrying so much. Let kids learn how to learn, and learn how to be excited about things. That will prepare them for the future.

其二，记得我们上面已经讨论过：我们不知道未来的工作场所会怎样，所以就不要再担心让他们为将来做好准备。实际上，别再担心那么多。让孩子学习如何学习，学习如何对事情保持兴奋之情。那才是让他们为未来做好准备。

Three, also realize that we don’t need to be hands-off. We can be hands-on, if we’re facilitators instead of directors or dictators. We can help kids find things they’re interested in, expose them to worlds of fun (like science and math), teach them games that they might like, help them solve problems so they’ll learn how to do it on their own, guide them to resources and people who will give them mountains of information. Be there for them, as guides.

其三，还要意识到我们没必要全权放手。我们可以干涉孩子的学习，只要我们是以协助者的身份，而不是指导者或独裁者。我们可以帮助学生找到他们感兴趣的东西，让他们接触有趣的世界（如科学和数学），教他们可能喜欢的游戏，帮助他们解决问题，这样他们将学会如何自己动手，引导他们找到各种资源以及可以给他们提供海量信息的人。陪在他们身边，给他们当向导。

This is a huge topic, and one that I can’t adequately cover in one post. I’ll do another post sometime, talking about homeschooling and unschooling, and how we do it and how to make it work for you. But for today, I just wanted to throw out some thoughts on schooling, and get you riled up a bit perhaps. We could all use some good riling now and then, I think.

这是一个很大的话题，一个帖子无法尽述。以后我将另外发贴，谈论居家教育与非学校教育，我们如何做，让你如何有效进行。不过，今天，我只想就学校教育抛砖引玉。我想，我们随时都可以化愤怒为力量。

“To trust children we must first learn to trust ourselves…and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted.” – John Holt

“想要信任孩子，我们必须信任我们自己……而在孩童时期，大人却教育我们，我们不可信。” – John Holt

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原文链接：40 Things To Teach My Kids Before They Leave Home
作者：Serene Journey
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

As parents it’s our responsibility to teach, guide and encourage our kids. If we do our job right they go on to become responsible contributing members of society.

作为家长，教育、引导和鼓励子女是我们的责任。如果我们尽职尽责，孩子们就会成长为对社会负责为社会做贡献的人。

No pressure…right?

这不是什么压力，对吧？

Teaching practical life skills and philosophies are important parts of developing our children into well rounded and happy adults. The time we have with our kids is precious and relatively short.

教授实际生活技巧和哲学是将孩子培养成全能且快乐的成人的重要部分。我们和孩子们共度的时光宝贵而短暂。

With that in mind, I would like to share with you a list of 40 things that I will teach my kids before they leave home. Some are serious while some are lighthearted, since I think an important part of forming a meaningful relationship with our kids is to have a little fun along the way.

记住了这一条，我想和大家分享我的孩子离家前，我会教他们的40件事。有些很严肃，有些很轻松，因为我觉得与孩子建立有意义的关系的重要部分在于过程中充满点滴乐趣。

Practical life skills

实际生活技巧

I will teach my kids:

我会教给孩子：

…that doing a proper grocery shop, including meal planning, shopping with a list and comparing prices, can save them a considerable amount of time and money.

合理购物，包括计划餐食、带着清单购物，货比三家，这可以为他们节省不少时间和金钱。

…there is more to cooking and baking than simply opening a can or reheating a meal.

烹饪烘焙可比开罐头或者热剩饭意义大得多。

…that it’s important to sort your laundry not only by color, but by fabric type and care instructions.

洗衣服时不仅按颜色分类，也按织物种类和保养指南分类，这很重要。

…that no matter what the fashion is at the time, when it comes to an interview, work or special occasions — grab an iron. Walking around all wrinkled and creased sends a message of laziness.

不论潮流如何，面试、工作或者特殊场合——找把熨斗。穿着皱皱巴巴的衣服，说明你很懒。

…how to grow and care for a plant. This is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to instill responsibility. I’d start with an easy to care for houseplant like an umbrella tree or amaryllis or a potted tomato plant out on the deck.

如何种植照料植物。这种灌输责任感的方法简单而又便宜。我会从易于照顾的盆栽如伞树或桂顶红或盆栽番茄开始。

…how to change a car tire so that when they get a flat they are less likely to be stranded on the side of the road not knowing what to do.

如何换汽车轮胎，这样当有只瘪胎时，他们就不会束手无策地站在路边。

…to drive responsibly and to be acutely aware of the consequences of drinking and driving, even if they are the passenger.

开车时负有责任心，要很了解酒后驾驶的后果，哪怕仅仅作为一名乘客。

…that they can save money on books if they frequent the library.

如果他们经常去图书馆，就可以省下买书钱。

…how to do standard maintenance on their cars like change the oil and various filters as well as top up fluids and replace light bulbs.

如何维修汽车，比如换滑油和各种过滤器，如何加油加水，更换灯泡。

…how to read a bus schedule so if they aren’t in a position to afford a car they can still get around with public transportation.

如何读懂公交站牌，这样，如果他们买不起车，也一样可以利用公共交通工具四处行走。

…that they can have a lot more fun if they build things from scratch. I’m thinking birdhouses, step stools, go-karts, kites and paper planes.

如果他们从头开始自己做东西，就会享受很多乐趣。我能想到的有鸟屋、梯櫈、小型赛车、风筝和纸飞机。

…how to tie a variety of knots so whether they are tying up a boat or pulling a car out of a ditch or snowbank they are better armed.

如何打各种各样的结，这样当他们想把船系牢或者把车拉出沟渠或雪堤时，就会有备无患。

…how to barbecue a perfect meal paying particular attention to pre-grill prep and special recipes.

如何作出美味的烧烤，要格外留心烧烤前准备以及特殊烹饪秘诀。

…the importance of reading food labels. Not only to become aware of individual ingredients but to also know the quantities of sugar, additives and types of fats they contain.

阅读食品标签的重要性。不仅要理解各种成分，还要了解食品中所包含的糖、添加剂和各种脂肪。

…how to hem pants, sew on buttons and mend socks.

怎么给裤子锁边、缝扣子、补袜子。

…how to type properly with both hands on the keyboard. In a society where computers are used for nearly everything, learning how to type properly will increase their efficiency and productivity.

如何两只手打字。在这个计算机无处不在的社会，学习正确打字可以提高效率和生产率。

…the concept of compound interest. Who doesn’t want to make interest on interest?

复利的概念。谁不想用复利赚钱啊？

…how to create an effective budget that allows them to live within their means and continually increase their net worth.

如何计划有效的预算，既能保证生活，又能使净资产持续增加。

…how to read a map and use a compass.

怎么看地图，怎么使用指南针。

…how to build a quinzee and survive a night in the cold. (A quinzee is basically a hollowed out mound of snow and are actually quite warm to sleep in! This was one of my favorite experiences as a kid.)

如何修建雪穴以抵御寒冷的夜晚。（雪穴其实就是一个挖空的雪堆，睡进去很暖和！这是我孩提时最喜欢的经历。）

…how to swim and tread water, these skills could potentially save their life.

怎么游泳，怎么趟水，这些技能可能会救他们的命。

Philosophical life lessons

哲学生活课

I will teach my kids:

我会教给孩子：

…that they can be happy if they choose to be happy.

如果他们选择开心，他们就能开心。

…that a smile is the simplest thing you can do to truly brighten the day of someone else.

微笑是你能够让别人拥有美好一天的最简单的方法。

…about compassion and how they can go beyond empathy by truly understanding and feeling other people’s pain and suffering. Once they have this understanding and a genuine desire to relieve other’s pain it will make them better people.

同情以及通过真正理解感受他人的苦难，如何超越感同身受。一旦他们有这样的理解，而且真诚地愿意帮助别人减轻痛苦，他们就会成为更好的人。

…that there is no such thing as being too polite. You can never say please, thank-you or excuse me too often.

压根没有“太礼貌”这回事。“请”、 “谢谢”和“对不起”永远不嫌多。

…how listening without judgement, criticism or offering solutions to problems, is a guaranteed way to show someone you care.

不评判、批评或提供问题解决方案，纯粹聆听，是告诉某人你关心他的万无一失的方法。

…that respect goes beyond being kind to their elders – it also includes property, people in general, animals and even themselves.

尊重不仅仅是善待长辈-也包括爱惜东西，善待众人，爱护动物，甚至包括自己。

…to focus on enjoying what they already have instead of wasting time focusing on what they don’t have.

专注于享受已经拥有的东西，而不是浪费时间关注自己没有的东西。

…that NOBODY knows EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING.

没有人知道所有事情的所有细节。

…that it’s okay to be wrong as that’s how we learn.

错了没关系，因为那是我们学习的方式。

…to pursue things that are right for them as opposed to blindly following what society says they should do. The road less traveled usually brings the greatest rewards.

追求适合他们的东西，而不要盲从社会认为他们应该做的。人迹罕至的路通常收获最大。

…that nobody will care as much about their money as they will, so they should choose their investments and financial advisers wisely.

没人会像自己那样在乎自己的钱，所以要明智地选择自己的投资和财务顾问。

…that people usually do the best they can with the information and knowledge they have at the time.

人们通常用他们手头所有的信息和知识尽可能做到最好。

…that if something looks too good to be true it likely is.

如果有东西好得难以置信，很可能那东西就是不可信。

…that the more they become attached to a thought or idea in the future, the greater their disappointment (suffering) will be when it doesn’t play out as planned.

如果他们纠结于某个想法或观点，当计划落空时，他们的失望（痛苦）就越大。

…that friends may come and go but family will always be by their side. Always.

朋友来来去去，而家人总会守在他们身旁。一直如此。

…that they will get more than they ever could have imagined simply by being kind and generous to those less fortunate.

慷慨善待那些不幸的人，他们将从中得到的远比他们能够想象的要多。

…that life is short and that they should make the most of each and everyday. They should do things that make them smile, that make them feel alive and energized. Live.

人生苦短，他们应该尽量利用每一天。他们应该做让自己开心、让自己充满生机，充满能量的事情。及时行乐。

…to remember that life is more about enjoying the journey than simply reaching the destination.

记住人生更多的是享受这个旅程，而不仅仅是到达目的地。

There are so many things I want to teach my kids and this list grows with each passing day. I want the best for my kids, as any parent does. I occasionally need to remind myself that they are their own little people on their own journeys in life.

我想教给孩子们的东西那么多，这份清单的长度与日俱增。和任何家长一样，我也望子成龙。偶尔我需要提醒自己，他们是独立的小人儿，走在自己的人生旅途上。

How I see my role as a parent — I’m here to guide them, teach them and make sure they are well equipped with the skills, knowledge and common sense to survive and thrive on their own once they leave home. Time will tell if I’ve done my job well.

我怎么看待家长这个角色—我在这里引导他们，教导他们，确保他们有足够的技巧、知识和常识，一旦他们离开家，也能独自生存，并且茁壮成长。时间会证明我这家长是否合格。

What do you plan on teaching your kids? What is the best life lesson you’ve been taught?

你准备怎么教你的孩子? 你学到的最好的人生功课是什么？

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原文链接：How to unschool
作者：Joyce Fetteroll
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

So if from one movie a child learns one bit about Napoleon and from another there’s a sight gag about Wellington, and on Animaniacs they get some more Napoleon, who will do better on some standardized-test answer on Napoleon, that kid or one whose mom plunked in a documentary on Napoleon?

问：如果孩子通过一部电影对拿破仑有所了解，从另一部电影对惠灵顿也多少了解了一些，从《狂欢三宝》对拿破仑有更多了解，谁会在关于拿破仑的标准化考试中考得更好，是这个孩子还是反复观看拿破仑纪录片的孩子？

Not the right question. If the goal is doing well on standardized tests then making a child sit through a documentary or read a textbook is better than unschooling.

答：问题问得不好。如果目标是在标准化考试中取得好成绩，那么让孩子观看纪录片或者看课本比非学校教育更好。

But unschoolers want something better than good performance on standardized tests!

不过非学校教育者想要的是比在标准化考试中获得优异成绩更好的东西。

Maybe it’s helpful — rather than thinking in terms of helping kids learn about something that they may not yet be interested in — to think in terms of finding things they will enjoy.

与其认为是帮助孩子学习他们尚未感兴趣的东西——不如认为是寻找他们将会享受的东西，也许更有帮助。

An Animaniacs or Histeria cartoon, or Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure will give them good feelings about Napoleon rather than the “this is boring” feelings the “important” facts in a textbook or forced documentary might. The first will likely stay in their heads and cause their ears to prick up when they hear more bits about Napoleon. The second will likely leak out as soon as they are free to forget and will cause them to shut their ears when they hear more bits about (dry, boring) Napoleon.

《狂欢三宝》、Histeria漫画或《比尔和泰德历险记》会让他们对拿破仑感觉很好，而不像课本或被迫观看的纪录片里的“重要”事实那样“乏味”。前者会停留在他们的头脑中，而且会让他们听到拿破仑的信息就竖起耳朵。而后者会在孩子一有自由忘记时就被遗忘，而当他们再听到（枯燥乏味）的拿破仑时，充耳不闻。

I just don’t have the first CLUE where to begin!

问：从何处着手，我毫无头绪！

Begin with your kids. What do they like? Don’t even think in terms of school. What do they do over the summer? What kind of things make them happiest?

答：从孩子入手。他们喜欢什么？别按照学校的思路去想。他们暑假做什么？什么让他们最开心？

Sometimes it’s tough to determine what schooled kids like because a great deal of their off time is spent doing things to recover from school pressures. :-/ Probably what my mother would have listed for me is watching TV and reading Nancy Drew — which isn’t much indicative of anything other than being stressed by school!

有时，很难确定在校学生喜欢什么，因为他们大部分休息时间都花在恢复学校压力上。可能我妈妈应该给我列的清单包括看电视，看《南希•朱尔》——这没有任何意义，只不过说明学校压力很大！

Live life with them. Do things that they enjoy because that’s where their interests lie and where they will draw their careers, jobs and direction their lives will take from.

和他们一起生活。做他们喜欢的事情，因为那是他们的兴趣所在，也是他们决定职业、工作，生活方向的东西。

And you’ll need time for deschooling. They need to recover from being told what to do, when to do it and how to do it for 11 years. They may not even know what their interests are since they haven’t had time to leisurely explore anything.

而且脱离学校教育需要时间。他们需要休息，不想11年都让别人滔滔不绝地告诉他们做什么，什么时候做，怎么做。因为还没有时间悠闲地探索其他任何事情，他们可能还不知道自己的兴趣所在。

Someone mentioned The Teenage Liberation Handbook. Excellent book! Try to get the 1998 edition since she did some extensive reworking on it.

有人提到过《青少年解放手册》。这是本好书！最好能找到1998年版的，因为她又进行了很多修改。

Sandra said: “Instead of thinking of it as ‘quitting school,’ think of it as welcoming her to real life early!” I really like that! It’s scary getting released from school. You realize how little you know about life after being locked away for 12 years. But of course most of us are still convinced it was all necessary. (12 years of being told how important it is is pretty good brainwashing.) But the stuff we need will be the stuff we use which is the stuff we would have learned anyway doing the things that interest us.

桑德拉说，“别想着是‘辍学’，把这当成是提前欢迎她回到真实生活！”我真得很喜欢这种说法！离开学校确实很吓人。在被关闭了12年之后，你会意识到你对生活的了解是如此至少。当然我们大多数人都认为这样做完全有必要。（12年来别人不停地鼓吹这有多重要是非常有效的洗脑。）但我们需要的东西将是我们使用的东西，也是只要我们做自己感兴趣的事情，都能学会的事情。

You’ve talked a lot about what he isn’t doing. You haven’t told us anything that he is doing.

问：你一直喋喋不休地说他没有做的事情。你还没有告诉我们他做了什么。

Real learning doesn’t look like academics. It looks like playing. That’s why kids do it

答：真正的学习看上去不像学究。看上去像游戏。那才是孩子们学习的原因。

Don’t think in terms of field trips. Field trips are for schools. Think about fun places to go that you and he might normally do on a weekend or over the summer if you were already confident that the school were handling his education. Go for walks. Go shopping and stop and admire his admiration of what he calls you to see. Take him to places where he can do the kinds of things he enjoys doing (rollerblading, biking, whatever). Go for leisurely trips to museums and just look at the stuff he wants to.

不要考虑实地考察。实地考察针对的是学校。想想那些如果你很有信心学校会把他教育得很好，你和他通常可以周末或者暑假去的好玩的地方。出去散个步。去购物，他叫你注意他崇拜的东西时，你就驻足崇拜。带他到他可以做喜欢事情的地方去（轮滑，骑车等等）。到博物馆随意逛逛，看看他想要什么。

I suspect he’s picking up the nervousness that’s coming through loud and clear in your post. He can feel you hovering over him waiting for him to do something that will calm your fears.

我怀疑他染上了你的文字中流露出的紧张情绪。他能感觉到你虎视眈眈等着他做能够平息你恐惧的事情。

Calming your fears isn’t his job. Your fears are your own. His “job” is to live the life of an 8 year old. Let him do and be an 8 year old rather than a product in preparation for adulthood. Kids spend way too much time training to be adults. There’s a reason kids are 8. It’s a stage they need to pass through and he only gets one chance at it! He needs to be involved in 8 yo things. His 8 yo things. Nintendo. TV. Games. Puzzles. Tickling. Seeing if he can cram a whole hamburger into his mouth. Playing with friends.

平息你的恐惧不是他的事。你的恐惧是你自己的事。他的“正事”是过8岁儿童的生活。就让他过自己的生活，做个8岁儿童，而不是为成年准备的产品。孩子们花了太多时间受训成为成人。孩子之所以8岁，是有道理的。这是他们需要过渡的阶段，而他只有一次！他需要关注8岁儿童需要关注的事情。他的8岁生涯，任天堂、电视、游戏、拼图、搔痒，看看能不能把整个汉堡塞进自己的嘴里，跟伙伴们玩耍。

Don’t hand him books. Snuggle up on the couch under a quilt and hot chocolate and read to him. Put books on tape on in the car. Watch movie versions of favorite books and talk about what you liked and didn’t like. Your job isn’t to make him read. Your job is to make sure he has pleasurable experiences with reading. And has reasons that are meaningful to him to read. (Like if he likes to play video games, make sure he has the guides. It will be reading for meaning.)

别把书塞给他。依偎在沙发上，盖着被子，喝着热巧克力，给他读书听。在车上放有声读物。看根据他最喜欢的书改编的电影，说说你们喜欢什么，不喜欢什么。你的职责不是让他读书，你的职责是确保读书对他是愉悦的体验。而且要给他合理的阅读理由。（就好像他喜欢玩电玩，确保他有指导指南。这就是为了理解意思而阅读。）

I am very relaxed about what she reads, I just want her to read!

问：她读什么我一点不紧张，我只是想让她阅读！

How about turning your concerns around and looking at them from a different point of view.

答：转移一下你的注意力，从不同角度看问题，如何？

Husband: “I don’t care what my wife reads, I just want her to read!”

丈夫：“我不在乎我妻子读什么。我只要她看书就好！”

“My wife basically just wants to do the things that interest her all day, without ANY of the things I think are worth while for her to do.”

“我妻子基本上就只想成天做她感兴趣的东西，根本不做我认为值得她做的事情。”

How would you want him to spark interests in you?

你想让他怎么点燃你的兴趣？

If it were me, I wouldn’t want my husband watching me and judging that what I was doing wasn’t good enough and judging that I should be more interested in things he thinks are worth while!

如果是我，我可不想让我先生盯着我，判断我做得够不够好，判断我是否应该对他认为值得的事情更感兴趣！

Unschooling doesn’t look like kids pursuing academic things on their own. It really does look like play. The reason kids like to play is because that’s how they’re hardwired to learn.

非学校教育不像孩子自己进行学习，看上去更像游戏。孩子们喜欢游戏的原因在于那就是他们天生的学习方法。

Unschooling can be frustrating for parents because it doesn’t look like it’s headed anywhere.

非学校教育对家长而言是个挫折重重的经历，因为看上去好像毫无进展。

Unschooling is a kind of balance between letting them be and providing access to the world. If you aren’t pursuing interests on your own for your own enjoyment, then is it reasonable to expect her to? It’ll work a lot better if you do things and provide access because you want to share things with her and because you think they’re enjoyable not because you want her to be interested. You may end up going to the same places and doing the same things you would if you were more school oriented, but your attitude will be different. She won’t unconsciously pick up any pressure that this is something you want her to do.

非学校教育是顺其自然与为他们提供接触世界的机会之间的平衡。如果你自己都没有追求自己的兴趣，让她这么做，合理吗？如果你做事情，提供接触机会，不是因为你想让她感兴趣，而是因为你想和她分享，因为你觉得很享受。如果你更倾向于学校教育，可能也是殊途同归，但你的态度不同。她不会无意识地承担因为你想让她做而带来的任何压力。

And you might want to reassess what her interests are. It’s what she plays and what she does in her free time that’s important.

也许你想重新评估一下她的兴趣是什么。重要的是她在空闲时间玩什么，做什么。

So what does she play when alone and with friends? What kind of things does she do on her own? What kind of programs or movies are her favorites? What kind of books does she read when she does choose something? (Do you still read to her? Kids’ listening level tends to be at a higher level than their reading level so we shouldn’t stop reading to them when they can read. Books on tape are good too, especially when doing crafts and sometimes for cleaning too.)

那么，她独自玩耍和与朋友一起游戏时，都做些什么？她一个人时做什么？她最喜欢的节目或电影是什么？当她要读书时，她读哪一类书？（你还读给她听吗？孩子的听力水平比他们的阅读水平要高，所以当他们可以读书时，我们不应该停止读书给他们。有声读物也很好，尤其是当你做手工或者做清洁时。）

Maybe it’s an oversimplification, but sometimes I think unschooling is not all that different from schooly stuff, just in its pace and timing. Any thoughts?

