以下這句讓我驚訝的話，來自一位在香港就讀本地名校的學生的作文：

“Our teachers in school are nice to us. They will praise us if we do a great job in exams. Oppositely, if we make some fatal mistake in exams, they will blame us with no mercy.”

我之所以驚訝，是因如果該名校的老師對學生做錯題目的態度在香港是典型的，那香港本地學校現在的教學理念跟我小時候的沒兩樣，都是給學生灌輸這個概念：「所有問題總有一個model answer，你猜對就能拿高分，就是好學生。」

報道無罪　知情有價　請即訂閱《追新聞》：
https://www.patreon.com/thechasernews

 

對比一下外國更符合AI年代的教學理念。Josh Dahn曾被Elon Musk邀請專門教授Musk和其他Space X員工的孩子，Dahn後來創立了the game-based online learning program Synthesis。Synthesis致力於幫助學生培養跳躍性思維，特別強調學生不要怕出錯：「the kids who win make more mistakes faster than everyone else. It’s the only way to learn! Your child will need to leave perfectionism at the door.」

作為英文寫作導師，我也不怕在學生面前出錯，我經常在他們面前重寫他們剛跟我上課時寫的文章，我重寫的過程不一定順利，but that is the point：我要通過身教告訴他們，寫作時碰壁是再正常不過，這樣輪到他們碰壁，他們也不會輕易放棄。

下面是一段學生寫的文字，我上課時嘗試在他面前rewrite，第一次rewrite不成功，第二次才把原文重寫好。我絕不會視第一次的不成功為可恥，因無論是學寫作，還是學其他東西，都最好持有Space X對「失敗」的態度：in the words of NASA administrator Bill Nelson, Space X “launch, and if something goes wrong, they figure out what it is, go back, and they launch it again.”

學生的原文：

Reading fiction and nonfiction both respectfully have their own benefits.Fiction inspires the mind and helps people develop critical thinking skills, encourages imagination, and empathy. On the other hand, nonfiction can broaden vocabulary, provide factual background information and helps make connections to the world around us. 

My first rewrite attempt (it didn’t work)

Though many people would take issue with Rousseau’s view that “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains,” based on my observation of how love for fiction tends to erode with age – at any library, most of the fictional books are found in the children’s section – I can’t help but agree with Rousseau. There is no freedom more keenly felt than freedom of the mind, childhood is the time when imagination is at its most unbounded, and fiction does a better job than non fiction in catering to this state.

My second rewrite attempt

There is a reason why in any library, fiction makes up most of the books in the children’s section: they exist to satisfy that thirst for fantasy so common among children. Though I’m not so young that I still believe in the tooth fairy, I’m not yet so old that the make-believe world has totally lost its drawing power. I therefore make it my mission to enjoy this phase as long as its lasts. For when I’m an adult, I’m likely to be so weighed down by work responsibilities that even if I have time left for reading, I would be forced to give priority to practical stuff like “The CFA Institute of Study Materials” or “2000 Review Question for the CPA Exam.”