Educational Philosophy and Teaching Approaches

教育哲学及教学方法

Once you establish your vision for your child’s education and know where you want to end up, you can begin to assess what educational philosophies and teaching approaches will be most useful to help you achieve your goal.

一旦你设立了在家教育的异象，知道了你的最终目标之后，你可以开始评估哪种教育哲学及教学方法最能帮助你实现你的目标。

Some things to consider are your child’s needs, interests and learning style, plus your own educational background and preferred learning and teaching style. Other factors will be your budget, how many children you are teaching and what your children’s post-high school goals are, how much time you have for preparation and teaching and what resources are available. With those things in mind, you can determine which educational philosophy and teaching approach best fits your family at this time. Your educational philosophy will grow and change over time as you gain experience and learn along with your child. That’s normal and is to be expected. After fourteen years I have learned a lot but I’m still learning and growing in my thinking about education.

需要考虑的因素包括：你的孩子的需要、兴趣及学习模式，以及你的教育背景和喜欢的学习模式和教学模式。其它因素还有你的预算，你所教育的孩子的数量，他们高中毕业之后的目标，你有多少时间用来备课和教学，以及你有多少资源。考虑到这些因素，你可以决定哪种教育哲学及教学方法目前最适合你的家庭。随着你逐渐积累经验，与孩子一起学习，你的教育哲学会成长。正如大家所认为的，这是很正常的。在家教育14年后我学到很多，但我对教育的认识仍在学习和成长中。

Whatever you end up choosing, remember that the curriculum is a tool, not the master. You are in charge and can use the curriculum however it best suits you to achieve your goals.

无论你的选择如何，要记住教材只是工具，而不是主人。你才是主人，可以决定如何使用教材，使之最适合你，帮助你实现你的目标。

Also realize that there is not a right way and a wrong way to home educate. We need to seek God for what is right for our families at this time and give others space and grace to do what they believe is right before God for their families. Vision can be the same, but how that works out will look different for different families.

同时要认识到：在家教育没有绝对“正确”或是“错误”的方法。我们需要寻问神，哪种方法对自己家庭目前是正确的，并给别的家庭空间和恩典，允许他们采用他们从神领会的正确方法。大家的异象可以是相同的，但不同家庭可以有不同方法实现异象。

Remember that the curriculum you choose is not the most important part of your child’s education. I know of several wonderful families who chose very differently from me regarding how to teach the academics. For example, I lean strongly towards using real “living books” as the main curriculum while they primarily used a textbook approach (in some cases a curriculum that I didn’t think was very high quality). However, in addition to those textbooks they provided their children with godly teaching and great books to read, taught them life skills, limited their television and computer time, gave them opportunities for service and ministry, and provided them with musical training and athletic pursuits. If you consider that all of life is education, they did a great job of educating their kids. Being a wise, loving and godly parent is more important than how we choose to teach the academics.

记住你所选择的教材并不是你教育孩子最重要的部分。我认识几个极好的家庭，他们选择了与我完全迥异的方式来教授学业知识。例如：我非常强调使用“活的书”作为主要的教材，而他们主要采用教科书（有时是我认为水平不高的教科书）。但是，除了教科书之外，他们教导孩子敬虔，提供好书读，教授孩子生活技能，限制电视及电脑时间，给孩子服侍和事工的机会，提供音乐训练和运动机会。如果你认为生活的各个方面都是教育，那么这些家庭在教育孩子方面表现出色。成为有智慧、有爱心和敬虔的父母比我们如何教授他们学业知识要重要得多。

Keep the above things in mind as you evaluate educational philosophies and teaching styles and approaches.

当你评价教育哲学、教学模式及教学方法时，要考虑上述方面。

Ellyn and Chris Davis from www.homeschoolmarketplace.com have some very helpful thoughts concerning common teaching approaches. If you go to their website you can find much helpful advice in their past e-journals, including the full text of their April 27, 2006 article which I will quote in a condensed form here. The full article provides questions to ask yourself and a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

www.homeschoolmarketplace.com网站的爱琳和克里斯（Ellyn and Chris Davis）对于常见的教学方法有一些非常有帮助的看法。你能从他们网站上的电子日志中找到非常有帮助的建议，其中包括他们2006年4月27日发表的一篇文章，我下面将其浓缩引用。这篇文章提出了你应当自问的问题，并对不同的教学方法的强项弱项进行了总结。

Common Teaching Approaches tend to fall into two categories – traditional text-book and non-traditional text-book materials.