问：可能这过于简化，但有时，我觉得非学校教育与学校教育并非截然不同，只是节奏和时间不同而已。对吗？

The huge difference is that the interest is child owned. How the parent then facilitates the child exploring that interest will be different for each child and each parent. It may at times resemble something kids would do in school. Most times it won’t.

答：最明显的差别在于兴趣是孩子自己的。家长如何帮助孩子探索那个兴趣，对于每个孩子及每位家长都不同。有时，可能和孩子在学校做的东西类似。大多数时候都不一样。

Maybe, as a beginning point, look at it as how you’d like your husband to help you explore an interest.

作为起点，也许可以看看你希望你先生怎么帮助你探索一个新兴趣。

You’d probably appreciate it if he happened to notice a book or video or article or event that might interest you and point them out to you or buy them for you. You wouldn’t want him to take over the interest and feel your learning was his responsibility and how much you learned depended entirely on how well he performed for you. You wouldn’t want him to overwhelm you with an itinerary of things to do. You wouldn’t want him hovering over you to see how much and how well you were learning. I think you’d appreciate being left alone to explore at your own pace, to delve as deeply or shallowly as whimsy strikes you. Any help he gave you would be a gift with no strings attached.

如果他碰巧注意到你可能会感兴趣的一本书、一部录像、一篇文章或一个活动，然后指给你看，或者帮你买下，你可能会很感激。你不希望他接管这个兴趣，觉得你学习是他的责任，你学习多少完全取决于他为你所做的如何。你不想让他用待做事件清单让你抓狂。你不想让他监视你，看看你学了多少，学得如何。我想你会感谢他让你一个人，按照自己的节奏探索，深浅都由你的意愿决定。他给你的任何帮助都只是礼物，没有附加条件。

Of course kids are different. Younger kids generally aren’t scanning the list of week’s activities in the newspaper and may not even care to look up books at the library. (The process of finding the information and sorting out the useful from the not useful can be overwhelming.) So we need to be more active, but still recognize that the child owns the interest and should have the freedom to explore as deeply or shallowly as he or she wishes. We just make sure the resources are available. (And if we get frustrated with them not digging deep enough, then we should dig deeper for ourselves

当然，孩子们千差万别。年幼的孩子一般都不会看报纸上的一周活动清单，可能也不喜欢在图书馆看书。（寻找信息，从没用的信息中找到有用信息，这个过程让人无法抵御。）所以，我们需要更积极，但也要认识到兴趣是孩子们的，他们应当有自由按着自己的意愿或深或浅地探索。我们只需要确保资源到位。（如果我们因为他们发掘的不够深而受挫，那么我们应该自己去深入发掘。）

How does this happen? How do our kids just learn?

问：怎么会这样？孩子们怎么就学会了呢？

How did they learn to speak English? This is an incredibly amazing process that kids start out without even realizing language exists and within a few years have mastered it. We shrug it off as mysterious but trivial because all kids do it.

答：他们怎么学英语的？孩子们早在没有意识到语言存在就开始学习，几年之内就掌握了，这个过程非常奇妙，令人难以置信。我们觉得这神奇但又不值一提，因为所有孩子都这么做。

But I think we really need to pay attention to that incredible process. They learn English purely as a side effect of living life and trying to get what they want. A bit of English is a useful tool they happened to pick up and use one day because it was more effective than pointing. And the more they find it useful and the more they pick it up the better at it they get. (And then compare how effective that process is to how effective formal foreign language instruction is.)

可我觉得，我们真需要留意这个神奇的过程。他们学习英语纯粹是生活以及试图得到自己想要得到的东西的副产品。一点英语基础是他们某天碰巧捡起来的有用工具，因为这比指指点点更有效。他们越觉得语言有用，他们拾到得越多，也就越擅长。（然后，比较这个过程和正式的外语教学哪个更有效。）

Everything is like that. Math and science and history and writing are all tools we use to get what we want and explore the world. Adding 15+23 isn’t important. What’s important is who is winning the game. And how much allowance they have accumulated versus how much they need. And how far away this trip is compared to a trip they know well. And how much longer until Daddy gets home. And how can we double 3/4 cup so we can make a double batch of cookies. Kids pick up how numbers work (and nature and people and communication) by using the tools. Despite what years of torturous math instruction has led us to believe, kids don’t need to be told to work numbers in order to work them. They figure them out. Just as they figured out the intricacies of the English language.

所有事情都如此。数学、科学、历史、写作都是我们用于得到自己想要的东西，探索这个世界的工具。计算15+23并不重要。重要的是谁赢了比赛，他们存的零花钱和他们需要的零花钱的比较，这次未知旅行和他们经历过的旅行的比较，以及爸爸还要多久才能回家。我们怎样再来一份3/4杯的料，这样可以做两批曲奇。孩子们通过使用工具了解数字（还有自然、人、沟通）的运作。尽管多年来，痛苦的数学教学想让我们相信，孩子们需要大人督促才能学习，但情况并非如此。他们自己能明白。正如他们自己理解英语的错综复杂一样。

He is concerned about, how do kids just know what to learn. (This is a very hard question to ask, the words aren’t coming.)

问：他关心的是，孩子们怎么知道该学什么。（这个问题很难问，就是找不到合适的词。）

Unlike what school leads us to believe, they don’t need to know what they’ll need ahead of time. They just grab what they need as they need it. Each piece slowly builds into a larger picture. And because they’re interested, they will be absorbing stuff other just because it’s interesting.

答：不像学校试图让我们相信的那样，他们不需要提前知道将来需要。他们不过是在需要的时候就拣起。每张图片慢慢地构成了更大的一幅画。因为感兴趣，他们会努力吸收各种内容，而不仅仅是因为那个东西有趣。

We are told that we need to understand before we use. But that isn’t true. If it were, toddlers would never learn to speak!

有人说，我们使用之前需要理解，但情况并非如此。否则，幼儿永远也学不会说话！

Unschooling is the way kids teach themselves HTML and Java. It’s they way they learn complex trading card games (like Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon) that baffle parents. It’s the way they figure out their way around computers and the internet. It’s the way they learn fancy skateboarding techniques.

非学校教育是孩子们自学HTML和Java的方式。是他们学习让家长们一头雾水错综复杂的卡片交换游戏（如Yu-Gi-Oh和Pokemon）的方式。是他们学会计算机和网络的方式。是他们学习眩人滑板技巧的方式。

They won’t have to figure out everything on their own. They will naturally get together with others who like the same things, they read, we help them out, they watch videos and so on.

他们不需要什么事情都自己弄明白。他们会自然而然地与志同道合的人凑在一起，他们还会阅读，我们也可以帮助他们，他们还可以看视频等等。

One point is that learning that way doesn’t take nearly as long as it does when forced to in school. Plus there aren’t years of experience with learning being dull. If a kid needs math to explore what he wants to in college, he’ll have learned (by using) enough math to get him as far as he is and can build on that understanding to get the rest of what he needs. It won’t take him years. It will take months at most.

他们这样学习要的时间比在学校里被迫学习所要的时间短。而且也没有数年的经历就是学会沉闷。如果孩子需要数学来探索他在大学里所学的东西，他会（通过使用）学习足够的数学知识，而且根据这个理解得到他想要的其他东西。这不需要数年时间。顶多数月而已。

I guess what I am meaning is, if we don’t direct them to say Ancient Egypt or something else, how will they arrive there?

问：我的意思是，如果我们不引导他们说古代埃及或其他东西，他们怎么知道呢？

Do they want to go to Ancient Egypt? If they do it’s because somewhere somehow they stumbled across something about Ancient Egypt that intrigued them.

答：他们想去古埃及吗？如果他们想去，那是因为他们遇到过与古埃及相关的东西，激发了他们的兴趣。

It isn’t up to us to make sure they get Ancient Egypt. It’s up to us to make sure there are interesting things in their lives to encounter. We put interesting things in their paths: books, items, trips to places, movies, conversations, people. Ancient Egypt is just one of many interesting things that include spies and hippopotamuses and Zoombinis and drawing and Dragonball Z and …

让他们找到古埃及不是我们的事，我们的事是确保他们生活中有有趣的事情可以邂逅。我们把有趣的东西为他们沿途摆放：书、东西、出游、电影、谈话、人。古希腊只不过是众多有趣东西比如间谍、河马、蛋头宝宝、绘画和龙珠Z等等之中的一种……

Rarely will the Ancient Egypt they stumble on look like the Ancient Egypt of textbooks. It will look like The Mummy or hieroglyphs kit or a story set around The Great Pyramids at Gaza or hearing that Ancient Egyptians revered cats. It will be one or many things that form an impression that Ancient Egypt is cool.

他们遇到的古埃及人和课本里的古埃及人相同的机会微乎其微。他们会遇到《木乃伊》，或象形文字包，或以加沙大金字塔为背景的故事，或者了解古埃及人崇拜猫。可能是让他们觉得古埃及人很酷的什么事。

Then you’ll say, hmm, maybe if I pointed out a show or brought home a book or a kit on hieroglyphs or pyramids or mummies …. And you can gauge how much more to direct depending on their level of interest.

然后你会说，呣，如果我介绍一部电影或者找本关于象形文字或金字塔或木乃伊的书或工具箱……然后你可以根据他们感兴趣的程度决定还需要提供多少指导。

But their learning won’t be about “topics” like Ancient Egypt. If you see learning as needing to acquire a particular chunk of information you won’t be able to see learning when they’re playing.

不过，他们的学习不像关于古埃及的“话题”。如果你把学习当作需要获得某些具体信息，他们在游戏时，你就看不到他们在学习。

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原文链接：Personal Development for Smart People
作者：Steve Pavlina
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

Intelligence is alignment with truth, love, and power.

智力与真理、爱、能力是盟友。

As you interact with others, neither exaggerate nor downplay what’s true for you. Be completely real. Your honest won’t always get you a positive response, but allow others to have their reactions without feeling you must pretend to be something you’re not. If you try to slant the truth in order to tell people what you think they want to hear, you disconnect from your true self, and you encourage others to live in denial of their own power.

当你与他人互动时，既不要夸大其词，也不要自贬身份。表现出完全真实的自己。虽然诚实并非总带给你积极回应，但允许别人有自己的反应，而无需觉得自己必须伪装成不是自己的人。如果你为了告诉别人你认为他们想听的东西而扭曲现实，你就脱离了真实的自己，你怂恿他人活在对自己能力的否定中。

For many years, I believed the best way to relate to other people was to try to meet them at their own level of power. If someone was timid, I’d downplay my accomplishments because I didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable. These friendships were rooted in falsehood, and to maintain them, I became increasingly disconnected with myself.

多年来，我相信与他人相连的最佳方法是尝试在他们自己的能力层面接受他们。如果有人害羞，我就会放低自己的成就，因为我不想让他们感到不安。这些友谊植根于虚假之中，而要维系友谊，我愈发与自己脱离。

When I stay connected with myself, I am more selective about the people I decide to connect with, so I seek out friends who are consciously growth oriented and not complacent or apathetic.

当我与自己相连时，我所决定要连接的人更具选择性，所以我选择有意识追求成长的朋友，他们既不自满也不消极。

A fascinating quality of intelligence is that it seeks its own improvement. The smartest choice we can make is to attempt to become smarter, and growth is the mechanism through which this is achieved. It is intelligent to grow.

智力的迷人属性在于它追求自我完善。我们能做的最明智的选择就是努力变得更聪明，而成长则是变得更聪明的机制。成长是明智的。

Working on your personal growth is the most selfless thing you can possibly do. You increase your capacity to serve others.

为自己的个人成长而努力是你能够做的最无私的事情。你提高了自己为他人服务的能力。

The most intelligent thing you can do with your life is to grow.

一生之中，你能做的最明智的事情就是成长。

The state of flow results from conscious thought and action in the direction of your dreams. Learn to satisfy your desires and fulfill your dreams instead of pretending they don’t matter to you.

涌流状态源自有意识的思想，向着梦想的方向行动。学会满足自己的愿望，实现自己的梦想，而不是假装无关紧要。

When you maintain the state of flow it will feel as if there’s powerful energy working through you, driving you onward. You know without a doubt that you’re on the right track as you make progress toward something meaningful and important.

如果你维持涌流状态，就会感到有很强大的能量在你体内驱使你前进。当你朝着有意义而又重要的方向前进，你坚信自己走在正确的路上。

Knowing you’re on the right path will reduce your feelings of doubt, worry, and stress. A deep sense of inner peace will arise in their place.

知道自己在正确的路径上，会减少你的疑惑、担心和压力。强大的内心平静会取而代之。

It’s comforting to know that truth, love, and power are the only guiding principles you really need. You don’t need to live by a complicated set of rules, laws, or values.

认识到真理、爱和能力是你真正需要的唯一指导原则，会让你安心。你不需要靠错综复杂的规则、法律或价值观来生存。

Assess your current alignment with the 7 principles:

用7条原则衡量你当前的校准：

TRUTH:
- Am I truthful with myself and others, or do I feel compelled to lie about anything?
- What do I predict will happen if I continue on my current course?
- Are my predictions reasonable and accurate, or am I too optimistic or pessimistic?
- Do I fully accept the truth of my situation or am I living in denial?
- What do I need to learn next, and what’s the best way to learn it?
- What can I do right now to become more truthful?

真理：
- 我对自己和他人诚实吗？还是迫不得已要撒谎？
- 如果我在当前方向继续前进，我预测会发生什么？
- 我的预测合理准确吗？还是过于乐观或或过于悲观？
- 我是否完全接受自身情况的真相，还是活在否定中？
- 下一步我需要学什么，学习的最佳方法是什么？
- 我现在可以做什么，从而变得更诚实？

LOVE:
- Do I take time to connect with myself and others, or do I feel disconnected and alone?
- Do I express my true self when I communicate, or do I project a false image?
- Do I love and accept myself and others unconditionally?
- Do I seek out compatible new relationships?
- How can I exercise and improve my social skills?
- What can I do right now to become more loving?

爱：
- 我是否花时间与我自己和他人连接，还是觉得遗世独立？
- 当我沟通时，我展现的是真实的自我，还是投射了一个虚假的形象？
- 我是否无条件地爱自己爱他人，无条件地接受自己接受他人？
- 我是否追寻融洽的新关系？
- 我如何联系改善自己的社会技巧？
- 我现在可以做什么变得更充满爱？

POWER:
- Do I accept complete responsibility for everything in my life?
- What do I really want, and what am I willing to do to get it?
- Am I focusing on what’s most important to me, or am I distracting myself?
- Am I putting in the time to do what needs to be done?
- How can I continue to build my self-discipline?
- What can I do right now to become more powerful?

能力：
- 我是否对自己生活中的所有事情都承担全部责任？
- 我真正想要什么，我愿意做什么来能得到它？
- 我是否集中精力在对我最重要的事情，还是在分散自己的精力？
- 我是否花时间做需要做的事情？
- 我怎样才能继续培养自律？
- 我现在可以立即做什么变得更有能力?

ONENESS:
- Do I recognize the truth that we’re all connected, like individual cells in a larger body?
- Can I empathically tune in to the joy and sorrow of others?
- Do I treat others with compassion and fairness?
- Am I making a meaningful contribution to the world?
- Do I think and act with a sense of unity?
- What can I do right now to experience more oneness?

合一：
- 我们是否认识到我们都是连接的，就像身体中的独立细胞？
- 对于他人的喜乐哀伤，我是否能够感同身受？
- 我是否对他人充满同情，公平对待？
- 我是否对世界做出有意义的贡献？
- 我是否知行合一？
- 我现在可以做什么来经历更多合一？

AUTHORITY:
- Do I take command of my life, or do I blindly follow others?
- Are my actions effective, producing the results I want?
- Do I persist in the face of obstacles and setbacks, or do I give up too easily?
- Am I confident that I’ll achieve the goals I set for myself?
- How can I spend my time on what’s truly important and avoid wasting time on trivialities?
- What can I do right now to increase my authority?

权威：
- 我是自己掌握自己的生活呢，还是盲从他人？
- 我的行动是否有效，产生我所期待的结果？
- 我是否能直面障碍和挫折，还是很容易就放弃了？
- 我是否自信能够取得为自己设定的所有目标？
- 我该如何把自己的时间花在真正重要的东西上，而避免在琐事上浪费时间？
- 我现在可以做什么来增加我的权威？

COURAGE:
- Do I live boldly and courageously, or do I succumb to fear, timidity, and cowardice?
- Where is the path with a heart, and what can I do to honor that path right now?
- Do I take the initiative, or am I stuck in a waiting mode?
- Do I courageously pursue the most direct course, or do I follow a slower more manipulative route?
- How can I train and educate myself to overcome my fear?
- What can I do right now to exercise my courage?

勇气：
- 我是否大胆无畏地生活，还是我屈服于恐惧、胆怯、懦弱？
- 勇气之路在何方? 我现在该如何做才算是为这条路增添光彩？
- 我是采取主动措施呢，还是僵持在等待模式中？
- 我是否充满勇气地追求最直接的捷径，还是跟随一条受控于人的慢车道？
- 我该如何训练教育自己克服恐惧？
- 我现在可以做什么来锻炼勇气？

INTELLIGENCE:
- Do I live in alignment with truth, love, and power?
- Are my interactions with others authentic or phony?
- Do I have the right message and the medium for creative self-expression?
- Do I enjoy the state of flow by taking intelligent action?
- How can I improve myself today?
- What can I do right now to express my intelligence?

智力：
- 我的生活是否与真理、爱和能力相一致？
- 我与他人的互动真诚还是虚假？
- 我是否有创造性自我表达的正确信息和介质？
- 我是否采取了明智的措施从而享受涌流状态？
- 我今天如何自我改善？
- 我现在可以做什么来展示自己的智力?

GROWTH BLITZING: For each of the svent principles, set a specific growth target. Decide to make a small improvement in each area. For example:

成长闪电战：对于七条原则中的每一条，设置具体的成长目标。决定在每个领域做出小改善。比如：

TRUTH:
- Confess to a lie or secret you’ve been concealing.
- Write down your most realistic prediction for what you think your life will look like 5 years from now. Ask someone to make a similar prediction for you, and compare the answers.
- Read a book on a topic you know nothing about.
- Invite an intelligent friend to debate you on a subject where you suspect you may hold inaccurate beliefs.
- Begin a 30-day media fast.

真理：
- 承认你一直隐藏的谎话或秘密。
- 写下从现在起5年后，你对自己生活最实际的预测。让其他人为你做类似的预测，然后比较答案。
- 读一本你一无所知的话题的书。
- 邀请充满智慧的朋友就你怀疑自己认识不正确的话题进行辩论。
- 开始30天的媒体斋戒。

LOVE:
- Send someone a handwritten letter, just to connect.
- Start a conversation with a total stranger, and try to figure out what’s most important to that person.
- Find a creative way to say “I love you” to someone who’s never heard it from you before.
- Give someone an unexpected gift to let them know they’re appreciated by you.
- Invite someone over for dinner who’s never been to your house before.

爱：
- 给某人写一封亲笔信，就是纯粹联络感情。
- 与素未谋面的陌生人交谈，努力找出对这个人最重要的是什么。
- 找一个新颖的方法对从未听你说“我爱你”的人说“我爱你”。
- 给某人一个意想不到的礼物，让他们知道你欣赏他。
- 邀请从未到你家的人来吃饭。

POWER:
- Write a fresh list of goals for every area of your life.
- Set aside at least one hour to work on your single most important project, and nothing else.
- Do something you’ve always wanted to do that you can accomplish in less than a day.
- Schedule your next day from wake to sleep. Give yourself a 1-10 score at the end of the day. Beat that score next time.
- Play a competitive game & bet that you’ll win. Bet for something other than money.

能力：
- 对你生活的每个领域写下全新的目标清单。
- 在你最重要的项目上至少留出一小时，仅此而已。
- 做一件你一直想做而且一天时间就够的事情。
- 好好计划你的明天，从睁眼到闭眼。一天结束时，按1-10给自己打分。下一次超过那个分数。
- 玩竞争性游戏，并打赌你会赢。不赌钱，赌其他东西。

ONENESS:
- Perform an act of kindness for a stranger.
- Post a painful story from your past, online – so others can benefit from your lessons learned.
- Identify where you’ve been unfair to someone, and take immediate action to remedy the situation.
- Spend a couple hours alone in nature. Quiet your thoughts and pay attention to your senses.
- Email with someone in another country and find out what you have in common.

合一：
- 对陌生人行善。
- 把你的痛苦经历贴在网上——这样他人可以从你的经验中吸取教训。
- 想想你对别人有失公允的地方，立即采取措施弥补。
- 独自花时间与自然接触。让你的思想沉静，留心自己的所有感觉。

AUTHORITY:
- Cancel an activity that no longer serves you.
- Volunteer to be in charge of a group and see it through to completion by delegating tasks to others.
- Do a personal experiment you’ve always wanted to, such as a new diet, sleeping pattern, or way of interacting.
- Wear an outfit that nobody likes but you.
- Teach someone else how to perform a task you’re very good at.

权威：
- 取消对你不再有用的活动。
- 自愿负责一个团队，然后通过给别人下方任务，监控团队达到目标。
- 进行你一直都想做的个人试验，比如新的饮食习惯，睡觉模式或者活动方式。
- 穿一身除了你别人都不喜欢的行头。
- 教别人如何做你很擅长的任务。

COURAGE:
- Make a new request of someone who recently rejected you.
- Do something worthwhile that you’ve been afraid to pursue.
- Walk up to someone and tell them exactly what you want from them.
- Make an advance commitment to something specific that makes facing one of your fears unavoidable.
- Do one thing today that scares you.

