One size does not fit all. That's the philosophy behind an innovative approach to primary education which started in Britain less than a decade ago.
The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) is now taught in more than 1,000 primary schools in 58 countries, including the United States. The curriculum personalizes education and applies an internationally-minded approach to learning.
国际小学课程(IPC)是一种比较新的教育方法。这个课程不到10年前在英国开始，目前包括美国在内的58个国家的1000多所学校正在教授这套课程。国际小学课程将教育个人化，并且将一种具有国际观念的方法用在学习上。
Alison Kerr is a second grade teacher in the British American School of Los Angeles, one of a few American private schools that teaches the International Primary Curriculum. She says the main goal of the curriculum is to engage children in the learning process. This term, for example, her class is learning about historical figures.
阿里森.科尔是洛杉矶英美学校二年级教师。这个学校是教授国际小学课程的几所美国私立学校之一。她说，这个课程的主要目标是使学生投入学习过程当中。比如，这个学期，她那班学生在学习历史人物。
"I got the children to come in secret and dress up with several clues of a famous person. They had to research and bring us 10 written clues and the rest of the class had to guess who these significant people were," says Kerr. "So the children do not simply do the same thing, the same work, sheet type of format every single time."
科尔说：“我让孩子们悄悄地进来，按某个名人的样子穿戴起来，但要有几条线索提示。他们得去做研究，然后写出10条提示，其他同学要根据提示猜出这位重要人物是谁。所以，孩子们不是简单地做同样的事，同样的作业，但不千篇一律。”
Educator Martin Skelton, who co-authored the IPC eight years ago, says kids need a program that allows them to learn individually.
教师马丁.斯科尔顿说，如今，全体通用型的教学方法行不通了。他8年前参与编写了国际小学课程。他说，孩子们要学有所成，就必须有一个可让他们个别学习的课程。
"Our view is the teachers should be thinking about their kid in their class and why they are not learning and trying to work out what they are going to be doing tomorrow to help individual kids learn much better," says Skelton, who adds that another important goal is preparing today’s children to become 21st century leaders. "Most of world problems are going to be solved internationally now. I mean no single country is going to solve the environment or terrorism. It’s a multi co-operational activity."
斯科尔顿说：“我们的观点是教师应该为他们班里的学生着想，他们为什么学不会，并且应该努力设想明天他们要做什么，来帮助每个孩子更好地学习。”斯科尔顿谈到，另一个主要目标是让今天的孩子做好准备，使他们成为21世纪的领导者。他说：“现在，多数全球问题需要国际社会通力合作解决。我是说，没有一个国家能单独解决环境问题或者恐怖主义问题。这是一个多方合作的行动。”
To make that possible, he says, the curriculum focuses on developing inquiring minds and personal qualities so children become good citizens of the world.
斯科尔顿介绍，要使这成为可能，国际小学课程专注于培养勤学好问的头脑和品质，让孩子们成为世界的好公民。
"We have very specific activities built in the curriculum around the development of international mindedness right from the age five onwards. We encourage the kids to mingle with schools in other countries and then of course things like skype now make that fantastically easy to do."
他说：“我们的课程当中有非常具体的活动编排，从孩子5岁起就培养他们的国际观。我们鼓励孩子们跟其他国家的学校交流，当然现在像skype之类的东西使得做这件事容易多了。”
The British School in Boston hosted a fair called Around the World in a Day. Parents and students representing 51 nationalities participated. Emma Northey, head of Primary Learning at the school, describes one activity designed to teach kids about similarities among different cultures.
埃玛.诺西是波士顿英国学校小学教学的负责人。她说：“我们的确搞过一个大型活动，叫作环球一日游。参加活动的人代表着51个国家，我们还邀请了家长。他们布置了一个很棒的展览。”诺西介绍了一个活动，让孩子们学习不同文化当中的相似之处。
"The children were each given a passport. They basically knew that they were going around the world in a day and we said to them, ‘You have to come back with two similarities that you had seen between the different cultures. Even the three year olds came back to me saying, ‘Gosh, you know everybody writes. Some people write going down. Some people write from left to right, some from right to left.’"
她说：“孩子们每人发给一本护照。他们基本上知道他们在一天时间内周游世界。我们对他们讲，你们回来时，要说一说你们在不同文化中看到的两个相似之处。就连3岁的孩子也来对我说，天哪，大家都写字，可有些人从上往下写，有些人从左往右写，有些人从右往左写。”
Kate Foy of the British School in Washington D.C. says the children have to live the learning experience and deliver their findings in the form they prefer, whether as an oral presentation, an art form, or in writing. The teacher’s role has also changed.
华盛顿特区的凯特.佛伊谈到，孩子们必须亲身体验学习经历，用他们喜好的方式来陈述所学的知识，无论是用口头表达，用艺术形式，还是写作。教师的角色也改变了。
"Teacher’s role is to facilitate the learning in their classroom, to enable those students to discover for themselves. And you kind of have to sit back a little bit," says Foy. "You have to make sure you’re asking the right questions. You maneuver yourself around the classroom and enable the children to learn as opposed to telling them and kind of spoon feeding them. No question there is no room for spoon feeding when it comes to the IPC."
佛伊说：“教师的角色是协助学生学习，让学生能够自己去发现。你似乎得把自己放在一个次要的位置，得确定你在提出恰当的问题。你在教室到处走，让学生自己学，而不是告诉他们，不能像用汤匙喂饭那样喂他们。在国际小学课程里是没有填鸭式教学的。”
IPC co-author Skelton says the feedback so far is encouraging. Students and teachers say the curriculum makes the classroom a more exciting place to be.
国际小学课程的编写人之一马丁.斯科尔顿说，到目前为止，反馈是令人鼓舞的。学生和教师都说， 这个课程使教室气氛更加活跃了。 |