常见的教学方法一般分为两类 – 传统的教科书和非传统教科书的材料。

The Traditional Approach: 传统方法

“In the Traditional Approach, graded textbooks or workbooks follow a scope and sequence that covers each subject in 180 daily increments over a span of 12 years. Teacher's manuals, tests, and record keeping materials are usually available that correspond to each of the texts. Textbook curricula assume you will run your home school like an institutional school.”

“传统方法采用按年级分的教科书或作业本，它们遵循课程设计的内容及顺序，涵盖每个科目，在12年中每年分成180个每日课程量。通常有与教科书配套的教师手册、测验和分数记录材料。教科书式的教材假设你会采用学校的模式安排你的在家教育。”

Some that I am aware of are: Abeka, ACE (also known as School of Tomorrow), Bob Jones, Alpha Omega (which has booklets as well as a computer version called Switched-On Schoolhouse). Some have video programs to help do some or all of the teaching for you. There are also on-line classes, primarily for middle school and  high school students, where teachers can teach subjects which you may find difficult. These include The Potter’s School and Landry Academy.

我知道的这类教材包括 Abeka, ACE（又称之“明日的学校”），Bob Jones, Alpha Omega （有书面版的及电子版的“时新学校”）。有些提供录像课程，帮助你完成部分或全部的教学。还有一些网上课程，主要针对初中生和高中生，网上老师讲授的科目可能是你觉得困难的科目。这些包括The Potter’s School 及 Landry Academy。

Non-Textbook Approaches: 非教科书方法

“Although there are a number of excellent textbook and worktext programs available, many home educators object to the fact that textbooks are teacher-directed, chalkboard-oriented, and seldom take into account different teaching approaches or the different ways children receive and process information.

John Gatto says, ‘Real books educate. School books school.’ With textbooks, parents may feel they are “bringing the classroom home” instead of educating their children in a way that is uniquely home-based.”

“虽然有一些优秀的教科书和作业本教材，但许多在家教育者反感这种教师主导的、以黑板板书为主的、很少考虑不同的教学方法以及孩子接受和处理信息的不同方式的教材。

约翰•加托（John Gatto）说，‘真正的书可以教育人，学校的教科书只是在学校用的书’。家长可能会觉得采用教科书是‘把学校搬回家’，而非以独特的家庭方式培养孩子。”

Several of the most common non-textbook teaching approaches are as follows:

最常见的几种非教科书方法是

The Classical Approach: 古典教学法

This “is derived from successful courses of study throughout history and recently revived through the writings of Dorothy Sayers. In the Classical Approach, children under age 18 are taught tools of learning collectively known as The Trivium. The Trivium has three parts, each part corresponding to a childhood developmental stage.

这种方法“源于历史上成功的学习课程，近年来由于Dorothy Sayers的著作得以复兴。在古典教学法中，教授18岁以下的孩子学习称之为三学科的工具。三学科包括三个部分，每个部分对应于儿童成长的一个阶段。

The first stage of the Trivium, the "Grammar Stage," covers early elementary ages and focuses on reading, writing, and spelling; the study of Latin; and developing observation, listening and memorization skills. The goal of this stage is to develop a general framework of knowledge and to acquire basic language arts and math skills.
三学科的第一阶段‘语法阶段’涵盖小学阶段，侧重于阅读、写作和拼写；学习拉丁语；培养观察、聆听和背诵技能。此阶段目的是架构总的知识框架，并获得基本的语言和数学技能。

At approximately middle school age, children begin to demonstrate independent or abstract thought (usually by becoming argumentative or opinionated). This signals the beginning of the "Dialectic Stage" in which the child's tendency to argue is molded and shaped by teaching logical discussion, debate, and how to draw correct conclusions and support them with facts.

大约到中学阶段，孩子开始表现出独立思考和抽象思考（通常表现在好争论和固执己见）。这标志着‘逻辑阶段’的开始，通过教授逻辑讨论、辩论、以及如何得出正确结论、以事实支持结论，来塑造孩子们好争辩的倾向。

The goal of the Dialectic Stage is to equip the child with language and thinking skills capable of detecting fallacies in an argument. Latin study is continued, with the possible addition of Greek and Hebrew. The student reads essays, arguments and criticisms instead of literature as in the Grammar Stage. History study leans toward interpreting events. Higher math and theology begin.

