評論
打印
French education
法蘭西教育
Bac blues
會考后的憂傷
Moves are afoot to reconsider France's harsh grading system
法國正在考慮改革它苛刻的成績評級制度
WARY of competition when it comes to global markets, the French embrace it wholeheartedly in the classroom. As school pupils enjoy the end of their summer holiday, few will relish a return to their harsh grading system. Termly reports in secondary schools record pupils' marks, in Cartesian fashion, to the nearest two decimal points. Every child knows how they compare with the average. A result at the school-leaving baccalaureat exam of 16 out of 20 is considered outstanding. For younger children, a dictee to test spelling is marked by progressively deducting points for every error, which can crush the grade down to zero, or even into negative territory.
提到全球市場，就少不了競爭中“戰戰兢兢，如履薄冰”的心態。而法蘭西一心要將這種小心翼翼奉為教育的信條。享受美好假期的孩子們一想到要回到學校那苛刻的分級制度，一個個就像霜打的茄子一樣愁容滿面。中學記錄學生成績的學期報告會使用笛卡爾的算法，將大家的成績精確到小數點后兩位。畢業會考的成績在16到20分之間的孩子才會被評為優秀。而對于這些小朋友們來說，拼寫測試中的聽寫就是扣分的戰斗機,分數被一個一個的錯誤蠶食鯨吞，這會使得他們的分數跌至零分甚至是負分。
Benot Hamon, the education minister, thinks the system, at least for younger people, is too harsh. He argues that “in France we are defined by failure”, and this begins with poor grades. He wants schools to “stimulate instead of discourage” and to give pupils more positive feedback. Mr Hamon has launched a review of the national grading system. It is due to report early next year.
法國教育部長博努瓦·哈蒙認為，這樣的教學體制，最起碼對年輕人來說實在是過于苛刻。這位教育部長認為“在法國，我們被定義成了不及格”，并且都始于過低的分數。他希望學校對學生是“鼓舞促進而不是使其喪失信心”，并且希望學校可以給學生更多積極的反饋。哈蒙部長推出了一份關于全國教育分級制度的反思評論，這份檢討將于明年早些時候公諸于世。
Mr Hamon's concern seems to be over the stress and anxiety that harsh grading inflicts on French schoolchildren, and the lack of confidence that this engenders in a country that is already excessively pessimistic. Fully 75% of the children say they worry about getting poor marks in maths, for example, according to a study by the Paris-based OECD think-tank—only just less than the figure of 78% in South Korea, and far above the 46% in Sweden.
哈蒙部長似乎是想結束苛刻分級制度給法國中小學生造成的緊張與焦慮，并提升因此制度造成國家過于悲觀而缺乏已久的自信。例如，根據位于巴黎的經合組織智庫發布研究數據，足足有75%的孩子表示他們擔心自己的數學成績會越來越差。在此項調查上法國僅略低于韓國，但是卻遠遠高于瑞典,在韓國，這樣的孩子占到78％，而在瑞典，卻只有46％。
Last year the education ministry reported on an experiment in middle schools, in which marks out of 20 were abandoned in favour of comments, or vague letter grades. Boys, the report noted, disliked a less competitive environment more than girls; stronger pupils disliked it more than weaker ones. But by creating less stress over failure, the report found, pupils were encouraged to take risks and participate in class, and often became more confident.
去年，法國教育部在中學進行了改革實驗，在這些學校中，笛卡爾的打分方式被摒棄，取而代之的是評論意見或者是模糊的字母等級。報告指出，和女生相比，男生對于這種競爭壓力小的環境并不太感冒；與那些相對弱一些的學生相比，那些成績優異的學生也不喜歡這樣的弱競爭氛圍。但是研究者們還發現，及格帶來的壓力減輕使學生們受到了鼓勵，更愿意冒險嘗試并且參與課堂活動，并且自信也與日俱增。
Curiously, it was parents rather than pupils who most resisted the absence of grades. They worried about over-protected children, and the difficulty of judging their progress. If Mr Hamon is to get anywhere, he may find that his biggest obstacle is pushy parents.
而奇怪的是，最反對模糊分數的不是學生，而是各位小朋友的家長。這些家長擔心對孩子的過度保護會難以判斷其長進。如果哈蒙部長隨處看看，他或許會發現，其實教育中最大的改革就是這些愛出風頭的固執父母。 翻譯 周曉婷 校對 邵夏沁
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