勇气：
- 向最近拒绝了你的某人再次提出请求。
- 做件你一直害怕追求但又值得一做的事情。
- 走向某人，明确地告诉他们你想让他们怎样。
- 提前对某事作出承诺，这样你不得不面对自己惧怕的事情。
- 今天做件让你害怕的事情。

INTELLIGENCE:
- Call someone you know and communicate as authentically as possible during the entire call.
- Draw something that represents the real you.
- Identify a recent setback, and make a creative plan to work around it.
- Visit a museum and look for expressions of truth, love, and power in every exhibit.
- Brainstorm a list of 20 new ideas you can use to improve your life.

智力：
- 给你认识的某人打电话，在整个电话交谈中，尽可能地真诚沟通。
- 画一个能够代表真实自我的东西。
- 想想最近的挫折，作出积极计划进行应对。
- 参观博物馆，在每项展品中寻找真理、爱及能力的表达。
- 头脑风暴你可以用于改善自己生活的20个新想法。

One week is a reasonable timeframe for completing one action from each principle.

合理的时间安排是，每周搞定一条原则中的一个建议。

Whenever you add another activity to your life, treat it as a small universe that comes pre-aligned with truth, love, and power.

任何时候你在生活中添加其他活动时，把它当做与真理、爱和能力预先校准的小宇宙。

You should check out our twitter-like homepage here :D

原文链接：Personal Development for Smart People
作者：Steve Pavlina
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

When your mind predicts a positive long-term outcome, but a negative short-term outcome from a course of action, courage is required to bridge the gap.

当你预期长期积极结果，但在行动过程中却出现短期负面结果，需要勇气弥补这个差距。

Courage is the application of power to break through short-term challenges in order to achieve long-term goals.

勇气是运用能力打破短期挑战以获得长期目标。

Whatever you fear, you must eventually face.

不管你怕什么，你始终必须面对。

What if you know you’re on the wrong path, but don’t know how to find the right one?  Get off the road you’re on.  Just stop.  If you can’t see the right path from your current location, go out and explore.

如果你知道自己走错了，却不知道该如何找到正确方向，怎么办？离开你所走的路。停下来。如果你从当前位置看不到正确路线，走出去探索。

Don’t wait for a new career, a new relationship, or other opportunities to come to you.  Go out and actively create what you want.  Life is waiting for you to make the first move.

别等着新职业、新关系、其他机会主动找到你。走出去积极打造自己想要的东西。生活等着你先走第一步呢。

If you want something, ask for it.  Accept the risk of rejection and summon the courage to take action anyway.  If you don’t get rejected, you’ll achieve your outcome in the fastest and simplest way possible.

如果你想要什么东西，你得开口要。不管怎样，要承担起被拒绝的风险，并唤起行动的勇气。如果你没有被拒绝，你要最迅速最极致地完成任务。

An honest rejection is always better than a clever deception.

真诚的拒绝总比狡诈的欺骗好。

Short bursts of courage can overcome many obstacles.

瞬间的勇气爆发可以克服无数障碍。

Consciously commit yourself to a principle-centered life.  This commitment is called honor.

有意识地让自己的生活以纪律为中心，这种行为名为荣誉。

The guiding force of honor is your conscience.

荣誉的指引力量是你的良心。

Service to self and service to others are the same thing.

为己服务和为人服务是一样的。

When you feel lazy and unmotivated, you’re feeling disconnected.  Remember who you are.  Reconnect with what excites you.  Revisit those times in your life when you were on fire – not because of external events, but because you were aligned with your truth.

当你觉得慵懒，毫无动力时，你感到与世隔绝。记得你是谁。与令你激动的东西重新连接。重新探访那些令你激情四溢的时光——不是因为外界活动，而是因为你与真实的自己重合。

Whatever scares you, learn more about it. The knowledge you acquire will help you act more courageously and intelligently.

不论什么让你害怕，多多学习。你掌握的知识会帮助你更勇敢更明智地行动。

It’s amazing how many opportunities we deny ourselves due to lack of knowledge or experience.  In this info age, “I don’t know” is not a valid excuse.  All the information you need is readily accessible online, in books, or on other people’s minds.  If ignorance is holding you back in any area of your life, take the initiative and educate yourself.

因为缺乏知识或经验，我们自己放弃的机会之多，令人叹息。在这个信息时代，“我不知道”不再是合理的借口。你需要的所有信息都可以在网上、书中和其他人的头脑中。如果无知阻止你进入生活中的任何领域，采取主动，自学成才。

Make commitments that don’t require much courage to accept, but that require significant courage to implement.

作出不要需要很多勇气就能接受但需要很多勇气才能实施的承诺。

You should check out our twitter-like homepage here :D

原文链接：Personal Development for Smart People
作者：Steve Pavlina
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

Authority is the principle devised from truth and power.

权威是根据真理和能力设计出的原则。

Truth without power accomplishes nothing.

没有权力的真理一无所获。

Power without truth generates wasted action.

没有真理的权力产生无用的行动。

When you live without authority, your default behavior is to squander your time.

当你生活没有权威，你自然而然的行为就是虚掷光阴。

You may acquire some knowledge, but you won’t apply it well.

你可以获得一些知识，但却不能很好地应用。

You may take some action, but your movements will be chaotic and unfocused.

你可以采取一些行动，但步骤混乱，毫无重点。

You have the potential to live a powerful self-directed life of your choosing, but until you step into your true authority, this potential remains a fantasy.

你有潜能活出你所选择的自我引导的强有力的生活，但除非你踏进自己真正的权威，否则，这种潜能只不过是幻想。

With authority, you not only assume responsibility for your life, you take complete command of it.

有了权威，你不仅为自己的生活承担责任，而且完全把握着自己的生活。

There’s only one true authority in your life, and it’s you. You make the decisions.

在你生活中，只能有一个权威，那就是你。由你决策。

There’s no higher authority in this life than you.

此生中，没有比你更高的权威。

If you fail to claim authority over your own life, someone else will surely claim it for you. Many people allow their spouse, parents, or boss to practically run their lives. You become increasingly helpless as you distance yourself from your true nature. You are meant to be free.

如果你不能对自己的生活拥有权威，别人肯定会对你的生活有权威。很多人让他们的配偶、父母或老板来经营他们的生活。当你离自己的真实本性越来越远时，你会愈加无助。而你本该自由自在。

Look around you and notice the results you’re currently getting. Life is simply obeying your commands. If you want different results, you must issue different orders.

看看自己，然后留心当前得到的结果。生活不过是遵守你的命令。如果你想要不同的结果，你必须发出不同的指令。

Effectiveness is the true measure of authority.

有效性是对权威的真正衡量。

Consider two questions:

考虑两个问题：

1. Am I making the correct decisions?

1. 我的决策对吗？

2. Am I taking the correct actions?

2. 我采取的行动对吗？

Notice how elegantly the principles of truth and power work together to improve your personal effectiveness over time:

请你留心，真理和权力原则完美配合，随着时间推移，如何改善你的个人有效性：

First, you identify one of your desires and make a decision to move toward it.

首先，你认识自己的欲望，然后下决心朝着它努力。

Then you use your predictive abilities to select a reasonable course of action.

然后，你利用自己的预测能力，选择合理的行动计划。

As you progress toward your goal, you need only identify the next action you predict will move you in the correct direction.

当你朝着自己的目标迈进时，你只需要识别你预测将使你朝着正确方向进步的下一行动。

You use your power to move yourself forward, one step at a time.

你用自己的能力让自己迈向前，一次一步。

Even as you take these microsteps, your predictive mind is always looking ahead, continually refining its selections and evaluating the results of the decisions you’ve already implemented.

即使你采取了这些小步骤，你那爱预测的大脑总是向前看，不断优化它的选择，评价你已经执行的决策之结果。

Maybe you reach your goal; maybe you don’t. Either way you experience a powerful gain.

也许你达到了自己的目标；也许没有。不论如何，你都经历了巨大的收获。

When you succeed, your successful predictions, decisions, and behaviors are reinforced.

当你成功时，你成功的预测、决策和行为都会被强化。

When you fail, your mind learns that its predictions were inaccurate, and it updates your model of reality to help prevent you from repeating the same mistakes.

当你失败时，你的大脑认识到自己的预测不准确，就会更新你的现实模型，以免你重蹈覆辙。

Failure is your friend. While it’s often disappointing to miss the goal you aimed for, there’s always a consolation prize. When you fail, you become smarter. You teach your mind to become better at prediction. This is an immensely powerful result.

失败是你的朋友。虽然错过既定的目标总让人失望，但总会有安慰奖。当你失败时，你会变得更聪明。你教自己预测得更成功。这是一个极其强大有力的结果。

After thousands of cycles of identifying and fixing mistakes, I became a very good programmer.

在成千上万次识别纠正错误的循环中，我成了优秀的编程师。

You can’t expect to be competent when you tackle something new, but you can expect that you’ll improve over time.

你不能指望解决了新问题就能合格，但你可以预期你会随着时间进步。

All you have to do is set a goal, make decisions that you think will lead you in the right direction, and keep taking action.

你所要做的就是设定目标，作出你认为会带领你走上正确方向的决策。

Either you’ll succeed, or you’ll learn from your failures.

要么你会成功，要么你会从失败中学到东西。

If you fail a great deal, it just means you have more to learn before you’re ready to succeed.

如果你不断失败，这只意味着在你成功之前，还有很多东西需要学习。

Be willing to make decisions that may fail. Even though failure may have negative consequences, it also yields important positive results. It ultimately teaches you to succeed. You can’t be a true authority unless you commit to being a lifelong student.

你要愿意做出可能失败的决策。虽然失败会有负面后果，它也会产生重要的正面结果。它最终教会你成功。除非你愿意终身学习，否则你不可能成为真正的权威。

If you quit too early, you’ll never complete the shift from novice to expert. The expert level is where most of the rewards are found.

如果你放弃得太早，你永远也完不成从新手到专家的转变。而专家级才是找到大部分回报的地方。

Understand that failure and success are not opposites. Failure is an unavoidable part of success. When you fail, it means you’re taking action, so you’re making mistakes and educating yourself. Success happens naturally once you finally learn how to take the correct actions.

要理解，失败和成功不是反义词。失败是成功不可避免的一部分。当你失败时，意味着你采取了行动，所以你在犯错误，教育自己。一旦你最终掌握了如何纠正，成功乃水到渠成。

Don’t pressure yourself to achieve massive success the first time out. Just do the best you can. At first, your best may be barely above idiot. Eventually you’ll gain some basic competency, and farther down the road, people will call you an expert. An expert being a person who’s failed enough to succeed.

不要第一次就给自己压力要取得很大成功。尽自己最大力量就好。开始时，你的最大能力可能就比白痴稍微强一点。最后，你会获得一些基本能力，随着你进步，人们会称你为专家。专家就是失败次数足够多然后成功的人。

Eventually they learn what they need to learn. They successfully adapt their predictions to fit reality, and finally their actions begin producing the intended results.

他们学习了自己需要学习的东西。他们成功地改变了自己的预测来适应现实，最终他们的行动会产生预期的结果。

If you’re clear about what you want, settle for nothing less. Accept that success will take time, perhaps much longer than you’d like. Rid yourself of the fast and easy, something-for-nothing mindset. Keep your head down, work hard, and know that your efforts will eventually pay off, as long as you keep learning and growing.

如果你很清楚自己想要什么，那就不要在别的事情上浪费时间。要承认成功需要时间，而且可能比你希望的要长得多。让自己放弃多快好省，不劳而获的心态。虚心、勤奋，相信只要你不断学习，不断成长，天道酬勤。

As you perceive reality with increasing accuracy, your decisions will improve, and in turn so will your actions and thereby your results.

随着你对现实的领悟日渐精准，你的决策会改善，进而你的行动和结果都会改善。

Accurate beliefs lead to effective results, and confidence is the emotional residue of effectiveness. You feel confident when you can expect positive results from your actions with a high degree of certainty.

精确的信念产生有效的结果，信心是有效性的情感沉淀。当你期待并且确信你的行为会带来积极结果时，你会感到自信。

Power can be applied to meaningless pursuits, or it can be channeled toward significant achievements.

能力既可以用于无意义的追求，也可以用于意义重大的成就。

What’s important to you in life?

你生活中重要的东西是什么？

What’s a relative waste of your time?

什么是浪费时间?

TRIAGE can help you focus your attention on the most significant actions. Divide between:

1. projects that will fail to have a significant impact, whether you do them or not

2. projects that will succeed anyway, whether you do them or not

3. projects that will have a significant impact only if you complete them in a timely manner

筛余法可以帮助你聚焦在最重要的行动上。行动项目可以分为：

1. 不论你做不做，都不能产生重要影响的项目

2. 不论你做不做，都会成功的项目

3. 只有你及时完成才能对产生重要影响的项目

Ask yourself, “Is this the most important thing for me to be doing right now?”

问自己，“这是我立即就要做的最重要的事情吗？”

What are the group-3 projects that are dying in the trenches, but can still be saved if you reach them in time?

哪些是奄奄一息但如果你行动及时尚可挽救的第三组项目？

Your health?

你的健康？

Your relationship?

你的关系？

Your career?

你的职业？

In order to make time to save them, which group-1-and-2 are you willing to pass up?

为了腾出时间挽救它们，第一组和第二组中的哪些项目是你愿意放弃的？

Don’t blindly follow the advice of experts.

不要盲目地遵从专家的意见。

Find out what works best for you by conducting personal experiments.

亲自试验，找到最适合你的方法。

Don’t dismiss any ideas until you’ve actually tried them.

在没有真正尝试任何想法之前，不要放弃。

Get in touch with what’s most important to you in life. If you felt responsible for the entire world, what would you want to change first?

与你生命中最重要的东西接触。如果你觉得你对全世界有责任，你会最先改变什么？

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原文链接：Unschooling Misconceptions
作者：Teri Brown
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

There are so many misconceptions about unschooling I thought I would devote an entire article to those pesky notions that plague all unschoolers at some point or another. If another person comes up to me and says that children can’t learn without being pushed, I will not only scream, I will run madly into the night, which of course would only give rise to the misconception that unschoolers love to run screaming into the night.

人们对非学校教育误解之多，我觉得我都可以就这些时不时折磨非学校教育者的烦人问题专门写篇文章。如果有人来跟我说，不督促孩子前进，他们压根不可能学习，我不仅会尖叫，还会在黑夜狂奔，这肯定又会给别人一个错误印象，觉得非学校教育者喜欢在夜里呐喊狂奔。

Part of the dilemma, as I see it, is people can judge a group by meeting one person from that group. They might decide, for instance, after meeting a family whose kids are playing Nintendo during “school hours” that video games are all that family does and that video games are all unschoolers do, period. They don’t stop to think that possibly the children were taking a break from designing a solar car, creating a replica of the Mona Lisa or building a teepee in the back yard. Maybe Mom is not feeling so hot or maybe the kids like to play video games and the wise mother, feeling that Nintendo will help her son’s poor hand eye coordination, lets them play on! Then the person who finds them playing the video games, who probably was against unschooling in the first place, tars all unschoolers with the same brush and makes a blanket statement, “All unschoolers do is allow their children to play video games and watch TV all day. That is, after all what children will do if not pushed.”

我觉得这种困境的部分原因在于人们会通过某个群体中的某个人来判断该群体。比如，在遇到孩子们在“学校时间”玩任天堂的家庭之后，人们会认为那家人就会玩任天堂，而电玩就是所有非学校教育者所做的事情。他们不会停下来想，可能孩子们刚刚设计了太阳能小汽车，临摹了蒙娜丽莎的画，或者在后院搭了帐篷，现在休息一会。也许母亲节奏不是那么快，或者孩子们想打电游，而这位聪明的母亲觉得任天堂有助于改善儿子很差的手眼协调，干脆让他们玩个够！发现他们打电玩的人，可能本来就反对非学校教育，然后就给所有非学校教育者抹黑，总结性发言说，“非学校教育者就是让他们的孩子整天打电玩、看电视。毕竟，这些都是如果我们不督促，孩子们就会做的事。”

Other Unschooling Fallacies:

关于非学校教育的其他谬误：

Unschooled children are completely responsible for their own education and parents never help their children learn.

非学校教育儿童对自己的教育完全负责，家长从不帮助孩子学习。

This one not only makes me laugh, but really dishonors all those unschoolers who run their children to classes, find mentors for them, help them when their children ask for it, spend hours at the library, carefully choose books for reading aloud, take countless field trips, and play tons of games with their children. Unschooling parents are very involved with their children’s education…… they just don’t run it.

这不仅令我发笑，也非常不尊重所有非学校教育者，他们带着孩子到处上课，为他们寻找导师，当孩子需要时，就提供帮助，花很多时间在图书馆，精挑细选朗读的书目，进行无数次实地考察，和孩子们玩数不尽的游戏。非学校教育者对孩子的教育非常投入……他们只是不自己代劳而已。

Unschooling parents are too lazy to take the time to sit down and teach their children.

非学校教育家长懒惰到不肯花时间坐下来教孩子。

See above answer.

参见上述回答。

Unschooling families have no discipline in their homes.

非学校教育者家里没有规矩。

Some do have discipline in their homes and some don’t. Just like any other family. I think this misconception stems from the fact that many people think if a child has choices in their education that they get to do whatever they want whenever they want to and they will always make bad choices. Child rearing techniques are as varied in unschoolers as they are in any other group of people.

有些人家里有纪律，有些没有。就像任何其他家庭一样。我想这个误解的根源在于很多人认为如果孩子对自己的教育有选择权，他们可以任何时候做自己想做的一切，而他们总做错误选择。非学校教育者抚养孩子的方法千差万别，和任何其他人群一样。

Unschoolers never use text books.

非学校教育者从不用课本。

This is another totally false assumption. Unschooling children and teens use text books quite a bit, it’s the parents who don’t use text books. The difference being, of course, that parents do not use them to teach…..the children use them to learn. Major difference.

这纯属误解。非学校教育者儿童和青少年用课本不算少，不用课本的是父母。区别在于，家长不用课本教孩子…….孩子用课本学习。差别大着呢。

You might be able to unschool young children successfully but you can’t unschool teens.

可能你能够成功地对幼儿进行非学校教育，但不能对青少年进行非学校教育。

Teens are at the very best age to unschool. The possibilities for teenagers in regard to volunteer opportunities, internships and focused learning is endless. Younger children often have difficulties getting adults to take them seriously in giving them jobs or volunteer positions. Teens generally don’t have that problem. The world opens up for them and this is a time when they can really concentrate on their interests, taking advantage of the freedom most adults don’t have.

青少年才是非学校教育的最佳年龄。青少年的义工机会、实习机会、集中学习的可能性无穷无尽。年级再小一点的孩子通常很难让成人严肃地对待他们，给他们工作或义工职位。青少年一般没有这个问题。世界对他们开放，而且这是他们可以真正集中精力关注自己的兴趣的时间，充分利用大多数成人没有的自由。

Unschoolers are hippies, eat granola and sprouts, and wear sandals.

非学校教育者是嬉皮士，吃麦片和新鲜蔬菜，穿拖鞋。

Like any other people group unschoolers are diverse in both our dress and eating habits. We are also diverse in where we live, our jobs, and our various faiths.

像任何其他人群，非学校教育者的穿着打扮和饮食习惯都多姿多彩。我们的住处、职业和信仰也都千差万别，丰富多彩。

Though I find these fallacies to be laughable, I also find them rather frightening. Whenever you lump a group of people together and make generalizations about them you are practicing bigotry. From bigotry you will get discrimination. Unfortunately, much of the discrimination that unschoolers receive is from within the homeschool movement itself and espoused by some homeschool leaders. I care not whether these leaders agree with how my children are educated, I care very much that I retain the right to educate them as I feel best. Only by bursting these fallacies will people begin to understand what unschoolers are trying to achieve.

虽然我觉得这些谬误很可笑，我也觉得它们相当可怕。当你把一群人划在一起，对他们进行归纳总结，你就是固执己见。从固执己见，你将得到歧视。很不幸，非学校教育者受到的大多数歧视来自居家教育本身，而且得到了某些居家教育领军人物的煽风点火。我不在乎这些领袖是否同意我的孩子如何受教，我非常在意保留教育他们的权利。只有打破这些谬误，人们才能开始了解非学校教育者到底想获得什么样的结果。

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原文链接：Five Steps to Unschooling
作者：Joyce Kurtak Fetteroll
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

Some people understand unschooling as soon as they hear about it. Others wander about in a fog of confusion, wondering how unschoolers can be so certain about something that seems so counterintuitive to everything we’ve picked up about how kids need to learn. Maybe a few, well-defined steps in the unschooling direction could lead out of at least the very pea-soupiest part of the fog.

有些人一听到非学校教育就了然于心，而有些人则要在迷雾中徘徊良久，好奇非学校教育者怎么能对这种完全违法孩子学习进程的东西如此确定。可能几条定义精准的非学校教育步骤至少可以引领你走出重重迷雾。

Step One 第一步

To unschool, you begin with your child’s interests. If she’s interested in birds, you read – or browse, toss aside, just look at the pictures in – books on birds, watch videos on birds, talk about birds, research and build (or buy) bird feeders and birdhouses, keep a journal on birds, record and ponder their behavior, search the web for items about birds, go to bird sanctuaries, draw birds, color a few pictures in the Dover Birds of Prey coloring book, play around with feathers, study Leonardo DaVinci’s drawings of flying machines that he based on birds, watch Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”

想要进行非学校教育，你要从孩子的兴趣着手。如果她对鸟类感兴趣，你阅读或浏览，这都不要紧，就是看看关于鸟儿的书籍里的图片，看鸟儿的录像，谈论鸟儿，研究然后自己做（或买）喂鸟器、鸟窝，写鸟儿日记，记录思考它们的行为，在网上搜索鸟儿的信息，到鸟类保护区，画鸟，在《多佛猛禽》图画书里给鸟儿上色，玩羽毛，研究达芬奇画的飞行器，那可是他根据鸟儿画的，看阿尔弗莱德•希区柯克的《群鸟》。

But DON’T go whole hog on this. Gauge how much to do and when by your child’s reactions. Let her say no thanks. Let her choose. Let her interest set the pace. If it takes years, let it take years. If it lasts an hour, let it last an hour.