‘逻辑阶段’的目的在于装备孩子语言和思考技能，能够找出辩论中的谬误。继续学习拉丁语，可能还加上希腊语和希伯来语。学生们读论文、辩论和评论，而不是像在‘语法阶段’读文学作品。历史学习侧重于解释事件。开始学习高级数学和神学。

The final phase of the Trivium, the "Rhetoric Stage," seeks to produce a student who can use language, both written and spoken, eloquently and persuasively. Students are usually ready for this stage by age 15.”

三学科的最后阶段‘修辞阶段’意在培养能使用书面及口头语言，雄辩有口才的学生。学生通常到15岁可以开始这个阶段。

A good source for the Classical Approach is www.classical-homeschooling.org/contents.html. Also, the books Teaching the Trivium by the Bluedorns and The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer explain this method.

关于古典教学法的一个好的资源是www.classical-homeschooling.org/contents.html。另外，Bluedorns的书《教授三学科》（Teaching the Trivium），Susan Wise Bauer的《优秀训练的心智》（The Well Trained Mind）都解释了这种方法。

The Unit Study Approach: 单元学习方法

“A Unit Study takes a theme or topic (a unit of study) and delves into it deeply over a period of time, integrating language arts, science, social studies, math, and fine arts as they apply. Instead of studying eight or ten separate, unrelated subjects, all subjects are blended together and studied around a common theme or project.

“单元学习是在一段时间内对一个主题或题目（一个学习的单元）深入探究，同时融入与之相关的语言、科学、社科、数学及美术方面的学习。所有的科目融合在一起，围绕着一个主题或项目进行学习，而不是学习8门或10门独立的、互不相关的科目。

For example, a unit study on birds could include reading and writing about birds and about famous ornithologists (language arts), studying the parts, functions, and life cycles of birds and perhaps even the aerodynamics of flight (science and math), determining the migration paths, habitats, and ecological/sociological impact of birds (social studies), sketching familiar birds (art), building bird houses or feeders ("hands on" activities) and so forth.

例如，以‘鸟’为主题的单元学习可以包括阅读有关鸟及鸟类学家的书及相关写作（语言），学习鸟的身体构造、功能和生命周期，甚至飞行动力学（科学和数学），研究鸟的迁徙路线、栖息环境及鸟的生态/社会生态方面的影响（社科），画自己熟悉的鸟（美术），搭建鸟屋或喂食器（动手的活动），等等。

Several fine prepared unit study curricula are available, but it is easy to prepare your own unit studies around areas of interest. History is the logical core curriculum to build ongoing unit studies around. History provides a framework for all the other subjects because it follows a progression and covers every other subject (except possibly math), like art, music, science, literature, etc.”

可以找到一些精心准备的单元学习的教材，但是围绕你的兴趣自己准备单元学习课程也不困难。历史是建构一系列单元学习课程的逻辑核心课程。由于历史是按照连续的进程写的，并涵盖了其它各个科目（可能除了数学），如艺术、科学、文学，等等，因此历史为其它所有科目提供了框架。”

Unit Studies have been written by Valerie Bendt who has also written helpful guides on how to create your own unit studies. Another unit study curriculum is Five in a Row, a literature based guide for children aged about five to eight. There are also unit studies geared around history. For example, Tapestry of Grace blends elements of the classical approach and the unit study approach. You can also explore www.truthquesthistory.com which is a history based unit study. I just recently came across this one and think it looks excellent.

瓦莱丽Valerie Bendt编写了一些单元式学习的课程，她还写了如何编写你自己的单元学习课程的导则。另一个单元学习教材是‘五个一排’Five in a Row，这是一个以文学为基础，针对5-8岁的孩子的课程。还有以历史为基础的单元学习课程，例如Tapestry of Grace 融合了古典教学法和单元学习教学法的元素。www.truthquesthistory.com是个以历史为基础的单元学习课程。我最近碰巧看到这个网站，认为它是很不错的。

The Living Books Approach: ‘活的书’方法

“This is based on the writings of Charlotte Mason, a turn-of-the-century British educator…Mason believed in respecting children as persons, in involving them in real-life situations, and in allowing them to read really good books instead of what she called “twaddle”—worthless, inferior teaching material. She considered education a failure when it produced children able to “do harder sums and read harder books” who lacked “moral and intellectual power.” Children were to be taught good habits, to be involved in a broad spectrum of real-life situations, and given ample time to play, reflect, and create.

