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Games lessons 博弈教學(xué) Depressingly few pupils get a proper academic education 極少學(xué)生得到適當(dāng)?shù)幕A(chǔ)理論教學(xué) Jan 13th 2011 | from PRINT EDITION  I knew I should have done beauty therapy. 我知道我本應(yīng)該學(xué)習(xí)美容療法。WHEN Michael Gove, the education secretary, took up his post last May, he placed on the bare home page of his department’s website the information that he considers most important: school performance tables. A few months later, Mr Gove added to the data deluge when he announced that schools would be judged not only on the proportion of pupils that passed examinations, but also on the share passing academically rigorous ones. The revamped league tables, published on January 12th, reveal the extent to which schools have artificially inflated their performance by steering pupils towards easier exams. 當(dāng)教育部長(zhǎng)邁克·戈夫（Michael Gove）去年五月份到職，他把他認(rèn)為最重要的信息---學(xué)校表現(xiàn)參數(shù)表---放上部門(mén)網(wǎng)站的首頁(yè)。幾個(gè)月之后，當(dāng)他宣布對(duì)學(xué)校的評(píng)定將不只局限于學(xué)生考試及格的比例，還包括通過(guò)學(xué)術(shù)縝密的考試比例，戈夫?qū)W(wǎng)站添加了洪水般涌來(lái)的數(shù)據(jù)。在1月12日出版的完善成績(jī)表透露了學(xué)校采用過(guò)于簡(jiǎn)單的考試人為地夸大學(xué)校表現(xiàn)的趨勢(shì)。 Just over half of English children leave school having passed five GCSEs, including English and maths, with acceptable grades, a figure that has been rising relentlessly since that measure was introduced as the basis of school-performance tables. Yet only 16% pass their five exams in the subjects once considered essential: a science, a language and a humanity, in addition to English and maths. The rest pass vocational subjects—not surprising, perhaps, when according to the official exchange rate a GCSE in applied physical education is equivalent to one in Latin, and a vocational qualification in beauty therapy worth as much as a good pass at GCSE physics. 只有超過(guò)半數(shù)的學(xué)生離校時(shí)拿到普通中等教育證書(shū)（GCSEs），語(yǔ)文和英語(yǔ)均得到可接受的分?jǐn)?shù)；自從這個(gè)措施被作為衡量學(xué)校表現(xiàn)的根據(jù)，數(shù)字就持續(xù)地上升。但是只有16%通過(guò)五科基礎(chǔ)課的考試，包括科學(xué)、語(yǔ)言、人文、語(yǔ)文和數(shù)學(xué)，剩下的只通過(guò)職業(yè)學(xué)科。根據(jù)行政部門(mén)的互換比率，取得應(yīng)用物理的證書(shū)與拉丁文證書(shū)等效，取得美容療法的職業(yè)證書(shū)也和物理教育證書(shū)一樣等值，通過(guò)基礎(chǔ)課的低比例也許就不足為奇了。 A second reason for the low take-up of academic subjects is the declining popularity of modern languages, which were compulsory for 14-16-year-olds until 2004, but are no longer part of the national curriculum for that age group. In 2002, 76% of pupils were entered for French, German or Spanish. By 2010, that figure had fallen to 43%. 文化科目低學(xué)習(xí)率的第二個(gè)原因是現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言越來(lái)越不容歡迎；直到2004年，14-16歲學(xué)生需強(qiáng)制學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言，但是現(xiàn)在，語(yǔ)言已不包括在該年齡層學(xué)生的全國(guó)總課程中。在2002年，76%的學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)法語(yǔ)、德語(yǔ)或者西班牙語(yǔ)；到2010年，這一比例下降為43%。 That matters because directing pupils towards easier qualifications makes it impossible for them to get into the best universities. University College London, for example, has said that from 2012 it will require entrants to all its degree courses to have passed a GCSE in a modern language at grade C or above. 這一事情至關(guān)重要是因?yàn)椋瑢W(xué)生過(guò)于簡(jiǎn)單地取得資格證書(shū)將阻止他們進(jìn)入最好的大學(xué)。比如倫敦大學(xué)（UCL）已經(jīng)表明從2012年起，入學(xué)者應(yīng)取得普通中等教育證書(shū)并在現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言學(xué)科上取得C等級(jí)以上的分?jǐn)?shù)。 Some head teachers complain that the new tables are unfair, because Mr Gove’s criteria were devised after the relevant exams had been sat. Others observe that highlighting academic subjects will not stop schools distorting their methods to maximise their standing. In the past some have coached those students close to achieving five good passes while neglecting those who seem certain either to pass or fail; now teachers could come under pressure to pull the same trick, but for academic GCSEs only. The games will no doubt continue—but at least they now have a determined umpire. 一些校長(zhǎng)抱怨新的參數(shù)表不公平，因?yàn)楦攴虻臉?biāo)準(zhǔn)是在相關(guān)的考試設(shè)置完畢才規(guī)定的。其他人評(píng)論說(shuō)強(qiáng)調(diào)文化科目并不會(huì)停止學(xué)校重視地位而不惜扭曲方式的做法。在過(guò)去，有些老師會(huì)指導(dǎo)那些可以取得五科良好成績(jī)的學(xué)生，而忽視那些無(wú)望及格的學(xué)生；現(xiàn)在，僅僅在中等教育文化課上，老師迫于壓力可以采取同樣的手段。博弈無(wú)疑還在繼續(xù)，但至少現(xiàn)在有一個(gè)決意的仲裁人。 |
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來(lái)自： 燜黃鱔 > 《雙語(yǔ)頻道》