但别一头扎进去。根据孩子的反应来判断何时进行多少。让她来说，不了，谢谢。让她选择。让她的兴趣决定节奏。如果持续数年，那就持续数年好了。如果只持续了一小时，那就持续一小时。

Step Two 第二步

Second, you need to make sure your child has opportunities to expand her interests. Have books, videos, kits, games, puzzles, music tapes, puppets, nature collections, and other cool things available for her to pick up when she chooses. (Think library, yard sales, and attic treasures.) Take her places as a way to spark an interest. Wander about museums and just look at the cool stuff that interests either of you. (And resist the urge to force an interest in the things you think would be good for her.) Read a book or do a kit even if you’re certain it won’t lead anywhere. Let her say no thanks if she’s not interested in pursuing something right now, or in pursuing something to the degree you think she “should.”

其次，确保孩子有机会扩展他们的兴趣。准备足够的书、录像、工具箱、游戏、拼图、音乐磁带、木偶、自然收藏还有其他酷玩意供她选择。（可以考虑图书馆、家庭拍卖会，阁楼宝藏。）带她四处逛逛，点燃她的兴趣。在博物馆闲逛，看看让你们任意一个感兴趣的新奇玩意。（一定要抵制把你喜欢的东西强加在她身上的冲动。）读本书，或者做个工具箱，哪怕你知道没多大用处。如果她对眼下正追求的东西或者你认为她“应该”追求的程度没兴趣，也请容她说，不了，谢谢。

Step Three 第三步

Get interested in things yourself. Not interested in your child getting educated, but in learning for yourself. Pursue an interest you’ve always wanted to but never had time for. Be curious about life around you. Look things up to satisfy your own curiosity. Or just ponder the wonder of it all. Ask questions you don’t know the answers to. “Why are there beautiful colors beneath the green in leaves?” “Why did they build the bridge here rather than over there?” “Why is there suddenly more traffic on my road than there used to be?”

自己对这些东西感兴趣。不是对孩子受教感兴趣，而是对自己学习感兴趣。追求你一直很想但从来没时间的兴趣爱好。对你周围的生活充满求知欲。寻找答案满足自己的求知欲。或者沉思冥想。对于自己不懂的，提问。“在绿叶下面怎么有这么多美丽的颜色？”“为什么他们在这而不在那架桥？”“为什么我这条路上骤然间多了这么多车？”

Let your child know that all the questions haven’t been answered yet and it’s not her job to just keep absorbing answers until she’s got them all.

让孩子知道，不是所有问题都已经有了答案，要不断地去探索未知。

Step Four 第四步

Start noticing the learning available all around you. There are fractions in time and cooking and in the relationships between objects. (There are one third as many blue M&M’s as there are brown.) Tax is a percentage of the total, some items offer 20% more free, and stores having a sale will knock a percentage off the regular price.

留心你周围的所有学习机会。处处留心皆学问。（蓝色的MM豆是咖啡色的1/3。）税金是总数的百分比，有些东西有20%的折扣，商店大甩卖时价格会比正常价格低一定比例。

There’s oodles of science in cooking. Why does heat make the white of an egg turn from clear liquid to solid white? What process turns liquid cake into poofy air-filled solid cake? Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers. Anyone can look up the answers. Few can ask the questions.

烹饪中的学问大了。为什么蛋清受热就能从透明的液体转换为白色固体？什么过程使液体蛋糕变为蓬松充满空气的固体蛋糕？如果你不知道答案也不用担心。谁都能查到答案，可提问的人很少。

As a real-life example, by watching Xena and reading Little Town on the Prairie, my daughter was exposed to three references to Julius Caesar, Brutus, and Marc Antony. She doesn’t “know” Roman history now, but she’s got a hook or point of reference to build from tomorrow, next week, three years from now: “You remember Julius Caesar. The guy Xena hates.”

举个实际的例子，观看电影《泽娜》，读《草原小屋》，我女儿有三种资料了解裘利斯•凯撒、布鲁图、马克•安东尼。她现在还不懂罗马历史，但从明天、下周、三年以后，她有了解历史的兴趣或者基准点：“你记得裘利斯•凯撒。就是泽娜讨厌的那个家伙。”

Unfortunately we learned in school that learning is locked up in books and reading is the only way to get to it. It’s not. It’s free. We’re surrounded by it. We just need to relearn how to recognize it in its wild state.

不幸的是，我们在学校了解到学习被锁在教科书中，而阅读是唯一的途径。并非如此。学习是自由的。学习随处环绕我们。我们只需要重新学习如何在自然的状态认出它来。

Step Five 第五步

And, finally, forget the linear approach to learning we grew up with. For instance, we learned that the way to learn is to read “all the important” stuff about a subject gathered and packaged for our convenience in a textbook and then move on in line to the next package of information.

最后，忘记我们从小到大用的线性方法吧。比如，我们学到学习方法是阅读关于某个主题的“所有重要”信息，而且为了我们方便，这些信息都打包装进教科书里，然后沿着这条线，进入下一个信息包。

Sure, sometimes an interest will cause kids to gather up a huge chunk of learning all at once. This is easy to see. And easy to overvalue as the “best” way to learn.

诚然，有时兴趣会让孩子一次就学习很多东西。这是显而易见的。而我们也易于把这当做“最佳”学习方法，但其实我们高估了这种现象。

More often kids will slowly gather interesting tidbits, making connections as things occur to them to create a foundation. They’ll add pieces here and there over the years to build on that foundation. This is not so easy to see going on. And very easy to undervalue.

通常，孩子都是慢慢地收集有趣的东西，听其自然地创造连接，创建根基。他们会随处添砖加瓦，打造根基。而这个进展不那么容易看到，而且也很容易忽视。

So, if we can train ourselves to see that process we can help it along by valuing the times when they see Thomas Jefferson on the Animaniacs and then later on the nickel and then still later on Mount Rushmore. Those moments will establish a feeling of recognition and familiarity. Then the more tidbits they gather about Jefferson, the more interesting he becomes. And the more interesting he becomes, the more they want to know about him.

如果我们可以训练自己看到那个过程，我们就会以他们在《狂欢三宝》、硬币、罗斯莫尔山上看到托马斯•杰斐逊的时间来衡量，从而帮助他们学习。这些时刻会培养出认知与熟悉的感觉。他们对杰斐逊的点点滴滴了解得越多，他就变得越有趣，他越有趣，他们就越想更多地了解他。

It took at least two years and a lot of posts by very patient unschoolers (and a lot of questions by other newbies who were equally confused) for me to finally “get” unschooling. Hopefully, these five steps will make your transition to unschooling easier than mine was!

我用了至少两年时间，同时阅读了非常耐心的非学校教育者的大量帖子才最终“明白”了非学校教育。希望这5个步骤会让你比我当初更容易地过渡到非学校教育！

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原文链接：5 Deschooling Tips (for Homeschoolers)
作者：Tammy Takahashi
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

1. Don’t give up. Often times, the first few months of homeschooling are tough because we don’t know how to conduct ourselves without the filter of school. It takes time to adjust to each other’s needs, and get used to the new living situation. Most problems early on have nothing to do with homeschooling, and everything to do with learning to live together.

1. 别放弃。通常，居家教育的头几个月很艰难，因为我们不知道没有了学校过滤，我们该如何表现自己。满足每个人的需求、适应新的生活环境，需要时间。早期大多数问题都与居家教育本身无关，都和学会在一起生活有关。

2. Give up. That’s right, you heard me – give up. When you aren’t getting your way, and things seem to be going horribly wrong, give up the fight. Turn your attention to something else and let it fall apart. When we begin homeschooling our kids, we think we need something, because we don’t know any other way. But if we let go, and let the thing we need slip away for a while, we might find that we don’t really need it at all. Or that we were working too hard to keep up the status quo instead of creating new habits.

2. 放弃。没错，我是说——放弃。当你进展不下去时，当事情好像错得很离谱时，放弃挣扎。把你的注意力转到别处，彻底放弃。当我们开始在家教育孩子时，我们以为自己需要某样东西是因为我们不知道其他方法。但如果我们放手，让需要的东西消失片刻，我们可能会发现自己根本不需要那样东西。或者我们太努力保持现状，而没有创造新习惯。

3. Do something for yourself. When you start to deschool, it’s not just about giving your kids space to get used to not having to go to school, but it’s for you too! And part of that adjustment is to know that you still have you to take care of. If you did a good job taking care of yourself before, keep up that routine. If you didn’t, now’s the time to add that to your schedule. If you don’t take care of yourself, who will? Plus, it will be a great time to distance yourself from the newbie homeschooler stress.

3. 为自己做点事。当你开始非学校教育时，那不只是给你的孩子空间习惯于不去上学，也是为你自己！部分调整在于知道你必须得照顾好自己。如果你之前把自己照顾得很好，保持这种习惯。如果没有，现在要把这种习惯加进去。如果你不照顾好自己，谁来照顾呢？此外，让你远离居家教育新手压力，也将会成为一段美好的时光。

4. Get your kids involved. Invite your children to help you schedule your day. Do they want to take it easy or explore the world? Do they want to play with friends or go to the book store or a movie? What do they want to make for dinner? Spread the freedom to choose through the whole family, so it’s not just mom who takes care of everything. The school model is to have a top-down, teacher takes care of things, student follows approach. Homeschooling is a group effort, where mom and dad are Socrates and Einstein – smart people who hang out with their kids and share their knowledge because they like to, and of course, love their family.

4. 让孩子参与其中。邀请孩子帮助计划你的一天。他们想放松呢还是想探索世界？他们想和伙伴一起玩耍，还是想去书店或看电影？晚饭他们想吃什么？把选择的权利下放给全家，而不是事无巨细全由妈妈一人照顾。学校模式是自上到下，由老师看顾一切，学生照搬老师的方法。居家教育是团队努力，爸爸妈妈是爱因斯坦和苏格拉底——因为喜欢，当然也因为爱家人而和孩子在一起、分享他们知识的聪明人。

5. Go crazy. Feeling stressed out? Go parasailing! Feeling like school work is taking over your day? Go strawberry picking! Sitting around the house watching your kid play video games? Build a catapult in your back yard! Feel like you want to get away from it all? Go to the beach and sit around all day doing nothing, listening to the beauty of the waves (how many people actually get a chance to slow down long enough to listen to nature?) This is your chance to do what you don’t normally do and have fun or relax. If you feel like you’re going crazy, go with it! Feel crazy! And prove you’re going crazy to the world around you by breaking the unlivable expectations of what you are “supposed” to be doing.

5. 疯狂一把。感觉筋疲力尽？去玩帆伞！觉得学习工作占据了你的时间？去摘草莓！坐在房子里看孩子玩电玩？去后院玩弹弓！觉得自己想远离一切？到海边坐在沙滩上听听美妙的海浪声（有多少人真正有机会放慢脚步聆听自然之声？）。这是给你机会，让你做平常不做的事情，有机会玩乐放松。如果你觉得自己快要发疯了，那就发疯吧！尽情疯狂！打破别人对你的不实期望，向你周围的人证明你就要抓狂啦！

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原文链接：How to Be a Good Unschooler
作者：Pam Sorooshian
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

Foreword by Sandra Dodd: Pam Sorooshian has written something perfectly stunning, and stunningly perfect. She didn’t send a title for it. I’ve called it “How to be a good unschooler,” but it could be “How to be a good parent,” or “How to be a good person.” It’s a summary of some of the best unschooling knowledge of the past dozen and more years. It will help improve families’ lives for years to come.

序言：Pam Sorooshian写了篇文章，令人拍案叫绝，堪称完美。她没有写标题。我将该文章称为“如何当名好的非学校教育者，”，但也可以称为“如何当名好家长”，或“如何做个好人。”这是对过去十几年最佳非学校教育知识的总结，有助于改善未来的家庭生活。- Sandra Dodd

This was something I posted on the HSC list in response to a discussion stemming from a question about how to motivate a child to do schoolwork:

这是我在 HSC 上为回应如何调动孩子做作业的讨论而发布的帖子。

Give your love generously and criticism sparingly. Be your children’s partner. Support them and respect them. Never belittle them or their interests, no matter how superficial, unimportant, or even misguided their interests may seem to you. Be a guide, not a dictator. Shine a light ahead for them, and lend them a hand, but don’t drag or push them. You WILL sometimes despair when your vision of what your child ought to be bangs up against the reality that they are their own person. But that same reality can also give you great joy if you learn not to cling to your own preconceived notions and expectations.

1. 慷慨地爱孩子，尽量少批评。当孩子的伙伴。支持他们，尊重他们。千万不要轻视他们或他们的兴趣，不论他们的兴趣在你看来多么肤浅、多么无足轻重或者误入歧途。做一个引导者而不是独裁者。在前面为他们点燃一盏灯，助他们一臂之力，但不要拽他们或推他们。有时，当你对孩子的期望和他们就是他们自己这一现实大碰撞时，你肯定会绝望。但是，如果你学会不依赖自己的先入为主和期望，同样的现实会带给你巨大的快乐。

2. Homeschooled children who grow up in a stimulating and enriched environment surrounded by family and friends who are generally interested and interesting, will learn all kinds of things and repeatedly surprise you with what they know. If they are supported in following their own passions, they will build strengths upon strengths and excel in their own ways whether that is academic, artistic, athletic, interpersonal, or whichever direction that particular child develops. One thing leads to another. A passion for playing in the dirt at six can become a passion for protecting the natural environment at 16 and a career as a forest ranger as an adult. You just never ever know where those childhood interests will eventually lead. Be careful not to squash them; instead, nurture them.

2. 居家教育的孩子成长在充满激励而又丰富的环境中，被关心他们而又风趣的家人朋友所包围，他们会学会所有东西，而且不断会让你对他们的知识刮目相看。如果支持他们听从自己的热爱，他们会力上加力，而且以自己的方式在各自领域表现卓越，不论是学术、艺术、体育、人际关系、还是孩子发展的任何具体方向。一件事会导致另一件。六岁时，狂爱玩泥巴在16岁时可能会变成环保达人，而长大后可以当护林员。你永远不会知道童年兴趣会产生什么。当心不要粉碎了孩子的兴趣，要细心呵护。

3. Bring the world to your children and your children to the world. Revel in what brings you together as a family. Watch tv and movies and listen to music and the radio. Laugh together, cry together, be shocked together. Analyze and critique and think together about what you experience. Notice what your child loves and offer more of it, not less. What IS it about particular shows that engage your child—build on that. Don’t operate out of fear. Think for yourself and about your own real child. Don’t be swayed by pseudostudies done on school children.

3. 让孩子接触世界，把孩子领入世界。因为你们是一家人而狂欢，看电视，看电影，听音乐，听广播。一起欢笑，一起哭泣，一起大吃一惊。一起分析、批判、思考你们所经历的。留心孩子喜欢什么，多多提供，而不是减少提供。戏中吸引孩子的东西到底是什么——打造之。不要出于恐惧而行动。想想自己，想想自己的孩子。不要因在学校儿童上实验的那些伪科学而动摇。

4. Surround your child with text of all kinds and he/she will learn to read. Read to them, read in front of them, help them, don’t push them. Children allowed to learn on their own timetable do learn to read at widely divergent times—there is NO right time for all children. Some learn to read at three years old and others at 12 or even older. It doesn’t matter. Children who are not yet reading are STILL learning—support their learning in their own way. Pushing children to try to learn to read before they are developmentally ready is probably a major cause of long-term antipathy toward reading, at best, and reading disabilities, at worst.

4. 让孩子周围充满各种各样的书，他/她就会学习阅读。给他们读书，在他们眼前看书，帮助他们，别催他们。能够按照自己的时间表学习阅读的孩子学会的时间差别很大——没有适合所有孩子的正确时间。有些3岁就开始学习阅读，有些12岁甚至更大。没关系。还没有阅读的孩子仍在学习——以自己的方式支持自己的学习。在孩子没有准备好之前就推着孩子学习阅读可能导致长期厌倦阅读，这还算是好的，最糟糕的是可能会导致阅读障碍。

5. It doesn’t matter when something is learned. It is perfectly all right for a person to learn all about dinosaurs when they are 40 years old, they don’t have to learn it when they are nine. It is perfectly all right to learn to do long division at 16 years old, they do not have to learn that at nine, either. It does not get more difficult to learn most things later; it gets easier.

5. 何时学东西不重要。一个人到40岁再学习有关恐龙的一切知识也完全合理，没必要9岁就学。16岁再学长除法也完全没有问题，也没必要9岁就学。稍后再学习不会更困难，只会更容易。

6. Don’t worry about how fast or slow they are learning. Don’t test them to see if they are “up to speed.” If you nurture them in a supportive environment, your children will grow and learn at their own speed, and you can trust in that process. They are like seeds planted in good earth, watered and fertilized. You don’t keep digging up the seeds to see if the roots are growing—that disrupts the natural growing process. Trust your children in the same way you trust seeds to sprout and seedlings to develop into strong and healthy plants.

6. 不要担心孩子的学习进度。不要测试看看他们是否“跟得上进度”。如果你在充满支持的环境中培养他们，你的孩子就会按照自己的速度成长学习，而你也可以信任这个进度。他们犹如撒进好土的种子，灌溉施肥。你不需要挖开种子来看根部是否生长——那会破坏自然生长过程。像你信任种子会发芽幼苗会茁壮成长为参天大树一样信任你的孩子。

7. Think about what is REALLY important and keep that always in the forefront of your interactions with your children. What values do you hope to pass on to them? You can’t “pass on” something you don’t exemplify yourself. Treat them the way you want them to treat others. Do you want respect? Be respectful. Do you want responsibility from them? Be responsible. Think of how you look to them, from their perspective. Do you order them around? Is that respectful? Do you say, “I’ll be just a minute” and then take 20 more minutes talking to a friend while the children wait? Is that responsible? Focus more on your own behavior than on theirs. It’ll pay off bigger.

7. 想想什么真正重要，在你和孩子互动时始终把这当做头条原则。你想传递什么价值观？你无法“言传”你自己都无法以身作则的品质。你希望他们怎么对待别人，就怎么对待他们。你希望他们尊重别人？那你自己要尊重他们。你希望他们有责任感? 负责。想想他们如何看你。你是不是对他们发号施令？那样尊重吗？你有没有说，“就一分钟”，然后跟朋友讲了20多分钟，让孩子就那么等着？多关心自己的行为，而不是盯着孩子的行为。收获会更大。

8. Let kids learn. Don’t protect them or control them so much that they don’t get needed experience. But, don’t use the excuse of “natural consequences” to teach them a lesson. Instead, exemplify kindness and consideration. If you see a toy left lying in the driveway, don’t leave it there to be run over, pick it up and set it aside because that is the kind and considerate thing to do and because kindness and consideration are values you want to pass on to your kids. Natural consequences will happen, they are inevitable. But it isn’t “natural” anymore if you could have prevented it, but chose not to do so.

8. 让孩子学习。不要过于保护或控制孩子以致他们得不到需要的经验，但也不要用“自然后果”这样的借口教训他们。要彰显你的善良和体贴。如果你看到车道上有玩具，别让玩具就丢在那里被压坏，捡起来放到一边，因为这是善良而体贴的行为，也因为善良和体贴是你想传递的价值。自然后果会发生，这不可避免。可如果你本可以阻止却没有阻止，这就不再“自然”了。

9. We can’t always fix everything for our kids or save them from every hurt. It can be a delicate balancing act—when should we intervene, when should we stay out of the way? Empathy goes a long long way and may often be all your child needs or wants. Be available to offer more, but let your child be your guide. Maybe your child wants guidance, ideas, support, or intervention. Maybe not. Sometimes the best thing you can offer is distraction.

9. 我们不可能为孩子解决所有问题，或者保护他们不受任何伤害。这可以是一个巧妙平衡的行为——我们应该何时干预，何时退出？感同身受的时间很长很长，而且通常都是孩子需要或者想要的。尽量多提供帮助，但让孩子做你的向导。也许孩子需要指导、想法、支持或干预。也可能不要。有时你顶多能提供干扰。

10. Be sensitive to your child’s interest level. Don’t push activities that your child isn’t interested in pursuing. Don’t let YOUR interests dictate your child’s opportunities. If your child wants a pet, be realistic and don’t demand promises that the child will take sole care for it. Plan to care for it yourself when the interest wanes. Do it cheerfully. Model the joy of caring for animals. Model kindness and helpfulness. Help a child by organizing their toys so they are easy to care for. Plan to care for them yourself much of the time, but invite your child’s help in ways that are appealing. If YOU act like you hate organizing and cleaning, why would your child want to do it? Always openly enjoy the results of caring for your possessions—take note of the extra space to play in, the ease of finding things you want, how nice it is to reach into a cupboard and find clean dishes. Enjoy housework together and don’t make it a battle.

10. 对孩子的兴趣程度要敏感。孩子不感兴趣的东西，不要强加。不要让你的兴趣决定孩子的机会。如果孩子想要宠物，要实际，别要求孩子承诺独自照顾宠物。准备好当孩子三分钟热度过了之后，你要自己照顾。而且要开心地做。给孩子做榜样，表明照顾动物充满快乐。给他们做榜样，告诉他们什么是善良和乐于帮助。帮助孩子整理玩具便于看顾。做好大部分时间由你清理玩具的准备，不过可以用巧妙的方式邀请孩子帮忙。如果你表现出来痛恨整理清洁，孩子为什么要喜欢呢？公开享受整理私人物品的成果——记下哪里有可以玩耍的额外空间，如何轻松地找到自己想要的东西，手伸进碗橱可以找到干净的盘子多么愉悦。一起享受家务劳动，不要搞得像打仗。

11. Don’t pass on your own fears and hates about learning anything. If you hate or fear math, keep it to yourself. Act like it is the most fun thing in the world. Cuddle up and do math in the same way you cuddle up and read together. Play games, make it fun. If you can’t keep your own negativity at bay, at least try to do no harm by staying out of it.