“这种教学法基于19世纪末、20世纪初英国教育家夏洛蒂•梅森的著作…梅森认为应当尊重孩子，让他们参与到真实生活中来，允许他们阅读真正的好书，而不是那些她称之为“胡说八道”的，即没有价值、低水平的教学材料。她认为如果只教出能够‘做难题、读难书’而缺乏‘道德和智力能力’的孩子，这就是教育的失败。应当教授孩子良好的习惯，让他们经历丰富的人生经历，给他们足够的时间玩、思考和创意。

Mason's approach to academics was to teach basic reading, writing, and math skills, then expose children to the best sources of knowledge for all other subjects. This meant giving children experiences like nature walks, observing and collecting wildlife; visiting art museums; and reading real books with “living ideas.” She called such books “living books” because they made the subject "come alive" unlike textbooks that tend to be dry and dull and assume the reader cannot think for him/herself.”

梅森的学业教育方法是教授基本的阅读、写作、数学技能，然后让孩子接触各个科目中的最好的知识资源。这是指给孩子一些经历，如在大自然中走走，观察和收集野生生物；参观艺术博物馆；读有‘活的思想’的书。她把这样的书称之为‘活的书’，是因为它们使得科目‘栩栩如生’，而不像课本那样枯燥乏味，假设读者无法自己思考。”

Good sources for the Living Books approach are www.amblesideonline.org and Charlotte Mason’s six volumes (which have been translated into Chinese). Also, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay’s book, For the Children’s Sake, and Karen Andreola’s book, A Charlotte Mason Companion, are helpful in explaining and illustrating many of Charlotte Mason’s ideas. An advantage of using Charlotte Mason’s ideas are that many of them, like the idea of using “living books”, narration, picture study, music appreciation, and nature study can be quite easily implemented in any language once the concepts are understood. A free ebook biography of Charlotte Mason plus many other wonderful ideas and some online courses are available at my friend’s site, www.thebroadroom.co.nz

有关‘活的书’教学法的资源是www.amblesideonline.org 和夏洛蒂•梅森的6卷著作（已经翻译成中文）。还有Susan Schaeffer Macaulay的书《为孩子的缘故》 （For the Children’s Sake）, Karen Andreola 的书《夏洛蒂•梅森同伴》（ A Charlotte Mason Companion），这些书都有助于解释夏洛蒂•梅森的理念。使用夏洛蒂•梅森的理念的一个优势是，一旦你明白其中很多的概念，例如使用‘活的书’、叙述、图画学习、欣赏音乐及自然学习，你可以很容易将它们应用在任何的语言中。我朋友的网站www.thebroadroom.co.nz上有免费的夏洛蒂•梅森传记的电子书、其它好的想法以及一些网上课程。

The Unschooling Approach: 非学校式方法

“On the one hand, the Unschooling Approach is defined by John Holt, a 20th century American educator who concluded that children have an innate desire to learn and a curiosity that drives them to learn what they need to know when they need to know it. Holt believed that both desire and curiosity are destroyed by the usual methods of teaching.

“一方面，非学校式方法是由20世纪美国教育家约翰•霍尔特定义的，他认为孩子有学习的内在欲望，以及好奇心驱动他们在需要的时候学习他们需要学习的东西。霍尔特认为通常的教学方法会毁掉孩子的学习欲望和好奇心。

On the other hand, unschooling refers to any less structured learning approach that allows children to pursue their own interests with parental support and guidance. The child is surrounded by a rich environment of books, learning resources, and adults who model a lifestyle of learning and are willing to interact with him. Formal academics are pursued when the need arises. Christians who favor less structured schooling, but with definite goals, prefer to be called “relaxed home educators,” not unschoolers.”

