华德福方式：远离科技的硅谷学校

作者：NBC新闻  Rehema Ellis

     从你踏进半岛华德福学校的一刹那，你会很清楚地感到有什么不同。

    当三年级的29个学生进入教室时，老师Allysun Sokolowski边念着每个学生的名字边和他们握手。这对她很容易，因为在加利福尼亚的Los Altos学校，她就认识这些孩子了。

    “我从一年级就教这些孩子了，经过二年级，现在我们到了三年级。而且我会一直教这些孩子直到八年级。”她说。

    这就是华德福方式。

    老师和学生间建立了很强的连结。因此，华德福老师很快就会向你指出学校没有考试或分数的必要。

   “我不需要通过分数来了解他们做的怎么样”，Sokolowski说：“我了解他们的长处和短处。我知道什么对他们来说很难，什么地方他们会闪光。我是他们带着大写“T”的老师。”

    师生间的亲密联系也许可以帮助解释为什么从小学到高中，华德福学生的人数一直在增加。学校的毕业率也接近完美。

    尽管地处硅谷中心，华德福学生并没有像全国其他那么多学校的孩子一样变成电子迷。小学不用电脑，高中生则非常有节制地使用电脑。老师说他们不是反科技，但就像他们所说，他们只是更喜欢健康的教育。

   “我关心的是，如果说我们需要科技来帮助学生，我们就忽视了一个事实，那就是，能帮助学生的是好老师和好的教学。” 华德福数学老师Lisa Babinet说。

     我问了一群高中生，他们是否觉得错过了在课堂上使用电脑和iPAD的机会。他们很果断地说“没有”。

    “我不认为我们会落后，因为这并不意味着我们就不是科技的一部分。” 高二学生Isabelle Senteno说。“我们是科技的一部分，我们只是不在课堂上使用罢了。”

    高一学生Jack Pelose刚从一所大量使用科技的学校转到华德福学校，他说他发现了不在课堂上使用电脑的好处。“自从我到这来，我的字写得好多了，”他说。

   “如今，有关科技的每样东西都很容易掌握和使用。”高三学生ZachWurtz补充说。“公司设计好了，所以每个人一旦选择就可以使用。”

    学生们说有时当他们和朋友们出去玩时，这些不是华德福学校的学生总是在社交网站和发短信上花很多时间，这很烦人。

     一个华德福学生说有时他得让他的朋友放下电子设备，这样他们才能谈话。

    如果你想像我一样知道华德福教育是如何适应外面的社会的，一个从华德福学校毕业的大一学生LailaWaheed提供了一些想法。

    18岁的Waheed有一台笔记本电脑，但她从不带到课堂上去。她用手记笔记——就像她在华德福一样——然后她把笔记敲到电脑里。这是一种学习方式，她说。

   “如果你站在教室后面观察每个屏幕，至少一半都停在Facebook上。” Waheed说几乎所有其他学生都在课堂上用笔记本电脑打字。

   “华德福教育给你一个基础说‘好，我可以把手机放在包里。我可以和一个人交谈半小时。我不需要一直都挂在网上。’” Waheed说。“个人之间的连接比你将要收到的下一条短信更有持久性，这点更可贵。”

    这很像一个华德福学生说的话。但这也是她的父亲，一位Cisco的工程师经理的心声。

    “我不认为任何人要争论科技的价值和电脑的使用，” Muneer Waheed说。“我们不 会倒退。这就是未来。”

     但他和他的妻子很清楚他们需要华德福给他们的两个孩子大部分时间提供的无科技区域。

     “他们需要这个环境和基础来发展他们的核心价值——对学习的热爱和热情。”他说。“这是他们要一直保持的东西。电脑只是个工具。”

The Waldorf Way: Silicon Valley school eschewstechnology

By Rehema Ellis
NBC News

From the moment you walk into theWaldorf School of the Peninsula there are clear signs that something differentis happening.

Allysun Sokolowski, a third-gradeteacher,  greets each one of her 29 students by name and shakes their handas they enter the classroom. It's easy for her because she's known these kidsat the Los Altos, Calif., school for a while.

"I've been teaching the samechildren from first grade, second grade and now we're in third grade. And Iwill teach these children all the way through eighth grade," she said.

It's the Waldorf way.

Teachers establish a strong bondwith students. As a result, Waldorf teachers quickly point out there's no need for tests or grades.

"I don't need grades to knowhow well they're doing," said Sokolowski. "I know their strengths, Iknow their weaknesses. I know what will be hard for them and where they willshine. I'm their teacher with a capital't.'"

The intense student-teacherconnection might help explain why students from elementary to high school arethriving. The school boasts a nearly perfect graduation rate.

Despite being in the heart ofSilicon Valley, Waldorf students are not caught up in the gadget frenzy thathas consumed so many other school children nationwide. Computers are not usedin the elementary school and they are used sparingly at the high school level.Teachers say they're not anti-technology, but, as they put it, they're just infavor of healthy education.

"I'm concerned that if we saywe need technology to engage students we're missing the fact that what engagesstudents is good teachers and good teaching," said Lisa Babinet, a Waldorfmath teacher.

I asked a group of high school students if they missed having computers andiPads as part of their lessons they all emphatically said "No."

"I don't think we're gonna be left behind at all because it's not likewe're not a part of technology at all," said sophomore Isabelle Senteno."We are a part of it, we just don't incorporate it in the lessons."

Jack Pelose, a freshman who transferred to Waldorf from a school that used alot of technology, said he noticed the benefits of not using computers inclass. "My cursive has gotten a lot better since I've been here," hesaid.

"Everything about technology is so easy to pick up and use nowadays,"added senior Zach Wurtz . "The companies design it so anyone can use itwhen they choose to."

The students talked about being annoyed sometimes when they hang out withfriends who are not Waldorf students, who spend a lot of time on socialnetworking sites and texting.

One Waldorf student said he sometimes has to ask his friends to put down thegadgets so they can just talk.

And if you're wondering, like I did, how the Waldorf education translates inthe outside world, Laila Waheed, a graduate now in her first year of college,offered some insight.

Waheed, 18, has a laptop but never takes it to lectures. She takes notes byhand -- like she did at Waldorf -- and she later transfers her notes intoher computer. It's a form of studying, she said.

"If you stood at the back of the classroom and looked at every screen,at least half of them would be on Facebook," Waheed said of all the otherstudents who are typing awayon their laptops during lectures.

"A Waldorf education gives you a foundation to say, 'OK, I can put myphone in my bag. I can have a half-an-hour conversation with a person. I don'tneed to be totally connected all the time,'" Waheed said. "And that'smore valuable for making personal connections that will last longer than thenext text you're going to get."

It sounds like something a Waldorf student would say. But it’s also asentiment echoed by her father, an engineer manager at Cisco.

"I don't think anyone is debating the value of technology and the useof computers," Muneer Waheed said. "There is no going back. This isthe future."

But he and his wife have been clear about wanting the mostly technology-freezone that Waldorf provides for their two children.