11. 不要传递你对学习任何东西的恐惧和厌恶。如果你厌恶或害怕数学，自己知道就得了。你还得表现得好像数学是世界上最好玩的东西。凑在一起做数学，就跟你们凑在一起读书一样。游戏，使之变得有趣。如果你不能控制自己的负面情绪，那么至少置身之外。

12. Don’t try to “make kids think.” They WILL think, you don’t have to make them. Don’t use every opportunity to force them to learn something. They WILL learn something at every opportunity, you don’t have to force it. Don’t answer a question by telling them to “look it up” or by asking them another question. If you know the answer, give it. If you don’t, then HELP them find it. Speculating about an answer often leads to a good conversation. If your child stops seeing you as helpful when they have questions, they’ll stop coming to you with their questions. Is that what you really want?

12. 不要尝试“让孩子思考”。他们会思考，你不用强迫他们。不要利用每个机会强迫他们学点东西。他们会在每个机会学东西，你不用强逼他们。不要通过告诉他们“自己查”或者提另一个问题来回答他们的问题。如果你知道答案，就告诉孩子。如果你不知道，帮助孩子找答案。推测答案通常会产生很好的对话。如果孩子觉得他们有问题时你也帮不了忙，他们就不会带着问题来找你了。你真想这样吗？

13. When you offer a child choices, be sure they are real choices. Offer them choices as often as you can. Try to limit the “have to’s” as much as you can. Frequently ask yourself, “Is this really a “have to” situation or can we find some choices here?”

13. 当你给孩子选择时，要确信这些选择都货真价实。尽量多给他们选择。尽量限制“不得不”。不断问自己，“这真是‘必须’的情况，还是我们可以寻找别的选择？”

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原文链接：Let’s Abolish High School (PDF)
作者：Robert Epstein
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

Well, not quite. But while writing a new book called The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen, I explored some ideas that go almost that far.

其实，也不尽然。不过在写《反青春期案例：重新发现每位青少年心里的成人》时，我探讨了一些想法，基本如此。

I’m a father of four children, and about 10 years ago I noticed—I couldn’t help but notice—that my 15-year-old son was remarkably mature. He balanced work and play far better than I did, and he seemed quite ready to live on his own. Why, I wondered, was he not allowed to drive or vote, and why did he have so few options? Simply because of his age, he couldn’t own property or do any interesting or fulfilling work, and he had no choice but to attend high school for several more years before getting on with his “real” life.

我是四个孩子的爹，大概在10年前我注意到——我无法不注意——我那15岁的儿子超级成熟。他把学习和娱乐平衡得比我好，似乎已经准备好了独立生活。我想，为什么就不能让他开车或投票，为什么他的选项寥寥无几？就是因为他的年龄，他不能拥有财产或者从事任何有趣或者充实的工作，可他别无选择，只能上高中，在开始“真正”生活之前，再消磨几年时间。

As a longtime professor and researcher, I got curious. Were our young people always required to attend school, and were their work opportunities always limited to babysitting, yard work, and cleaning the floors at fast-food joints? Were they always subject to so many restrictions? Are teenagers necessarily incompetent and irresponsible, as the media tell us? Is there really an immature “teenage brain” that holds them back? After all, past puberty, technically speaking we’re not really children anymore, and presumably through most of human history we bore our young when we were quite young ourselves. It occurred to me that young people must be capable of functioning as competent adults, or the human race quite probably would not exist.

作为执教多年的教授和研究者，我开始觉得好奇。是否我们的年轻人总要上学，是否他们的工作机会总局限于看孩子、打扫院子、在快餐店扫地？是否他们一直都有这么多限制？十几岁的孩子们是否真像媒体报道的那样无能又不负责任？真有尚未成熟的“青春期大脑”拖住他们？毕竟，从技术层面上讲，过了青春期我们就不再是孩子，大概在人类历史上，我们多半在自己还是孩子的时候就生儿育女。这让我想起年轻人必须得成为合格的成人，否则人类无法存在。

Over time, through interviews, surveys, and scholarly research, I began to investigate these matters in depth. What I learned amazed me—even shocked me.

随着时间流逝，通过采访、调查、学术研究，我开始深入考察这些事情。我了解的情况让我吃惊——甚至震惊。

Consider school, for example. The first compulsory education law in the United States wasn’t enacted until 1852. This Massachusetts law required that all young people between the ages of 8 and 14 attend school three months a year—unless, that is, they could demonstrate that they already knew the material; in other words, this law was competency-based. It took 15 years before any other states followed Massachusetts’ lead and 66 years before all states did. Along the way, some powerful segments of society staunchly opposed the mandatory education trend. In 1892, for example, the Democratic Party stated as part of its national platform, “We are opposed to state interference with parental rights and rights of conscience in the education of children.”

以学校为例。美国第一部义务教育法直至1852年才实施。麻省法律要求年龄在8岁至14岁的所有年轻人每年在校时间为3个月——除非他们能够证明自己已经掌握了学习内容；换言之，该法律以能力为基础。时隔15年，才有其他州效法麻省先例，时隔66年，所有各州才全部实施。与此同时，一些强有力的社会阶层坚定地反对义务教育趋势。例如，1892年，民主党在其全国性纲领中宣称，“我们反对国家干涉教育儿童中的家长权利以及良心权利。”

Restrictions on work by young people also took hold very gradually. In fact, the earliest “child labor” laws in the United States actually required young people to work. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that laws restricting the work opportunities of young people began to take hold. Those laws, too, were fiercely opposed, and in fact the first federal laws restricting youth labor—enacted in 1916, 1918, and 1933—were all swiftly struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. After all, young people had worked side by side with adults throughout history, and they still helped support their families and their communities in countries around the world; the idea that there should be limits on youth labor, or that young people shouldn’t be allowed to do any work, seemed outrageous to many people.

禁用童工的规定也是逐渐生根的。事实上，美国最早的“童工”法要求年轻人工作。直至1800年代末期，限制年轻人工作机会的法律才开始生效。这些法律也遭到强烈反对，实际上，第一批限制童工的联邦法律——分别实施于1916、1918及1933年——很快都由美国高院所阻止。毕竟，一直以来年轻人都跟长辈一起劳动，而且在世界各地的农村，他们也帮忙帮补家庭和社区；应有对年轻劳力的限制或者年轻人不能劳动的想法，对很多人而言真是骇人听闻。

Eventually, multiple forces—the desire to “Americanize” the tens of millions of immigrants streaming into the United States to get jobs in the land of opportunity, the effort to rescue millions of young laborers from horrendous working conditions in the factories and mines, the extreme determination of America’s growing labor unions to protect adult jobs, and, most especially, the extremely high unemployment rate (27 percent or so) during the Great Depression—created the systems we have today: laws severely restricting or prohibiting youth labor, and school systems modeled after the new factories, established to teach “industrial discipline” to young people and to homogenize their knowledge and thinking.

最后，多种力量——让数千万涌入美国的移民美国化、在机遇之地找到工作的愿望、拯救数百万劳工于工厂及矿区的水深火热中的努力、美国不断成熟的公会保护成人工作的坚定决心，尤其是大萧条时期极高的失业率（27%左右）——造就了我们今天所拥有的体系：法律严格限制或禁止劳工，学校体制以新工厂为模型，建立的目的就是向年轻人传授“工业纪律”，使他们的知识和思想统一化。

Unfortunately, the dramatic changes set in motion by the turmoil of America’s industrial revolution also obliterated from modern consciousness the true abilities of young people, leaving adults with the faulty belief that teenagers were inherently irresponsible and incompetent. What’s more, the rate at which restrictions were placed on young people began to accelerate after the 1930s, and increased dramatically after the social turmoil of the 1960s. Surveys I’ve conducted suggest that teenagers today are subject to 10 times as many restrictions as are mainstream adults, to twice as many restrictions as are active-duty U.S. Marines, and even to twice as many restrictions as are incarcerated felons.

不幸的是，由于美国工业革命骚乱所引发的巨大变化也从现代意识中将年轻人的真才实干断送，让成年人有一个错误的印象，觉得青少年天生不负责任，毫无能力。而且1930年后，强加于年轻人身上的限制程度开始加速，在1960年代社会动乱之后更是显著增加。我做过的调查表明如今的年轻人承受的现实是主流成人的10倍，是美国现役海军的2倍，甚至是牢狱犯人的2倍。

Over the past century or so, we have, through a growing set of restrictions, artificially extended childhood by perhaps a decade or more, and we have also completely isolated young people from adults, severing the “child-adult continuum” that has existed throughout history. This trend is continuing. Just last year, Reg Weaver, the second-term president of the National Education Association, while lamenting the fact that 30 percent or more of our young people never complete high school, called for extending the minimum age of school leaving to 21. When adults see young people misbehaving or underperforming, they often respond by infantilizing young people even more, and the new restrictions often cause even more distress among our young.

在过去100年，我们已经通过越来越多的限制人工将童年延伸了大约10年，我们将年轻人完全与成人隔绝，切断了自古已有的“儿童-成人连续体”。这种趋势还在继续。就在去年，美国教育协会的第二任主席Reg Weaver一边哀叹30%以上的年轻人连高中都没毕业，一边呼吁将离校的最小年龄延至21岁。

Some leaders in education are far more trusting of our nation’s young—and also recognize the inherent dangers of infantilization and isolation. The former New York City and New York state teacher of the year John Taylor Gatto has long warned about the dangers of artificially extending childhood, and has blamed our schools for damaging families and stifling creativity and a love of learning. Leon Botstein, the longtime president of Bard College and the youngest college president (at 23) in U.S. history, has called for the outright abolition of our high school system, pointing out the obvious: High school is a waste of time for the majority of the students—that is, for those who haven’t already dropped out.

教育界的有些领袖人物对我国的年轻人还是相当信任——也意识到幼儿化和孤立的固有危险。前纽约市及纽约州年度优秀教师John Taylor Gatto 一直警告人工延长童年的危险，责备学校损害了家庭，压制了创造力和对学习的热爱。Leon Botstein长期担任Bard学院院长，是美国历史上最年轻的院长，他呼吁直接取缔高中体系，指出了显而易见的事实：高中纯粹浪费广大学生——即尚未辍学的学生——的时间。

Our educational institutions today are cursed by at least four fatal legacies of the Industrial Revolution—ideas that may have been helpful a century ago but have no place in today’s world.

我们当今的教育机制受工业革命四个致命遗产的诅咒——这些思想在一个世纪之前或许有帮助，但在当今世界并无容身之地。

First, although cars can be assembled on demand, it’s absurd to teach people when they’re not ready to learn. As the brilliant German educator Kurt Hahn (the founder of Outward Bound) said, teaching people who are aren’t ready is like “pouring and pouring into a jug and never looking to see whether the lid is off.”

首先，尽管车可以按要求组装，当人们还没有做好学习的准备就教授他们就滑稽可笑了。如天才教育家Kurt Hahn （Outward Bound户外学校的创始人）所说，给没准备好的人教书就好像“不停地往罐子里倒水，却从不看盖子取下来了没有。”

Second, although mass education was exciting in the era that invented mass production, it does a great disservice to the vast majority of students. People have radically different learning styles and abilities, and effective learning—learning that benefits all students—is necessarily individualized and self-paced. This is the elephant in the classroom from which no teacher can hide.

第二，虽然大众教育在产生了大生产的时代确实激动人心，但对大多数学生造成了极大的伤害。人们的学习方式和学习能力千差万别，而有效学习——让学生受益的学习——必须个人化，而且要自己掌握节奏。这是任何老师都无法否认的。

Third, although it’s efficient to cram all apparently essential knowledge into the first two decades of life, the main thing we teach most students with this approach is to hate school. In today’s fast-paced world, education needs to be spread out over a lifetime, and the main thing we need to teach our young people is to love the process of learning.

第三，虽然在生命前20年里有效地填鸭貌似必要的所有知识很有效，用这个方法，我们教给学生的主要东西就是厌学。在今天节奏飞快的世界，教育需要成为终身事业，我们需要教授给年轻人的重点是热爱学习这一过程。

Finally, whereas that first compulsory-education law in Massachusetts was competency-based, the system that grew in its wake requires all young people to attend school, no matter what they know. Even worse, the system provides no incentives for students to master material quickly, and few or no meaningful options for young people who do leave school.

最后，虽然麻省的第一部义务教育法以能力为导向，可成长于该法律影响之下的教育制度要求所有年轻人上学，不论他们现有知识如何。更糟糕的，系统没有为学生提供快速掌握内容的激励因素，为离开学校的孩子提供的有意义的选择也寥寥无几，甚或全无。

A century ago, there was no way to address these concerns, but, thanks to computers and the Internet, we now have rapidly improving tools that will soon allow virtually all young people to master essential material at their own pace, and to do so at any point in their lives. There will probably always be a place for the classroom, but it will be a place where intense and intimate learning takes place with highly willing students, not a step on an assembly line.

一个世纪前，没有方法解决这些问题，但有了计算机和互联网，我们有着迅速改进的工具，很快就可以让所有年轻人按照自己的进度掌握基本内容，而且可以在他们生命中的任何时点这么做。可能教室总会有，但那会是完全心甘情愿的学生深入而紧密学习的地方，不再是生产线上的一个步骤。

Are young people really inherently incompetent and irresponsible? The research I conducted with my colleague Diane Dumas suggests that teenagers are as competent as adults across a wide range of adult abilities, and other research has long shown that they are actually superior to adults on tests of memory, intelligence, and perception. The assertion that teenagers have an “immature” brain that necessarily causes turmoil is completely invalidated when we look at anthropological research from around the world. Anthropologists have identified more than 100 contemporary societies in which teenage turmoil is completely absent; most of these societies don’t even have terms for adolescence. Even more compelling, long-term anthropological studies initiated at Harvard in the 1980s show that teenage turmoil begins to appear in societies within a few years after those societies adopt Western schooling practices and are exposed to Western media. Finally, a wealth of data shows that when young people are given meaningful responsibility and meaningful contact with adults, they quickly rise to the challenge, and their “inner adult” emerges.

年轻人是否天生缺乏能力而且不负责任？我和我同事Diane Dumas所进行的研究表明在很多成人能力上，十几岁的青少年和成人一样，而其他研究则早已表明在记忆力、智力和理解力测试方面，他们优于成人。当我们看世界各地的人类学研究时，我们发现年轻人大脑“不成熟”势必导致骚乱的说法毫无根据。人类学家已经识别了100多个当代社会，发现根本没有青少年暴乱；这些社会甚至没有青春期这个词。甚至哈佛大学自1980年代开始的更瞩目的长期人类学研究也表明青少年暴乱开始出现，是在这些社会采用西方学校教育惯例、接触西方媒体之后的几年之内。最后，大量数据表明当年轻人被赋予有意义的责任、与成人进行有意义的接触时，他们很快就能应对挑战，而“内心的成人”也开始出现。

A careful look at these issues yields startling conclusions: The social-emotional turmoil experienced by many young people in the United States is entirely a creation of modern culture. We produce such turmoil by infantilizing our young and isolating them from adults. Modern schooling and restrictions on youth labor are remnants of the Industrial Revolution that are no longer appropriate for today’s world; the exploitative factories are long gone, and we have the ability now to provide mass education on an individual basis.

仔细看看这些问题会产生令人震惊的结论：美国许多青年经历的社会与情感暴乱完全是现代文明的产物。我们把年轻人当婴儿对待，让他们和成人隔离，才产生了这种混乱。现代学校制度和对童工的限制是工业革命的残余，不再适合当今世界；剥削工厂早已不复存在，我们也有能力因材施教。

Teenagers are inherently highly capable young adults; to undo the damage we have done, we need to establish competency-based systems that give these young people opportunities and incentives to join the adult world as rapidly as possible.

十几岁的孩子其实是能力很强的年轻人；为了消除我们所造成的伤害，我们需要建立以能力为基础的体系，给这些年轻人机会和动力尽快加入成人世界。

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原文链接：My Kid Will Play Video Games All Day!
作者：Tammy Takahashi
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

There is a really, REALLY common worry about unschooling – “My kid only likes one thing, and he won’t do anything but that if I don’t push him to do other things”. Usually it’s video games, TV or Yu-Gi-Oh. But sometimes it’s skateboarding or reading or drawing…..

这是对非学校教育普遍而真切的担忧——“我的孩子只喜欢一样东西，如果我不催他做别的，他就只做那一件事，什么都不做”。通常，这些事情不是电玩，就是电视，或者游戏王(Yu-Gi-Oh)，有时也会是滑板、阅读或绘画……

Among unschoolers/life learners/whatever, there are many answers to this. My answer is this – then push him! Jeez. Pushing kids to do things doesn’t mean we’re forcing them to learn, or expect them to perform for us or even expecting them to like it. There’s a cool movie, or an art festival or a interesting class, or whatever… there’s nothing wrong or un-unschooly with trying to convince a child to go.

在非学校教育者/终身学习者（随便怎么称呼吧）中，可能会有很多对策。我的答案是——那就推动他！呃，推动孩子做事情并非意味着我们迫使他们学习，或者期望他们为我们表现，甚至期望他们会喜欢。有部很酷的电影、艺术节，或有趣的课程等等……试图说服孩子参与是没错的，也没有偏离非学校教育的宗旨。

Unschoolers don’t just sit back and go, “whatever”. We are engaged, fully, completely and wholly engaged with our kids. All kinds of homeschoolers are. But unschooling gets this rap for being “hands off” when it’s very much the opposite.

非学校教育者并非只坐以待毙。我们参与其中，全身心投入到孩子身上。所有居家教育者都如此。可非学校教育者总在情况完全相反时，听人说要“放手”。

Communication is the key to learning as a family. Communication is how we know if what we are doing is working. Kids can communicate surprisingly well what they need if we are willing to sit down with them and listen to what they have to say.

作为家人一起学习，关键是沟通。通过沟通，我们才能知道所做的是否有效。如果我们愿意和孩子一起坐下来，聆听他们的心声，他们有效沟通自己需求的能力会让你刮目相看。

Homeschooling and parenting are not about parents deciding what happens and kids follow. At, they shouldn’t be in my opinion. They are co-operative efforts. Even unschooling parents have needs, and are allowed to speak up about those needs. For example, we could say, “These are the needs I have as a parent – I need to be with you and spend time with you doing things. I like to see you learning new things and I like seeing you stretch your brain. Do you like these things too? How can we do this? How can we make our days so that you get the computer time you want, but I also get the family time I crave and I get to see you do other things?”

居家教育和当家长不是家长决定怎么做，然后让孩子效法。至少鄙人不敢苟同。这应该是同心协力的工作。即使居家教育的家长也有需求，而且也可以大声说出这些需求。比如，我们可以说，“这些是我作为家长的需求——我需要和你在一起，我需要花时间和你一起做事。我喜欢看你学习新东西，我喜欢看你动脑筋。你也喜欢这样吗？我们怎么才能做到呢？我们该怎么安排时间，好让你有想要的电脑时间呢，不过也让我有我渴望的家庭时间，让我也看到你做其他事？”

Another great conversation to have is to ask everyone in the family, “What do you want in life? What makes you feel successful, happy and like a full human?” It’s important to really listen. Because the answer to these questions are the basis of the unschooling curriculum. We want our kids to be successful, happy and full human beings. When they say what it takes to create that, that’s our cue to do as much as we can to give them a platform to achieve that. And, a lot of times, what they do, how they react to what we say, and the things they choose to pursue are just as good of answers to these questions.

另一种很棒的对话是问问家里每个人，“生活中，你想要什么？什么让你感到成功、幸福，感到是一个完整的人？”真正聆听至关重要。因为这些问题的答案乃是非学校教育的基础。我们希望孩子成功、幸福，成为完整的人。当他们说出什么可以结出这些果实时，那是给我们提示，尽量这么做，给他们平台获得此目标。通常，他们做什么、对我们的话语如何反应、他们选择追求的东西也和这些问题的答案一样有意义。

So when we have conversations like this, we aren’t telling our kids *what* other things we want them to do. But we are being parents and a loving ones at that, by making it clear that we try to get them to do things because we like their company, we think they’ll like it, and it seems cool.

所以，当我们这样谈话时，我们不是告诉孩子，我们想让他们做其他什么事情。不过，如果我们讲清楚，我们尝试让他们做事是因为我们喜欢他们的陪伴，我们以为他们会喜欢，如果这样当家长，而且当充满慈爱的家长，会很酷哦！

If we approach conversations and “pushing” our kids from a “I love you and I want to be a part of your life, see you thrive, and be a part of the world” and don’t put any guilt, shame, mistrust or blame into the equation, we can get excited about our kids’ lives, and be up front about why we are trying to get them involved in things other than their primary interest. The follow up to all of this, is once pushed to “give it a try”, to let them experience it in their own way, with no expectations of performance, or gratitude or any other “payback”. If we truly are pushing them to do something because we love them, we aren’t attached to the outcome of whether they like it or do well in that particular thing.

如果我们开展谈话，从“我爱你，我想成为你生活中的一部分，看你茁壮成长，成为世界的一部分”的角度推动孩子，而不要在方程式中代入罪恶、耻辱、不信任或责备，我们就可以因孩子的生活感到兴奋，提前告诉孩子我们为什么希望他们做他们兴趣以外的事。在跟进整个事情时，一旦已经推动孩子“尝试一下”，就让他们用自己的方式经历，不要期待有什么表现，或者感恩或者任何其他“回报”。如果我们推动他们做什么事情的确是因为我们爱他们，我们就不会特别在意他们是否喜欢或者是否做得很好。

Some unschoolers would say, “So, let kids play games all day.” I’m cool with that approach too, because I’ve seen (and experienced) what happens when a person doesn’t have a time limit and can literally play as much as he likes. There’s no school looming. There’s no end in sight. It’s not like summer vacation where he knows he’s on limited time.