另一方面，非学校式教学法是指任何在父母支持与指导下，允许孩子追寻他们的兴趣的较少组织体系的学习方法。孩子周围是富有书籍、学习资源的环境，大人们向孩子展示终身学习的榜样，并愿意与孩子互动。当有需要时，会学习正式的学业知识。喜欢较少组织体系教育、但是有明确目标的基督徒，更喜欢被称作‘放松的家庭教育者’，而不是非学校式教育者。

John Holt has written many books on the topic of unschooling.  There is also a book called Christian Unschooling by Teri Brown which consists of essays by a variety of Christian parents who use a less structured approach. Mary Hood, also a Christian, has written a number of books about Relaxed Home Schooling.

约翰•霍尔特写了很多关于非学校式教育的书籍。有一本书《基督徒的非学校式教育》（Christian Unschooling），作者是Teri Brown，此书是采用较少组织体系方法的各类基督徒父母写的文章集成。还有一位基督徒Mary Hood也写了一些关于放松的在家教育的书。

The Eclectic Approach: 折中的方法

“Many homeschoolers use a blend of the different approaches. For example, they may use traditional math and science textbooks, but build unit studies around historical periods that include language arts, music, art, and philosophy, and then choose a computer program to teach typing.

很多在家教育者混用不同的方法。例如，他们可能采用传统的数学和科学教科书，但是围绕不同历史时期进行单元学习，包括语言、音乐、艺术和哲学，然后选择电脑程序来教打字。

An Eclectic Homeschooler is one who looks at the different approaches and methods of homeschooling and takes from each, forming his own unique philosophy.”

一位折中的在家教育者了解各种不同的在家教育方法，从每种方法中汲取，形成自己独特的哲学。”

As you can see from this summary of the Davis’ article, there are many teaching approaches to choose from. It is a good idea to educate yourself about these different approaches and then consider which one or what blend of them will best suit your needs. You can educate yourself by reading about them (check the internet) or by talking with experienced home educators about what approach or approaches they have used and why they have chosen it.

正如你在上述文章中看到的，有许多教学方法可以选择。你最好先学习了解各种不同的方法，然后想想哪一种或哪几种的混用最适合你的需要。你可以读读有关的资料（上那些网站看看），或者同有经验的在家教育者聊聊，了解他们用过的方法以及他们选择这些方法的原因。

A lot of parents worry that if they home school, their children will have gaps in their education. They fear that they will fail to cover something important which schooled children will have covered. I think it is helpful to remember that everyone has gaps. There is so much information in the world that no one can cover it all, nor do we need to. Ellyn and Chris Davis believe that there are three priorities in homeschooling: 1) relationships with parents, with God and with knowledge; 2) skills in thinking, reading, writing, math and other areas of life, and 3) information. If parents develop in their children a love of learning and teach them the skills to be life long learners, their children can continue to learn throughout life and fill in any gaps as needed.

很多父母担心，如果他们在家教育，孩子的教育会有欠缺。他们害怕漏掉一些重要的东西，是学校里的孩子学过的。我想，记住每个人都有欠缺这一点对你们会有帮助。这个世界的知识太多了，没人能全知道，也没必要全知道。爱琳和克里斯认为在家教育有三个优先：1）与父母的关系，与神的关系和与知识的关系；2）在思考、阅读、写作、数学以及其它生活方面的技能；3）信息。如果父母能培养孩子热爱学习，教授他们成为终生学习者的技能，他们的孩子将会终生继续学习，在需要时补上那些欠缺。

If your child wants to learn something that you don’t know much about, you have several options. You can find them a skilled mentor for that area, you can research it with them and learn together, or you can obtain the resources and allow the child to pursue the subject independently. Which solution is right will depend on the situation.

如果你的孩子想要学习你不大懂的东西，你有几个选择：你可以找一位那个领域的有经验的教师教孩子；你也可以与孩子一起研究、共同学习；或者你可以找到一些资源，让孩子自己独立研究这个科目。哪一种方法合适将取决于具体情况。

Don’t be overwhelmed by all the choices. Seek God and His wisdom for your family. Keep your long term goals in mind and feel free to try elements from various approaches. Expect to make some changes as you grow in confidence and learn more about education, yourself and your children. Remember that your relationship with your children and discipling them is more important than the teaching approach and curriculum you choose.  

不要被这么多的选择吓倒。求神给你们家智慧。记住你的长期目标，自由地尝试不同方法。应当预料到随着你信心增长，懂得更多教育、你自己和你的孩子时，你会作一些改变。记住你与孩子的关系以及对他们进行门徒培训比你所选择的教学方法和教材要重要得多。