有些非学校教育者会说，“那么让孩子整天都玩游戏好了。”我觉得这个方法也很酷，因为我已经看到（而且体验过）当一个人毫无时间限制放开了玩会怎样。没有学校等着你。看不到尽头。不像暑假他知道时间有限。

Eventually, he realizes that he’s spending a lot of time on something and not spending time on a lot of other things. He either gets bored or realizes that there are other things he wants to do too. Especially if the rest of the family is doing fun stuff and really engaged in life without giving him guilt trips that he’s not participating, or otherwise sending him signals that’s he’s not able to make his own decisions.

最终，他会意识到他花了很多时间在某样东西上，而不是花时间在很多其他东西上。他要么会厌倦，要么会意识到他也想做其他事情。尤其当家里其他人都在做其他好玩的事，完全投入到生活中，没有责备他不参与，也没有给他信号表示他无法自己决策。

But, it’s really hard to go that route, and I understand that. So, I say if we can’t let our kids burn themselves out on their one activity – have a conversation, with everyone, and listen. Well, we all could benefit from family conversation, regardless. Using a “talking stick” is a good tool if listening isn’t a habit. And, asking each other to repeat what has been said to make sure that everyone understands each other is another way to create trust and closeness between family members.

不过那么做很难，我理解。所以，我说，如果我们不能让孩子咎由自取——开展谈话，和每个人都谈话，聆听。无论如何，我们都能从家庭谈话中受益。如果没有聆听的习惯，那么使用“发言棒”是个好方法。问所有其他人发言者都说了些什么，确保大家都彼此理解，是打造家人之间信任与亲密的另一种方法。

By working together to make our days what we can all live with, it’s easier to come to an agreement that lets everyone be heard, understood and free to choose what’s important in their own life.

通过共同打造我们可以共同生活的时间，我们才能比较容易地达成共识，让每个人都被聆听，被理解，自由选择自己生活中重要的东西。

Unschooling is a philosophy, not a “thing people do”. So when you people talk about unschooling in can be confusing to understand all the “whats”. It doesn’t make sense. Focusing on “why”s rather than “what”s makes it much easier to understand what unschooling is trying to accomplish. To me, it doesn’t matter if people agree or not with the philosophy behind unschooling. But knowing the “why” behind education, whatever that “why” is, allows the “what” to fall into place.

非学校教育是哲学，不是“人们所做的事”。所以，当你们谈论非学校教育时，理解所有的“什么”可能令人相当困惑。毫无意义。侧重于“为什么”而不是“什么”让人们更容易理解非学校教育试图达到什么目的。对我而言，人们是否同意非学校教育背后的理念并不重要。但是理解教育背后的“为什么”，不论是哪个“为什么”，都会让那个“什么”到位。

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原文链接：College for $99 a Month
作者：Kevin Carey
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

The next generation of online education could be great for students—and catastrophic for universities.

下一代在线教育是学生的福音——也是大学的灾难。

Like millions of other Americans, Barbara Solvig lost her job this year. A fifty-year-old mother of three, Solvig had taken college courses at Northeastern Illinois University years ago, but never earned a degree. Ever since, she had been forced to settle for less money than coworkers with similar jobs who had bachelor’s degrees. So when she was laid off from a human resources position at a Chicago-area hospital in January, she knew the time had come to finally get her own credential. Doing that wasn’t going to be easy, because four-year degrees typically require two luxuries Solvig didn’t have: years of time out of the workforce, and a great deal of money.

和成千上万的其他美国人一样，Barbara Solvig去年丢了工作。50岁的她是三个孩子的母亲，多年前，她在东北伊利诺伊州大学读书，不过未能拿到文凭。此后，和有本科文凭的同事相比，她的工资总要低一些。所以，一月份她被芝加哥一家医院的人力资源部门被辞退时，她知道自己该获得一张本科文凭了。这么做可不容易，因为四年文凭要求Solvig生活缺乏的两大奢侈品：离开劳动大军数年，还有一大笔钱。

Luckily for Solvig, there were new options available. She went online looking for something that fit her wallet and her time horizon, and an ad caught her eye: a company called StraighterLine was offering online courses in subjects like accounting, statistics, and math. This was hardly unusual—hundreds of institutions are online hawking degrees. But one thing about StraighterLine stood out: it offered as many courses as she wanted for a flat rate of $99 a month. “It sounds like a scam,” Solvig thought—she’d run into a lot of shady companies and hard-sell tactics on the Internet. But for $99, why not take a risk?

幸运的是，现在有了新选择。她上网搜索了适合她钱包和时间的东西，然后有一则广告引起了她的注意：一家名为StraighterLine的公司在提供会计学、统计学、数学等在线课程。这其实并无非同寻常之处——成百上千的机构在网上兜售学历。不过让StraighterLine脱颖而出的是她需要的那么多课程，公司每月只收取99元。“简直像骗局”，Solvig这样想——她在网上遇到的骗子公司和硬性推销战术太多了。不过区区99元，为什么不冒个险？

Solvig threw herself into the work, studying up to eighteen hours a day. And contrary to expectations, the courses turned out to be just what she was looking for. Every morning she would sit down at her kitchen table and log on to a Web site where she could access course materials, read text, watch videos, listen to podcasts, work through problem sets, and take exams. Online study groups were available where she could collaborate with other students via listserv and instant messaging. StraighterLine courses were designed and overseen by professors with PhDs, and she was assigned a course adviser who was available by e-mail. And if Solvig got stuck and needed help, real live tutors were available at any time, day or night, just a mouse click away.

Solvig全心投入到学习中，每天学习18个小时。出乎她的意料，这些课程正是她要找的。每天早上她坐在餐桌旁，登陆网站，接触课程资料，读课文，看视频，听播客，完成练习，然后参加考试。也有在线学习群，她可以通过邮件列表和即时通信与其他学生协作。StraighterLine的课程由具有博士学位的教授研发监督，还给她委派了一名顾问，可以通过电子邮件联系。如果Solvig停滞不前，需要帮助，真实的老师随时都在，不论白天黑夜，只要一点鼠标即可。

Crucially for Solvig—who needed to get back into the workforce as soon as possible—StraighterLine let students move through courses as quickly or slowly as they chose. Once a course was finished, Solvig could move on to the next one, without paying more. In less than two months, she had finished four complete courses, for less than $200 total. The same courses would have cost her over $2,700 at Northeastern Illinois, $4,200 at Kaplan University, $6,300 at the University of Phoenix, and roughly the gross domestic product of a small Central American nation at an elite private university. They also would have taken two or three times as long to complete.

对于Solvig——她需要尽快回到劳动大军中——很关键的是，StraighterLine让学生按照自己的进度快慢学习课程。一旦一门课结束了，Solvig可以继续下一门，而无需多支付费用。在不到2个月的时间里，她已经完成了整整4门课，总额还不到200元。如果在东北伊利诺伊州大学，同样的课程要花她2700元以上，在卡普兰大学则为4200，凤凰城大学为6300， 而在私立名校，则大概相当于中美小国的国内总产值了，而且这些学校花的时间要长2-3倍。

And if Solvig needed any further proof that her online education was the real deal, she found it when her daughter came home from a local community college one day, complaining about her math course. When Solvig looked at the course materials, she realized that her daughter was using exactly the same learning modules that she was using at StraighterLine, both developed by textbook giant McGraw-Hill. The only difference was that her daughter was paying a lot more for them, and could only take them on the college’s schedule. And while she had a professor, he wasn’t doing much teaching. “He just stands there,” Solvig’s daughter said, while students worked through modules on their own.

如果Solvig需要任何证明表明在线教育货真价实的东西，某天她女儿从当地社区大学回来抱怨数学课时，她找到了这种证据。当Solvig看了看教材，意识到女儿用的教材和她在StraighterLine用的完全一样，都由教科书巨擘McGraw-Hill编写。唯一的区别是，她女儿花的钱比她多得多，而且只能按照学校的课表进行。虽然有个教授，也不怎么教东西。“他就往那一站，”Solvig的女儿说，而学生们都自学。

StraighterLine is the brainchild of a man named Burck Smith, an Internet entrepreneur bent on altering the DNA of higher education as we have known it for the better part of 500 years. Rather than students being tethered to ivy-covered quads or an anonymous commuter campus, Smith envisions a world where they can seamlessly assemble credits and degrees from multiple online providers, each specializing in certain subjects and—most importantly—fiercely competing on price. Smith himself may be the person who revolutionizes the university, or he may not be. But someone with the means and vision to fundamentally reorder the way students experience and pay for higher education is bound to emerge.

StraighterLine是伯克·史密斯的创意，他是一位互联网企业家，执意要对已有500多年历史的高等教育DNA进行改革。史密斯希望看到学生们能够无缝结合从众多在线提供商处得到的学分和学位，每位提供商都专攻某些课题——最重要的——价格竞争激烈，而非囿于象牙塔内或面对无名的校园，史密斯本人可能是改革大学的人物，也可能不是，但有办法有远景彻底改变学生体验高等教育并为之买单方式的人势必要出现。

In recent years, Americans have grown accustomed to living amid the smoking wreckage of various once-proud industries—automakers bankrupt, brand-name Wall Street banks in ruins, newspapers dying by the dozen. It’s tempting in such circumstances to take comfort in the seeming permanency of our colleges and universities, in the notion that our world-beating higher education system will reliably produce research and knowledge workers for decades to come. But this is an illusion. Colleges are caught in the same kind of debt-fueled price spiral that just blew up the real estate market. They’re also in the information business in a time when technology is driving down the cost of selling information to record, destabilizing lows.

近些年，美国人已经习惯了生活在曾经辉煌的各种工业的乌烟瘴气残骸之中——汽车制造业破产、华尔街的品牌银行倒闭，报业垂死挣扎。在这种环境下，我们很有冲动从学院和大学的永久性中找安慰，认为我们举世无比的高等教育体系肯定会培养未来几十年的研究和知识工人，但这只是幻象。在信息产业中也有那样的一个时期，技术让销售信息的成本之低，跌破了记录，甚至不稳定。

In combination, these two trends threaten to shake the foundation of the modern university, in much the same way that other seemingly impregnable institutions have been torn apart. In some ways, the upheaval will be a welcome one. Students will benefit enormously from radically lower prices—particularly people like Solvig who lack disposable income and need higher learning to compete in an ever-more treacherous economy. But these huge changes will also seriously threaten the ability of universities to provide all the things beyond teaching on which society depends: science, culture, the transmission of our civilization from one generation to the next.

这两种趋势结合起来动摇了当代大学的基础，和其他貌似坚不可摧的机构被四分五裂的方式大同小异。在有些方面，巨变倍受欢迎。学生们将从极其低廉的价格中大受裨益——尤其是像Solvig这样缺乏可随意支配的收入又亟需高等学历在日益恶劣的经济环境中竞争的人。不过，这些巨变也严重地威胁着大学提供教学以外的能力，而这种能力正是社会所依靠的：科学、文化、代与代之间的文化传承。

Whether this transformation is a good or a bad thing is something of a moot point—it’s coming, and sooner than you think.

这种转变是好还是不好，毫无意义——事情正在发生，而且比你想象的要快。

I met Burck Smith in his office on L Street in downtown Washington, D.C., in the spring of 2008. Thirty-nine years old, with degrees from Williams and Harvard, Smith looks remarkably like what you’d expect an Ivy League alum named “Burck Smith” to look like: Michael-Lewis-minus-ten-years handsome, open-collar shirts and sport coats, the relaxed confidence of privilege. He talked like someone who’d seen the future and was determined to be there when it arrived.

2008年春天，我在华盛顿特区的L街伯克·史密斯的办公室同他会面。39岁，拥有威廉姆斯和哈佛的学位，史密斯属于典型的常春藤校友：同迈克尔·刘易斯一样英俊，但要年轻10岁，衬衫敞开衣领，运动装，带着因为优越而放松的自信。他谈话时彷佛看到未来一样，而且注定了与未来共进退。

Smith was full of optimism about StraighterLine, which he planned to debut in September of that year. It would be the realization of an idea he’d been dreaming about since he was a graduate student at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in the late 1990s. In 1999, after finishing his master’s degree, Smith wrote a “looking back from the future” article, set in a hypothetical 2015. By that time, the higher education landscape would look “dramatically different than it did at the turn of the millennium,” he predicted.

史密斯对StraighterLine完全充满乐观，他计划当年九月推出该项目。这实现了他自上个世界90年代末期在哈佛约翰肯尼迪政府学院读研时就一直存在的梦想。1999年，在拿到硕士学位之后，史密斯写了篇名为“从未来回顾”的文章，背景是假想中的2015年。到那时，他预测，高等教育前景将与“千禧年伊始的教育千差万别”。

Technological change was the spark that ignited the wildfire of change. Like a hole in a dike, cheap and instantaneous Internet-based content delivery and communication nibbled away at barriers to institutional competition… . Suddenly, a student seeking an introductory statistics course could choose from hundreds of online courses from anywhere in the world… . Feeling the effects of low-cost competition, site-based education providers started cutting course costs and prices to attract students.

技术变化是点燃变化的火种。千里之坝，溃于蚁穴，廉价即时的互联网内容提供及通讯蚕食着机制性竞争的障碍…突然之间，想找统计学入门课程的学生可以从世界各地成百上千的在线课程中选择…感受到了低成本竞争的影响，校园教育开始消减课程成本和价格以吸引学生。

That same year, Smith took the first steps toward achieving this vision, launching an Internet startup company called Smarthinking, which he cofounded with Christopher Gergen, the son of well-known Washington insider David Gergen. Smarthinking provided on-demand, one-on-one tutoring in a range of introductory college courses, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The tutors, people with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in their fields, communicated with students via computer, using an onscreen, interactive “whiteboard.” Math students typed in questions, graphed equations, and interacted with their tutors in real time from their own PCs. Writing tutors gave feedback on essays within twenty-four hours.

同年，史密斯迈出了达到此目标的第一步，推出了名为Smarthinking的互联网创业公司，这是他与华盛顿知名业内人士David Gergen的儿子Christopher Gergen合建的。Smarthinking根据客户要求，就很多大学入门课程提供一对一的辅导，一天24小时，一周7天。导师们都有各自领域的学士和硕士学位，他们通过计算机用视频互动“白板”和学生沟通。数学学生在自己的电脑上提问、写方程式，与导师实时互动。写作课老师会在24小时内就学生的作文给出反馈。

Smarthinking survived the dot-com crash because, unlike most of their entrepreneurial peers, Smith and Gergen had actually come up with a working business model. Their clients were colleges and universities which, looking to cut costs, outsourced tutoring in the same way companies farm out IT work, back-office support, and customer service to call centers overseas. Smith and Gergen knew that tutoring could take advantage of the same powerful economies of scale that made call centers profitable. It would be cost prohibitive for a single college to provide on-demand 24/7 tutoring for a few sections of, say, organic chemistry—the college would have to hire teams of full-time workers to work in eight-hour shifts, and much of their time would be idle. Smarthinking pooled the demand from hundreds of colleges and tens of thousands of students while hiring credentialed tutors in places like India and the Philippines. As long as “on demand” was defined as a high likelihood of being served within a few minutes, economies of scale and cheap foreign labor could be combined to drive per-student service costs to unheard-of lows.

Smarthinking顶住了网络公司泡沫的冲击，依然存在，不像大多数企业同侪，史密斯和Gergen已有了运作成功的商业模式。他们的客户是学院和大学，都在力争削减成本，跟公司外包IT工作、办公室后勤支援、将客户服务外包给海外呼叫中心一样，他们也在外包教学。史密斯和Gergen知道教学可以利用使呼叫中心盈利的强大有力的规模经济。让一所大学按学生要求在少数几个领域比如有机化学提供24/7辅导成本上不允许——大学必须雇佣全职教师队伍8小时轮班，而大部分时间他们都无事可做。Smarthinking将几百所大学成千上万学生的需求汇集在一起，然后雇佣印度和菲律宾等地有资格认证的导师。只要“按需”可以定义为在几分钟之内就能得到服务，规模经济和廉价的外国劳力就可以联手将学生人均成本减到前所未有之低。

As a result, colleges could buy multihour blocks of 24/7 tutoring in subjects like biology and calculus from Smarthinking for much less than it would have cost them to provide that service on their own. By 2008, the company had 386 clients, ranging from big research universities to community colleges and the U.S. Army. Major publishers like Pearson and Houghton Mifflin packaged hours of Smarthinking tutoring with college textbooks and instructional software.

因此，大学可以从Smarthinking购买生物学微积分等学科24/7多时段模块教学，费用比他们自己提供此类服务要低得多。截止2008年，公司已拥有386名客户，从大型研究型大学到社区学院到美国军队。大型出版商如Pearson和Houghton Mifflin将Smarthinking的课程和大学课本及教学软件打包。

But Smarthinking still fell short of Smith’s ambitions. He had built a particularly efficient cog in the mammoth, long-established higher education machine—but he hadn’t yet transformed it.

但Smarthinking仍未能满足史密斯的抱负。在历史悠久的高等教育的庞大机器上，他打造了格外有效的齿轮——但还未能改造这台机器。

To be sure, much had changed in higher education. Technology had indeed altered how people went to college—that much Smith had gotten right back in 1999. Broadband access had become ubiquitous, and textbook companies had converted their standard introductory course content into inexpensive, Web-friendly form. While college students in 1999 were still making the transition to a Web-dominated world, 2008’s undergraduates had never known anything else. Both traditional colleges and for-profit companies like Kaplan and the University of Phoenix were diving headfirst into the online market, and students—especially people with day jobs like Barbara Solvig—were signing up in record numbers. Over four million college students—one-fifth of the total nationwide—took at least one online course last year.

诚然，高等教育发生了翻天覆地的变化。技术其实已经改变了人们读大学的方式——跟史密斯1999年的预想差不多。宽带接入无处不在，教科书公司已经将他们的标准入门课程内容转换成便宜的网络友好格式。1999年的大学生还在努力过渡到网络主导的世界，2008年的大学生除了网络，一无所知。传统大学和赢利公司如卡普兰和凤凰城大学都勇往直前冲向在线市场，而学生们——尤其是像Barbara Solvig这样白天还要上班的人——都在报名，数量打破了记录。去年，超过400万名大学生——全国的1/5——至少参加了一门在线课程。

But the other shoe had yet to drop. Even as the cost of educating students fell, tuition rose at nearly three times the rate of inflation. Web-based courses weren’t providing the promised price competition—in fact, many traditional universities were charging extra for online classes, tacking a “technology fee” onto their standard (and rising) rates. Rather than trying to overturn the status quo, big, publicly traded companies like Phoenix were profiting from it by cutting costs, charging rates similar to those at traditional universities, and pocketing the difference.

不过另一只鞋子还有待落下。虽然教育学生的成本下跌了，学费增长却几乎是通胀率的3倍。以网络为基础的课程没有提供承诺的价格竞争——事实上，许多传统大学对在线课程额外收费，在他们的标准（而且日益高涨的）费用上又增加了“技术费”。公开交易的大型公司如凤凰城大学并没有试图推翻现状，而是通过消减成本，收取与传统大学相当的费用，将差额装入口袋。

This, Smith explained, was where StraighterLine came in. The cost of storing and communicating information over the Internet had fallen to almost nothing. Electronic course content in standard introductory classes had become a low-cost commodity. The only expensive thing left in higher education was the labor, the price of hiring a smart, knowledgeable person to help students when only a person would do. And the unique Smarthinking call- center model made that much cheaper, too. By putting these things together, Smith could offer introductory college courses à la carte, at a price that seemed to be missing a digit or two, or three: $99 per month, by subscription. Economics tells us that prices fall to marginal cost in the long run. Burck Smith simply decided to get there first.

史密斯解释说，这就是StraighterLine进入的地方。在互联网上存储和沟通信息的成本几乎已降为零。标准入门课程的电子课程内容已成了低成本商品。高等教育中唯一昂贵的东西就是劳力，即只有人才可以的时候雇佣聪明博学的人来帮助学生的价格。而独一无二的Smarthinking的呼救中心模型也使这变得更便宜。通过把这些东西放在一起，史密斯可以按照学生要求提供大学入门课程，而订购价格可以少一位、两位甚至三位数：99美元/月。经济学告诉我们在长期中，价格降至边际成本。伯克·史密斯就想第一个到达。

To anyone who has watched the recent transformation of other information-based industries, the implications of all this are glaringly clear. Colleges charge students exorbitant sums partly because they can, but partly because they have to. Traditional universities are complex and expensive, providing a range of services from scientific research and graduate training to mass entertainment via loosely affiliated professional sports franchises. To fund these things, universities tap numerous streams of revenue: tuition, government funding, research grants, alumni and charitable donations. But the biggest cash cow is lower-division undergraduate education. Because introductory courses are cheap to offer, they’re enormously profitable. The math is simple: Add standard tuition rates and any government subsidies, and multiply that by several hundred freshmen in a big lecture hall. Subtract the cost of paying a beleaguered adjunct lecturer or graduate student to teach the course. There’s a lot left over. That money is used to subsidize everything else.

对于任何目睹其他以信息为基础的产业最近变化的人，这些含意可谓一目了然。大学向学生征收天价学费，一部分原因是他们可以这么做，部分原因也是因为他们不得已。传统大学庞杂而昂贵，提供的服务从科学研究到研究生培养，到通过松散附属的职业运动特许提供大众娱乐。为了资助这些活动，大学想尽办法开源节流：学费、政府资助、研究拨款、校友和慈善捐款。但是最大的摇钱树却是层次较低的本科生教育。因为提供入门课程很便宜，利润相当大。这个算术题很简单：把标准学费和任何政府补贴相加，然后和演讲厅里的大一新生人数相乘，减去助理讲师或研究生的上课费用，剩下不少钱。这个钱就用于补贴其他东西。

But this arrangement, however beneficial to society as a whole, is not a particularly good deal for the freshman gutting through an excruciating fifty minutes in the back of a lecture hall. Given the choice between paying many thousands of dollars to a traditional university for the lecture and paying a few hundred to a company like StraighterLine for a service that is more convenient and responsive to their needs, a lot of students are likely to opt for the latter—and the university will have thousands of dollars less to pay for libraries, basketball teams, classical Chinese poetry experts, and everything else.

但这种安排，不论对社会整体多么有益，对于要在演讲厅后面经历痛苦的50分钟的大一新生而言，并非好事。在向传统大学支付几千元和向StraighterLine等公司支付区区数百元就得到更便捷更针对他们需求的服务之间，大多数学生都愿意选择后者——大学少了成千上万的钱用于图书馆、棒球队、中国古诗词专家等等。

What happens when the number of students making that choice reaches a critical mass? Consider the fate of the newspaper industry over the last five years. Like universities, newspapers relied on financial cross-subsidization to stay afloat, using fat profits from local advertising and classifieds to prop up money-losing news bureaus. This worked perfectly well until two things happened: the Internet made opinion and news content from around the world available for nothing, and the free online classified clearinghouse Craigslist obliterated newspapers’ bedrock revenue source, the want ads. Suddenly, people didn’t need to buy a newspaper to read news, and the papers’ ability to subsidize expensive reporting with ad revenue was crippled. The result: plummeting newspaper profits leading to a tidal wave of layoffs and bankruptcies, and the shuttering of bureaus in Washington and abroad.

如果如此选择的学生变成了大多数，会怎样？想想过去5年里报界的命运。和大学一样，报纸仰赖财政交叉补贴才得以经营，用当地广告和分类广告的丰厚收入来弥补亏损的新闻部门。这一切都运作完美，直至两件事情发生：互联网让人们可以免费得到世界各地的观点和新闻内容，而免费的在线分类信息交换Craigslist使得报纸的暴利来源招聘广告不复存在。突然之间，人们不需要买报纸看新闻了，而且报纸用广告收入补贴昂贵的新闻报道的能力也大打折扣了。结果：报纸一落千丈的利润导致潮水般的裁员和破产，华盛顿和海外大批办公室纷纷关门大吉。

Like Craigslist, StraighterLine threatens the most profitable piece of a conglomerate business: freshman lectures, higher education’s equivalent of the classified section. If enough students defect to companies like StraighterLine, the higher education industry faces the unbundling of the business model on which the current system is built. The consequences will be profound. Ivy League and other elite institutions will be relatively unaffected, because they’re selling a product that’s always scarce and never cheap: prestige. Small liberal arts colleges will also endure, because the traditional model—teachers and students learning together in a four-year idyll—is still the best, and some people will always be willing and able to pay for it.

像Craigslist一样，StraighterLine威胁了一个大型产业利润最丰厚的部分：大学新生课程，类似于高校中的分类广告。如果有足够的学生转向StraighterLine这样的公司，高等教育面临当前体系建构之上的商业模式的解体。其后果将会极其深远。常春藤和其他名校相对不会受影响，因为他们出售的是稀缺而昂贵的产品：声望。小的自由艺术学院也会持续，因为传统模式——在四年田园牧歌式的生活中师生一起学习——仍然是最佳选择，总有人情愿也能够为此买单。

But that terrifically expensive model is not what most of today’s college students are getting. Instead, they tend to enroll in relatively anonymous two- or four-year public institutions and major in a job-oriented field like business, teaching, nursing, or engineering. They all take the same introductory courses: statistics, accounting, Econ 101. Teaching in those courses is often poor—adjunct-staffed lecture halls can be educational dead zones—but until recently students didn’t have any other choice. Regional public universities and nonelite private colleges are most at risk from the likes of StraighterLine. They could go the way of the local newspaper, fatally shackled to geography, conglomeration, and an expensive labor structure, too dependent on revenues that vanish and never return.

但是那个超级昂贵的模型并非当今大多数大学生所得到的。其实，他们更倾向于在相对籍籍无名的2年或4年制公立学校报名，然后找份跟工作有关的专业，比如商业、教育、护理或工程。他们上的入门课都一样：统计学，会计，经济101。教授这些课程通常条件都很差——助理讲师上课的演讲厅可谓教育死角——可在此之前，学生别无选择。地区公立大学和普通私立大学面临StraighterLine等公司的挑战最大。它们可能走上当地报纸之路，受到地理、集团以及昂贵的劳工结构的致命束缚，过度依赖一去不复返的利润。

By itself, the loss of profitable freshman courses would be devastating. And in the long run, Web-based higher education may not stop there. Companies like StraighterLine have the hallmarks of what Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen and entrepreneur Michael Horn describe as “disruptive innovation.” Such services tend to start small and cheap, targeting a sector of the market that established players don’t care much about—like tutoring in introductory courses. “This allows them to take root in simple undemanding applications,” Christensen and Horn write. “Little by little, the disruption predictably improves… And at some point, disruptive innovations become good enough to handle more complicated problems and take over, and the once-leading companies with old-line products go out of business.”

失去盈利的大一课程，后果不堪设想。在长期中，网络高等教育不可能停滞不前。像StraighterLine这样的公司具有哈佛商学院教授Clayton Christensen和企业家Michael Horn所说的“破坏性创新”的特点。这些服务起步都是小规模经营，价格低廉，目标是成熟玩家不在乎的市场领域——比如入门课程辅导。“这让他们植根于简单应用，”Christensen和Horn写到。“可以预言，这种毁灭会一点点地改善…..在某个时点，毁灭性创新会完善，足以应对复杂问题，并且占领市场，而只提供过气产品一度领军的公司则会失去生意。”

The pattern has played out in industries ranging from transistors to compact cars. When Japanese companies like Honda first began selling small, fuel-efficient cars in America, the vehicles were markedly inferior to the chrome- festooned behemoths rolling off the assembly lines of invincible Detroit giants like Ford and General Motors. But they were also inexpensive—and, when gas prices skyrocketed in the 1970s, suddenly more attractive as well. Japanese cars gradually improved while American companies lapsed into complacency, and the rest is history.

在各个产业，从晶体管到小型车，这种模型都在上演，范围很广。当本田等日本公司开始在美国销售小型燃油节约型汽车时，这些车与底特律无敌巨人福特和通用汽车生产线上下来的合金大型车相比，处于绝对劣势。可是，它们那么便宜——当1970年代汽油价格飙升时，突然之间就变得炙手可热了。日系车逐渐改善，而美国车却沉浸在自满中，从而成为了历史。

Econ 101 for $99 is online, today. 201 and 301 will come. It’s no surprise, then, that as soon as Burck Smith tried to buck the system, the system began to push back.

99元是今天在线课程Econ 101的价格。201和301会来。那么当伯克·史密斯尝试松开系统时，系统开始倒退，也不足为奇。

The biggest obstacle Smith faced in launching StraighterLine was a process called accreditation. Over time, colleges and universities have built sturdy walls and deep moats around their academic city-states. Students will only pay for courses that lead to college credits and universally recognized degrees. Credits and degrees can only be granted by—and students paying for college with federal grants and loans can only attend—institutions that are officially recognized by federally approved accreditors. And the most prestigious accreditors will only recognize institutions: organizations with academic departments, highly credentialed faculty, bureaucrats, libraries, and all the other pricey accoutrements of the modern university. These things make higher education more expensive, and they’re not necessary if all you want to do is offer standard introductory courses online. To compete, Smith needed StraighterLine courses to be as inexpensive as they could be.

在推出StraighterLine时，史密斯遇到的最大问题就是认证过程。随着时间推移，高校在自己的学术城邦周围修建了坚实的城墙和很深的护城河。学生只为可以得到学分普遍认可的学位课程买单。学分和学位只能由联邦批准的认证中心官方认可的机构颁发——而且只有用联邦拨款和贷款买单的学生才能获得。而最具声望的认证机构只承认这样的机构：有学术系部、高学历的教职员工、行政机构、图书馆以及现代大学所有的所有其他不菲装备。这些东西使得高等教育更加昂贵，如果你只想提供在线入门课程，这些都不必要。为了竞争，史密斯需要让StraighterLine 课程尽可能便宜。

So he devised a clever way under the accreditation wall, brokering deals whereby a handful of accredited traditional and for-profit institutions agreed to become “partner colleges” that would allow students to transfer in StraighterLine courses for credit. After the credits were accepted—laundered, a cynic might say—students could theoretically transfer them anywhere else in the higher education system. The partner colleges stood to benefit from the deal as well. They all had their own online endeavors, but those required hefty marketing investments to keep new students enrolling. The schools reasoned that the StraighterLine relationship would introduce them to potential new students, with some StraighterLine customers sticking around to take their more advanced (and expensive) courses.

所以他在认证壁垒之下，设计了很巧妙的方法，与少数几家传统赢利认证机构达成协议，成为“伙伴院校”，可以将StraighterLine课程转化为学分。在学分认可之后——愤世嫉俗者可能说是学分被洗之后——理论上，学生可以将这些学分转入任何高教系统。伙伴院校也从中获利。他们都有自己的在线课程，但需要巨额营销投入才能不断吸收新生。学校的说法是，StraighterLine关系会使他们接触潜在的新生，而有些StraighterLine客户甚至还想上他们的高级（昂贵）课程。

One of StraighterLine’s original partner colleges was Fort Hays State University, just off I-70 in Hays, Kansas. Smith had met the school’s provost, Larry Gould, at a higher education technology conference back in 2001. Soon after, Fort Hays became one of the first clients for Smarthinking’s tutoring services. When Smith approached Gould in late 2007 with the StraighterLine concept, the provost paid four faculty members to review StraighterLine’s curricula and course materials—a level of scrutiny, he notes, that far exceeds that given to most credits students transfer in. “Right now students can bring in up to sixty credits from community colleges,” Gould told me, “even though we often don’t know who taught those courses or even what the syllabi look like. The StraighterLine people we know, and the course materials are there to see.”

StraighterLine最初的伙伴院校之一是Fort Hays州立大学，就在堪萨斯州Hays I-70洲际公路 边上。在2001年的教育技术会议上，史密斯遇到了该校的教务长Larry Gould。很快，Fort Hays成了Smarthinking辅导服务的第一批客户。当2007年末，史密斯向Gould推出了StraighterLine概念，教务长花钱请四名员工审查了StraighterLine的课表和教材——他说，审慎程度远远超过了学生们要转入的学分审查。“目前，学生可以从社区大学获得60个学分，”Gould告诉我，“即使我们不知道谁给这些学生上课，或者课表如何，我们看得到StraighterLine的人和教材。”

But as word of the StraighterLine deal spread around the Fort Hays campus, professors and students began to protest. By early 2009 a Facebook group called “FHSU students against Straighter Line” had sprung up, attracting more than 150 members. “Larry Gould,” they charged, “has taken steps that will inevitably cheapen the quality and value of a degree from Fort Hays State University by placing our university in bed with a private corporation… . [T]he end result of this move is that FHSU would have a viable reason to eliminate faculty positions in favor of utilizing services like Straighter Line.” The English Department announced its displeasure while a well-known academics’ blog warned of the encroaching “media-software–publishing–E-learning-complex.” Gould was denounced in the Fort Hays student newspaper.

但是，随着StraighterLine交易的消息传遍了Fort Hays校园，师生们开始抗议。2009年初， Facebook上出现了一个名为“FHSU学子反对Straighter Line”的群组，吸引了150多名成员。 “Larry Gould,” 他们批判道，“采取措施让我们学校与私人企业同床共枕，势必会削弱Fort Hays州立大学文凭的质量和价值… .这个行动使FHSU有充分的理由削减教师职位，利用诸如Straighter Line等服务。”英语系宣布其不满，而一个知名的学术博客则警告大家当心不断入侵的“媒体-软件-发布-电子学习的联合体。”Fort Hays 学生报纸公然抨击Gould。

Soon the story was picked up by the national higher education trade publication Inside Higher Ed, which caught the attention of the accreditor that oversees Fort Hays. The accreditor began asking questions, not just of Fort Hays but also of some of the other partner colleges, including for-profit Grand Canyon University and Ellis University. This prompted more news coverage and Internet chatter; one blog led with the headline, “Something Crooked About StraighterLine?”

很快，全国高等教育商业出版物Inside Higher Ed报道了该故事，引起了监管Fort Hays的认证机构。该认证机构开始质疑，不仅仅质疑Fort Hays，也质疑其他合作大学，包括盈利的大峡谷大学和伊利斯大学。这导致了更多新闻报道和网上讨论；甚至有篇博文的标题就是，“StraighterLine不诚实？”

Within months, Grand Canyon and Ellis had ended their involvement with the company. The controversy eventually took a toll on Fort Hays as well; in June the university informed StraighterLine that it was considering bringing the relationship to an end. Smith had to recruit several new partner colleges to stay afloat.

数月中，Grand Canyon和 Ellis不再参与该公司事务。这个矛盾最终也使Fort Hays遭受重创；6月份，校方通知StraighterLine他们在考虑结束合作关系。史密斯不得不招募几所新院校才能顺利经营。

When I spoke with Smith again in June, the whole experience had left him frustrated. “A couple of posts from grad students who’ve never even seen or taken one of the courses pop up on Facebook,” he said, “and North Central [the accreditor] launches an investigation. Meanwhile, there are horror stories about bad teaching at regular universities on RateMyProfessors.com”—a popular student feedback site—“and they don’t give it a second look.” Since traditional colleges provide virtually no public information about how much students learn in their introductory courses and won’t even agree on a common standard for how such results could be measured, there was no way for Smith to prove the quality of his courses in the face of accusations. And Smith’s Facebook critics weren’t looking all that closely at their own institution; even as they warned, “If we don’t fight against Straighter Line, it will be the death of the awesome, face-to-face education that FHSU has provided students for decades,” the university was itself teaching thousands of students online through the Fort Hays “Virtual College,” and using Smarthinking tutors to do it.

6月，我再次与史密斯交谈时，整个经历让他倍受挫折。“有些根本没有看过或上过我们课程的研究生在Facebook上发帖，”他说，“然后North Central（认证中心）开展了调查。同时，在RateMyProfessors.com（一个很流行的学生反馈网站）上出现了对常规大学恶劣的教学质量的恐怖报道，他们甚至都不再多看一眼。”由于传统大学几乎不提供学生在入门课程中学到多少内容的公开信息，甚至没有衡量结果的公用标准达成共识，在面临指摘时，史密斯无法证明他的课程质量。而史密斯的Facebook批判者也没有仔细看看自己的学院；甚至就在他们警告“如果我们不与StraighterLine对抗，FHSU数年来为学生提供的令人敬畏的面对面的教育就会死亡”的同时，大学本身却通过Fort Hays的“虚拟学院”在线教授数千名学生，并且还利用Smarthinking的导师这么做。

Meanwhile, Smarthinking’s executive management team (the company is privately held) began questioning why they were spending so much time and effort beating against the accreditation wall. StraighterLine enrolled a few hundred students in its first year of operation, accounting for only a marginal piece of Smarthinking revenues. The company’s core business was serving colleges and universities, they reasoned, not competing with them. By the end of July, Smith had stepped down as company president and was finalizing negotiations to take over StraighterLine as a separate business.

同时，Smarthinking的执行管理团队（公司为私有）开始质疑为什么他们花这么多时间和精力打破认证壁垒。StraighterLine第一年运作时招募了几百名学生，对于Smarthinking的利润只是杯水车薪。他们认为该公司的核心业务是为学院和大学服务，而非与之竞争。7月底，史密斯辞去了公司总裁的职务，最终谈判，将StraighterLine当做独立业务接管下来。

Smith’s struggle to establish StraighterLine suggests that higher education still has some time before the Internet bomb explodes in its basement. The fuse was only a couple of years long for the music and travel industries; for newspapers it was ten. Colleges may have another decade or two, particularly given their regulatory protections. Imagine if Honda, in order to compete in the American market, had been required by federal law to adopt the preestablished labor practices, management structure, dealer network, and vehicle portfolio of General Motors. Imagine further that Honda could only sell cars through GM dealers. Those are essentially the terms that accreditation forces on potential disruptive innovators in higher education today.

史密斯创建StraighterLine的艰苦挣扎表明，当互联网的炸弹在地下室爆炸之前，高等教育仍有时间。对于音乐和旅游业，保险丝只不过是几年时间；报业则是10年。高校可能还可以拖10、20年，尤其是他们有政策保护。想象一下，如果本田为了在美国市场上竞争，按照联邦法律必须采用现有的劳工惯例、管理结构、经销商网络和通用汽车的系列产品。再想象一下，本田只能通过通用汽车的经销商出售。这本质上就是认证机构强加于高等教育中具有破坏力的改革者的条款。

There’s a psychological barrier as well. Most people are so invested in the idea of education-by-institution that it’s hard to imagine another way. There’s also a sense that for-profit schools are a little sleazy (and some of them are). Because Web-based higher education is still relatively new, and the market lacks information that allows students to compare introductory courses at one institution to another, consumers tend to see all online courses in the same bad light. “The public isn’t good at discriminating,” says Larry Gould. “They read ‘online course’ and they think ‘low quality,’ even when it’s not true.”

还有个心理障碍。在大多数人头脑中，在学校接受教育的想法如此根深蒂固，难以想象其他方法，而且还有一种感觉，赢利学校质量有点差（有些确实如此）。因为网络高等教育相对而言仍是新事物，市场缺乏信息供学生比较两种机制的入门课程，所以，消费者都倾向于用相同的不满态度看待所有在线课程。“公众不善于鉴别，”Larry Gould。“他们看到‘在线课程’就想到‘质量恶劣’，哪怕情况并非如此。”

But neither the regulatory nor the psychological obstacles match the evolving new reality. Consumers will become more sophisticated, not less. The accreditation wall will crumble, as most artificial barriers do. All it takes is for one generation of college students to see online courses as no more or less legitimate than any other—and a whole lot cheaper in the bargain—for the consensus of consumer taste to rapidly change. The odds of this happening quickly are greatly enhanced by the endless spiral of steep annual tuition hikes, which are forcing more students to go deep into debt to pay for college while driving low-income students out altogether. If Burck Smith doesn’t bring extremely cheap college courses to the masses, somebody else will.

但不论是法规还是心理障碍都不符合不断发展的新现状。消费者会更精明。文凭认证的壁垒会倒塌，如众多人为障碍一样。想让消费者偏好同意迅速变化需要的是一代大学生把在线课程当做合法课程——而且价格要便宜很多。由于每年学费暴涨，这种事情发生的可能性大大增加，迫使更多学生举债读书，而低收入的学生根本就上不了学。就算伯克·史密斯不能带给大众极其便宜的大学课程，也会有其他人去做的。

Which means the day is coming—sooner than many people think—when a great deal of money is going to abruptly melt out of the higher education system, just as it has in scores of other industries that traffic in information that is now far cheaper and more easily accessible than it has ever been before. Much of that money will end up in the pockets of students in the form of lower prices, a boon and a necessity in a time when higher education is the key to prosperity. Colleges will specialize where they have comparative advantage, rather than trying to be all things to all people. A lot of silly, too-expensive things—vainglorious building projects, money-sucking sports programs, tenured professors who contribute little in the way of teaching or research—will fade from memory, and won’t be missed.

这意味着那一天终将来到——比大多数人想象得要快——有大量的钱突然从高等教育体系中不翼而飞，就好像其他产业一样，信息流量前所未有地便宜而且收取方便。这笔钱大部分都会以更低廉的价格留在学生的口袋中，当高等教育是繁荣的关键时，这既是便利条件也是必须条件。大学专门从事他们有比较优势的地方，而不是对所有人都面面俱到。大批愚蠢而超级昂贵的东西——虚荣的建筑、圈钱的运动项目、对教学或研究贡献寥寥无几的终身教授——都会从记忆中淡出，而且无人怀念。

But other parts of those institutions will be threatened too—vital parts that support local communities and legitimate scholarship, that make the world a more enlightened, richer place to live. Just as the world needs the foreign bureaus that newspapers are rapidly shutting down, it needs quirky small university presses, Mughal textile historians, and people who are paid to think deep, economically unproductive thoughts. Rather than hiding within the conglomerate, each unbundled part of the university will have to find new ways to stand alone. There is an unstable, treacherous future ahead for institutions that have been comfortable for a long time. Like it or not, that’s the higher education world to come.

但是这些机构的其他方面也会受到威胁——支持当地社区和合法学术的关键部分，让世界成为更文明更富裕的居住场所。正如世界需要报纸迅速关闭的海外分设，它也同样需要不同寻常的小型大学报纸，莫卧儿王朝纺织品历史学家，还有付费让他们思考深入但在经济上没有产出的思想的人。大学的每个部分都必须找到新方法以独树一帜，而不是淹没在大融合中。对于一直以来十分安逸的大学而言，未来毫不稳定，充满艰辛。无论你是否喜欢，未来的高等教育世界就是这样。

Kevin Carey is the policy director of Education Sector, an independent think tank in Washington, D.C.

Kevin Carey是华盛顿独立智囊团教育板块的政策主管。

You should check out our twitter-like homepage here :D

原文链接：Personal Development for Smart People
作者：Steve Pavlina
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

Ask myself, “Where is the joy?”

问自己，“什么是快乐？”

Listen for the right frequency.

聆听，寻找正确的频率。

Once I got it, increase the volume until I’m feeling extremely joyful and connected.

一旦我收到了，调大音量，直到我感到万分快乐并与周围发生连接。

Strive to be direct and forthright. Genuine honesty is truth tempered with love. Using truth as a weapon is not a loving act, but shedding light on an otherwise dark situation is certainly in our best interests.

努力做到直接而坦率，真正的诚实是用爱锻造的真理。把真理当作武器不是爱的行为，但如果给黑暗带来光明则肯定对我们大有裨益。

Even when it seems painful and embarrassing to tell the truth, you do more damage by holding back.

即使讲真话很痛苦、尴尬，但如果不这么做，你会伤害更多。

In order to truly experience unconditional love, you must make yourself naked to the world.

为了真正经历无条件的爱，你必须让自己赤诚面对世界。

Instead of being more generous with your friends and family members as opposed to strangers, oneness will encourage you to be more generous in those areas where you can have a greater impact, regardless of your current social loyalties.

合一(oneness)鼓励你在你本可以有更大影响力的领域更慷慨，不论你当前的社会忠诚度如何，而不只是对朋友和家人慷慨。

Everyone is part of your family.

每个人都是你家庭的一部分。

In a broader social context, fairness takes the form of justice. We must make decisions that fairly balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the larger whole. Whenever we turn a blind eye to injustice, we embrace separation instead of oneness.

在更广义的社会背景下，公平就是正义。我们的决策必须公平地平衡个人需求和大众需求。.任何时候，我们对非正义睁一只眼闭一只眼，我们就是拥护分离(separation)了。

If you live entirely for yourself, life will amount to very little against the backdrop of all humanity.

如果你完全只为自己而活，生命在全人类的大背景下就变得微不足道了。

By aligning yourself with the highest good, your role takes on much greater significance.

当你将自己和最崇高的标准看齐时，你的角色就会更重要。

You can’t continue making decisions solely at the personal, family, or communal level. You must consider how your thoughts and actions impact the planet as a whole.

你不能一直在个人、家庭、社区层面进行决策。你必须考虑自己的思维和行为会如何从整体层面影响这个星球。

To deny such responsibility is to succumb to an illusion. You can’t avoid the responsibility for what happens on earth because you’re a part of it.

否认这样的责任就是屈服于幻想。你不能逃避地球上所发生的事情的责任，因为你是其中一部分。

If you think the planet needs saving, you’re responsible for saving it.

如果你认为我们的星球需要节约，那么你就有责任节约。

If you think our leaders have gotten off track, you’re responsible for getting us back on track.

如果你认为我们的领导偏离了正轨，那么你就有责任让我们回到正轨上。

If you see problems in the world that aren’t adequately being addressed, you’re responsible for addressing those problems.

如果你看到世界上的问题没有充分得到解决，那么你就有责任解决这些问题。

You don’t need to build a vast global operation to cure every problem on earth. You just need to remain aware of how your actions affect the whole and start making decisions today to align yourself with the greater good.

你不需要建立一个广大的全球营运机构来解决地球上的所有问题。你只要保持警觉自己的行为如何影响整体，而从今天起，做决策时就与最崇高的目标看齐。

Spending time in nature is one of the simplest things you can do to experience oneness. Stop doing, stop thinking, and just be among the plants and animals.

亲近自然是经历合一的最简单的方法之一。停止行动，停止思考，只要融入动植物的世界就好。

You should check out our twitter-like homepage here :D

原文链接：Personal Development for Smart People
作者：Steve Pavlina
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

Power is your ability to consciously and deliberately create the world around you.

能力是你有意识地创造周围世界的才能。

No matter your history, the burden of responsibility for your life now rests squarely on your shoulders. Blame can only make you powerless.

不论你的历史如何，生活责任的重担现在不偏不倚地落在了你的肩头。责备只会让你无力。

No one is coming to rescue you.

没人救得了你。

If you don’t proactively solve your own problems, they’ll never be solved.

如果你不积极解决自己的问题，那么问题永远也解决不了。

If you want different results, you must go out and create them yourself.

如果你想要不同的结果，你必须亲自出动，亲自创造。

Desire is the fuel of power. Enjoy the progressive fulfillment of your desires through the exercise of your power.

欲望是能力的燃料。享受通过实施能力一步步实现你的愿望。

What do you want?

你想要什么？

What do you fantasize about?

你的梦想是什么？

What do you long for so badly that you can’t stop thinking about it, even if you consider it impossible?

什么东西你如此渴望，难以放弃不想，即使你觉得毫无可能？

Never deny that you want what you want. When you deny your desires, you fall out of alignment.

千万别否认你想要自己想要的。当你否认自己的愿望时，你就无法校准。

You’re completely free to decide what you want.

你完全有自由决定自己想要什么。

You don’t need anyone’s permission or approval.

你不需要任何人的许可或同意。

Your choices are yours to make and can never be dictated by others.

你的选择由你自己做，别人绝不能左右你。

You never need to justify what you want.

你想要什么，绝不需要理由。

You want what you want, and that is enough.

你想要自己想要的，仅此而已。

Life is constantly asking, “What do you want?”

生活就是不断地问，“你想要什么？”

Answer that question however you wish.

按照你的愿望来回答。

True power only exists in the present.

真正的能力只存于当下。

There is no power in the past. It’s done.

过去没有能力。都结束了。

There is no power in the future. It’s only in your imagination.

未来也没有能力，它只存在于你的想象中。

You have no power to act yesterday or tomorrow.

你对昨天或明天毫无影响。

Whenever you project beyond the present, you make yourself powerless because you’re succumbing to an illusion.

当你超越现在时，你就让自己变得毫无能力，因为你在对幻觉屈服。

The purpose of goal-setting isn’t to control the future.

设定目标的目的不是控制未来。

The point of goal-setting is to improve the quality of the present.

设定目标的目的是改善当下的质量。

Ask, “How does setting this goal improve my present reality?”

问，“设定这个目标如何改善我当前的现实状况？”

If it doesn’t, then the goal is pointless.

如果没有，那么目标就没有意义。

But if it brings greater clarity, focus, and motivation to your life when you think about it, it’s a keeper.

但如果当你思考时，这个目标可以给你的生活带来更多确定性、焦点、动力，那么它就值得追求。

Set goals that make you feel powerful, motivated, and driven when you focus on them, long before the final outcome is actually achieved. Avoid setting goals that make you feel powerless, stressed, or weak.

设定那些远在你真正获得最终结果之前就让你感到充满力量、充满动力、驱使你向前的目标。避免设定让你感到无力、压力重重或软弱的目标。

When you set a goal that improves your present reality, what does it matter how long it takes to achieve the final outcome? Whether it takes one week or five years is irrelevant. The whole path is fun and enjoyable.

当你设定一个改善你当前现实的目标时，需要多久才能实现又有什么关系？不论是要1周还是5年，都不相干。这个过程有趣而值得享受。

Whenever I focus on an inspiring goal, I feel extremely driven and motivated.

任何时候，只要我聚焦于鼓舞人心的目标时，我就感到极其有动力。

Material goals always de-motivate me.

物质目标总让我失去动力。

If you find yourself unmotivated, you’ve set the wrong goals. You need to set goals that are so inspiring to you that you can’t wait to take action.

如果你发现自己动机不明，那么你定错了目标。你需要设定鼓舞你迫不及待想要行动的目标才对。

Self-discipline is the willingness to do what it takes to achieve the results you want regardless of your mood.

自律是不论自己的情绪如何，都愿意做为了获得目标而需要做的事情。

When you’re feeling unmotivated, apathetic, bored or lazy, self-discipline provides your second wind and keeps you moving.

当你觉得缺乏动力、消极、无聊或懒惰，自律带给你新鲜空气，让你继续前进。

Motivation is highest at the beginning of a project. Self-discipline can prevent you from quitting. Motivation starts the race, but self-discipline crosses the finish line.

在项目开始之初，动力最强。自律可以防止你放弃。动力让你开始比赛，但自律让你冲过终点。

Self-discipline remains one of the most significant aspects of personal development.

自律仍然是个人发展最重要的一部分。

Progressive training requires that once you succeed, you must increase the challenge. If you keep working at the same level, you won’t get much stronger.

渐进训练要求你一旦成功，就增加挑战。如果你不断在同一水平练习，你无法变得更强大。

The first hour is the rudder of the day. Adopt a disciplined routine for the first waking hour, and you’ll enjoy a highly productive day.

最开始的阶段确定了日后的方向。在清醒的第一时间，有纪律地例行公事，那么一天效率都很高。

You should check out our twitter-like homepage here :D

原文链接：Personal Development for Smart People
作者：Steve Pavlina
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

“What seems nasty, painful, evil can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.” – Henry Miller

“如果心态开放，即使丑陋、痛苦、邪恶的东西也可以变为美丽、快乐和力量的源泉。”—亨利·米勒

Your first commitment must be to discover and accept new truths, no matter how difficult or unpleasant the consequences.

你的首要任务应该是发现并接受新真理，不论过程多么艰难抑或结果多么令人不快。

Perception is the most basic aspect of truth. If you want to improve some part of your life, you have to look at it first.

认知是真理的最基本层面。如果想改善自己生活中的某个部分，首先你要先研究一下。

For example, if you want to know how your relationship is doing, you ask yourself, “How do I feel about this relationship? What parts are working well? What parts need improvement?”

比如，你想知道自己的关系如何，问问自己，“对于这种关系，我感觉如何？哪些方面比较好？哪些部分需要改善？”

You can’t get from point A to point B if you refuse to acknowledge that you’re at point A!

如果你拒绝承认自己身处A点，你就无法从A点到达B点！

What do you perceive about your life that you’d like to change?

对于自己想要改变的生活，你有什么认识？

Are there any addictions or destructive habits you’d like to break?

有没有你想打破的上瘾或者破坏性习惯？

Look around you and notice what you like and dislike about your life.

反省自己，看看你的生活中，有哪些是你喜欢的，哪些不喜欢。

Prediction is how you learn from experience, enabling you to discover what is true. As you observe any new situation or event, one of two things can happen: either the experience will meet your expectations, or it won’t. When an experience meets your expectations, your mental model of reality remains intact. But when an experience violates your expectations, your mind must update its model of reality to fit the new information. This is how you learn from experience and discover new truths.

预测是你如何从经验中学习，促使你发现什么是真理。当你观察任何新情况或事件时，以下两件事总有一件会出现：要么经验会满足你的预期，要么不会。当经验满足你的预期时，你的现实大脑模型保持不变。但当经验违反了你的预期，大脑必须更新它的现实模型以适应新信息。这是你从经验中学习并发现新真理的方法。

If something satisfies all your expectations, you won’t learn anything new. To help you grow, something (this book) must violate your expectations and give you some unexpected “Aha!” moments.

如果有东西满足你所有的期望，你无法学到新知识。为了帮助你成长，有些东西（譬如本书）必须使你的期望幻灭，让你出乎意料地“啊！”一声。

There are two powerful ways you can apply your mind’s predictive powers to accelerate your personal growth:

有两种强有力的方法可以供你应用自己的思维预测性力量来加速个人成长：

1. Embrace new experiences that are unlike anything you’ve previously encountered.

1. 拥抱那些与过去经历截然不同的新经验。

You’ll literally become more intelligent. New situations shift your mind into learning mode, which enables you to discover new patterns. The more patterns your mind learns, the better it gets at prediction, and the smarter you become.

你会变得更有智慧。新环境让你的思维进入学习模式，促使你发现新模式。你学到的模式越多，预测就越准确，你就变得越聪明。

Read a book on a topic that’s completely alien to you. Talk to people you’d normally avoid. Visit an unfamiliar city. Stretch beyond the patterns your mind has already learned. In order to grow, you must repeatedly tackle fresh challenges and consider new ideas to give your mind fresh input. If you merely repeat the same experiences, you’ll stagnate, and your mental capacity will atrophy.

就一个完全陌生的话题，读一本书。和你通常避免讲话的人交谈。访问不熟悉的城市。超越思维定势。为了成长，你必须不断解决新的挑战，考虑新观点，给大脑新鲜输入。如果你只重复相同的经验，就会停滞不前，脑容量会萎缩。

If you want to become smarter, you must keep stirring things up.

如果想变得更聪明，就必须不断搞搞新意思。

2. Make conscious deliberate predictions and use those predictions to make better decisions.

2. 有意识地进行预测，用这些预测作出更好的决定。

Think about where you’re headed and ask yourself, “How do I honestly expect my life to turn out?”

想想你的方向，问自己，“诚实地说，我希望自己的生活是怎样的？”

Imagine that a very logical impartial observer examines your situation in detail, and predicts what your life will look like in 20 years, based on your current behavior. What kind of future will this person predict for you?

假设有一位逻辑极其公正的观察家仔细审查你的情况，根据你当前的行为，预测20年后你的生活会怎样。这个人为你预测的未来会怎样呢？

Positive feelings stem from positive predictions.

积极的情感源自积极的预测。

When you feel good, your mind is anticipating a positive outcome.

当你感觉好时，你的大脑预测积极的结果。

When you feel bad, your mind expects an unfavorable outcome.

当你感觉不好时，你的大脑预期不利的结果。

The closer your internal model of reality matches actual reality, the more capable you become.

你内在的现实模型和真正的现实模型越接近，你的能力就越强。

Accept the long-term consequences of your predictions.

接受你预测的长期结果。

Do you accept the truth of where you’ll likely end up?

你能接受最终的真相吗？

Are you willing to live with those consequences?

你愿意在这样的结果下生活吗？

Whatever you fear, you must eventually face.

不论你怕什么，你始终都要面对。

Don’t deny the truth of the situation.

不要否认情况的真相。

Never pretend to be happy.

不要假装开心。

Make your important decisions from the most reasonable thinking you can muster – when you feel alert, clearheaded, and intelligent. Put the decisions in writing and fully commit yourself to them. When you inevitably sink back to lower states and lose sight of the higher perspective, continue to act on those decisions even though you may no longer feel as committed to them.

用你能掌握的最理性的思考来做重要决定——当你警觉、头脑清醒、充满智慧的时候。把决定写下来，然后全力以赴。当你不可避免地陷入低迷状态，看不到更高的层面时，也继续执行这些决定，哪怕你觉得不再想全力以赴。

When you make choices from a place of anger, fear, sadness, or guilt, you cannot be aligned with truth because your predictions will be negatively biased by those lower states.

当你在愤怒、恐惧、悲哀或内疚的情况下做决定时，你无法与真相保持一致，因为你的预测会应因为这些低迷状态而产生负面影响。

Positive emotions can make you overly optimistic, encouraging you to take unreasonable risks and to make overaggressive promises that you won’t keep.

积极的情绪会让你过度乐观，鼓励你出乎情理地冒险，作出你无法信守过度激进的承诺。

Secondary gain is when you temporarily benefit(gain) by embracing falsehood. Lying to get ahead. Etc.

次要收获是当你暂时受益于假象的时候。撒谎以前进。诸如此类。

The more you succumb to secondary gain, the phonier you become as a human being.

你越屈服于次要收获，你就成了越虚伪的人。

Instead of abiding friendship and human intimacy, you settle for a sea of casual contacts, none of whom know, accept, and love the real you.

你将就于随意的关系，没有人了解、接受、爱真正的你，无法建立真正的友谊和人与人之间那种亲密的关系。

The pursuit of secondary gain leads to persistent dissatisfaction, emptiness, and unhappiness.

追求次要收获会导致永远的不满、空虚和不幸。

Rate the different areas of your life each from 1 to 10:

- Habits & daily routine
- Career & work
- Money & finances
- Health & fitness
- Education
- Social & relationships
- Home & family
- Emotions
- Character & integrity
- Life purpose & contribution
- Spiritual development

从1至10，给你生活的不同领域打分：

— 习惯与日常工作
— 职业与工作
— 金钱与理财
— 健康与运动
— 教育
— 社交与关系
— 家与家庭
— 情感
— 性格与诚实
— 生命的意义与贡献
— 心灵发展

Take every rating that isn’t a 9 or 10 and replace it with a 1.

所有未达到9分或10分的都取出，用1代替。

A 7 is what you get when you allow too much falsehood and denial to creep into your life – when you know you don’t have what you want, but you aren’t ready to face up to it yet. A 7 is a comfortable living arrangement instead of a deeply fulfilling relationship.

7分是当你让太多虚假和否定蚕食你的生活——当你知道没得到自己想要的，但也没准备好面对这个事实。7分是一种舒服的生活安排，而不是真正充实的关系。

Look at each part of your life again, and ask yourself:

再次看看你生活中的每个部分，问自己：

What do I truly want?

我真正想要的是什么？

What is my dream, my grand vision?

我的梦想，我的伟大愿景是什么？

What is the deep desire I’ve been longing for – the one that I hesitate to admit because I don’t think I can have it?

我最深的渴望是什么——因为我觉得无法拥有而害怕承认的那个？

What path do I most want to experience?

我最想体验哪种经历？

Accept that you want what you want, and stop living in denial of your true desires.

接受你想要自己想要的东西这一事实，不再生活在否认自己的真实愿望中。

Media fast : For 30 days, no TV, and avoid all newspapers, magazines, online media sources. Unplug yourself completely and see what happens.

媒体斋戒：30天内，不看电视，避免所有报纸、杂志、在线媒体资源。把自己完全断电，看看结果会怎样。

You should check out our twitter-like homepage here :D

原文链接：Personal Development for Smart People
作者：Steve Pavlina
译者：Esther

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

LOVE

爱

One of the fundamental choices you face in every encounter is the choice to approach or avoid.

在每一个际遇中，你要面对的一个基本选择是去接近还是逃避。

You can try to connect with people, or you can pull away from them.

你可以尝试和人们打交道，也可以避而远之。

You can immerse yourself in your day’s work, or you can procrastinate.

你可以一天都沉浸在工作中，也可以拖拖拉拉。

You can approach any person, place, or thing with the intention to connect, or you can remain aloof and keep your distance.

你可以为了建立联系而接近任何人、地点或事物，你也可以高高在上，保持距离。

The decision to connect is the essence of love.

连接的决定是爱的核心。

By your actions, you decide what to link up with and what to avoid.

通过你的行为，你决定连接什么，避免什么。

Whenever you choose to make one connection, you simultaneously choose not to connect with all of the other possibilities.

当你选择建立一个连接时，你自动选择不与其他所有可能性连接。

Your life becomes a reflection of what you choose to connect with most often. When you feel good about your connections, you come into greater alignment with the principle of love.

你的生活反映了你选择的最经常连接的东西。当你对自己的连接感到满意时，你就与爱的原则更加一致。

You must master the art of forming connections.

你必须掌握建立连接的艺术。

Give something your attention. Think about it. Engage with it.

关注某件事情。去思考。去投入。

Whether groups, objects, places, ideas, values, and activities.

不论是群组、物体、地方、想法、价值观还是活动。

Establishing a link requires nothing but your attention.

建立纽带唯一需要的是你的注意力。

Put your attention on something and you immediately connect with it.

将你的注意力集中在某件事情上，你立即就会与之建立联系。

The best way to fulfill our desires is to walk up to whatever interests us and engage with it directly.

满足我们欲望的最佳方法是接近我们感兴趣的任何东西，直接投入。

You communicate effectively by first connecting with the familiar and then branching out into the unfamiliar. When you meet someone new, the first step is to discover your shared interests, values, and attitudes. This creates a basic bond of trust and friendship. The next step is to explore and learn from your differences.

有效的沟通，先是与熟悉的东西建立连接，然后再延伸到不熟悉的领域。当你新认识一个人，第一步是发现你们共同的兴趣爱好，价值观和态度。这会创建信任和友谊的基本纽带。下一步是探索你们的不同之处，然后彼此学习。

Don’t forget that the primary purpose of communication is to create a connection with the other person.

别忘了，沟通的主要目的是与另一个人创建联系。

Your connection with another person is whatever you think it is. Your belief makes the relationship real. If you cease to believe in it, it no longer exists.

你和另一个人的关系，你想怎样，就会怎样。你的信念让关系变得真实。如果你不再相信，它就不复存在。

The true purpose of relationships is self-exploration. When you feel a deep sense of communion with another person, you’re actually connecting deeply with an important part of yourself. By communing with others, you learn to love yourself more fully.

关系的真正目的是自我探索。当你与另一个人深层次交流时，你其实是与自己的重要部分深层次连接。通过与他人沟通，你学会更完全地爱自己。

Presuppose everyone else is a part of you, just like one of your own dream characters. There are no strangers. There are no insignificant people. Everyone has something to teach you.

假设其余所有人都是你的一部分，就像你的梦中人物一样。没有陌生人。没有无足轻重的人。每个人都有供你学习的东西。

Instead of having to break the ice with someone, assume there is no ice.

与其不得不打破沉默，不如假设那根本不存在沉默。

When you fail to release incompatibilities from your life, you settle for mere tolerance and prevent compatible new connections from forming.

当你未能从自己的生活中释放出不相容的部分时，你只能勉强容忍，妨碍了建立新的相容联系。

Time Travel Meditation:

时间之旅般的冥想：

Imagine having a conversation with your future self, 5 years from now.

假设你与5年之后的自己对话。

Ask anything you want, and listen for the answers.

问问你想要什么，然后听听答案。

Imagine having a conversation with your past self, from 5 years ago.

想想与5年前的自己对话。

I am now that person’s future self.

我现在是那个人的未来。

What was my life like 5 years ago? What would he be asking the current me?

5年前我的人生是什么样的? 他会问现在的我什么问题？

Imagine answering how life turned out, answering with reassurance.

想象生活会变成怎样，充满肯定地回答。

Tell my past self about the challenges coming in the years ahead (that I’ve already faced).

告诉过去的自己未来的挑战（我已经面对过的）

Now future self comes back into the room. The 3 versions merge into light.

现在，未来的我回到了房间。3个版本汇集在一起。

One of the easiest ways to lovingly connect with a person is to share something with them. Share a conversation. Share experiences. Share stories. Share laughs. Share a meal. Share a game. Share yourself.

和别人充满友爱地建立联系，最简单的方法之一是和他们分享。分享对话，分享经验，分享故事，分享欢笑，一起吃饭，一起游戏。分享你自己。

When you want to develop a deeper bond with someone you’ve just met, mentally fast-forward your relationship with that person in your mind’s eye. Imagine a future time when the two of you have been friends for years. Feel the emotional bond between you becoming stronger.

当你想和你刚刚遇到的人培养深厚的感情，在头脑中想象一下你和那个人关系发展迅速。想象将来某个时刻，你们两个成了多年的朋友。感受一下你们之间的情感枢纽越来越紧密。

When you learn to love everyone and everything, you come into alignment with your true self.

当你学会爱所有人和所有事物时，你就能发现真实的自我。

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