I'm a little nervous, because my wife Yvonne said to me, she said, "Geoff, you watch the TED Talks."
Malo sam uzbuđen, jer mi je moja supruga Yvonne rekla: "Geoff, ti gledaš TED Talks."
I said, "Yes, honey, I love TED Talks."
Rekao sam: "Da, draga, volim TED Talks."
She said, "You know, they're like, really smart, talented -- "
Ona je rekla: "Znaš, oni su stvarno pametni, daroviti..."
I said, "I know, I know." (Laughter)
A ja na to: "Znam, znam." (Smijeh)
She said, "They don't want, like, the angry black man." (Laughter)
Rekla je: "Oni ne žele... ljutitoga crnca." (Smijeh)
So I said, "No, I'm gonna be good, Honey, I'm gonna be good. I am." But I am angry. (Laughter) And the last time I looked, I'm --
Pa sam rekao: "Ne. Bit ću dobar, draga. Bit ću dobar. Hoću." Ali ja jesam ljutit. (Smijeh) I posljednji sam put izgledao, ja sam...
(Applause) So this is why I'm excited but I'm angry. This year, there are going to be millions of our children that we're going to needlessly lose, that we could -- right now, we could save them all. You saw the quality of the educators who were here. Do not tell me they could not reach those kids and save them. I know they could. It is absolutely possible. Why haven't we fixed this? Those of us in education have held on to a business plan that we don't care how many millions of young people fail, we're going to continue to do the same thing that didn't work, and nobody is getting crazy about it -- right? -- enough to say, "Enough is enough." So here's a business plan that simply does not make any sense.
(Pljesak) Eto, zato sam uzbuđen, ali sam ljutit. Ove ćemo godine nepotrebno izgubiti milijune naše djece... Koje bismo - upravo sad - mogli sve spasiti. Vidjeli ste kvalitetu odgajatelja koji su bili ovdje. Ne govorite mi da oni nisu mogli doprijeti do te djece i spasiti ih. Znam da jesu! To je apsolutno moguće! Zašto to nismo ispravili? Neki od nas u obrazovanju pridržavali su se poslovnog plana prema kojemu ne brinemo o tome koliko milijuna mladih ljudi propada, nego nastavljamo činiti isto ono što nije ni dosad funkcioniralo, i nitko se zbog toga ne uzbuđuje, zar ne?! Dovoljno je reći: "Sad je stvarno dosta!" To je, dakle, poslovni plan koji jednostavno nema nikakvog smisla.
You know, I grew up in the inner city, and there were kids who were failing in schools 56 years ago when I first went to school, and those schools are still lousy today, 56 years later. And you know something about a lousy school? It's not like a bottle of wine. Right? (Laughter) Where you say, like, '87 was like a good year, right? That's now how this thing -- I mean, every single year, it's still the same approach, right? One size fits all, if you get it, fine, and if you don't, tough luck. Just tough luck. Why haven't we allowed innovation to happen? Do not tell me we can't do better than this.
Znate, odrastao sam u staroj gradskoj jezgri, gdje su djeca propadala u školama kad sam prije 56 godina ja krenuo u školu. I te su škole loše i danas. 56 godina kasnije! A znate što ću vam reći o lošoj školi? Ona nije poput boce vina. Je li? (Smijeh) Gdje ćete reći, recimo, 87. je bila dobra godina, jel'? To nije tako... mislim, svake pojedine godine pristup je i dalje isti, jel'? Prema svakome isto; ako skužite, dobro, a ako ne, niste imali sreće. Jednostavno, nesreća. Zašto nismo dopustili inovaciji da se dogodi? Nemojte mi reći da ne možemo bolje od ovoga!
Look, you go into a place that's failed kids for 50 years, and you say, "So what's the plan?" And they say, "We'll, we're going to do what we did last year this year." What kind of business model is that? Banks used to open and operate between 10 and 3. They operated 10 to 3. They were closed for lunch hour. Now, who can bank between 10 and 3? The unemployed. They don't need banks. They got no money in the banks. Who created that business model? Right? And it went on for decades. You know why? Because they didn't care. It wasn't about the customers. It was about bankers. They created something that worked for them. How could you go to the bank when you were at work? It didn't matter. And they don't care whether or not Geoff is upset he can't go to the bank. Go find another bank. They all operate the same way. Right? Now, one day, some crazy banker had an idea. Maybe we should keep the bank open when people come home from work. They might like that. What about a Saturday? What about introducing technology?
Vidite, dođete na mjesto gdje djeca propadaju 50 godina i kažete: "Onda, koji je plan?" A oni vam kažu: "Pa, radit ćemo ove godine ono što smo radili prošle." Kakav je to poslovni model?! Nekad su se banke otvarale i radile između 10 i 15 sati. Radili su od 10 do 3! Zatvarale su se na jedan sat radi ručka. E sad, tko može bankariti između 10 i 3? Nezaposleni! Njima banke ne trebaju! Oni nemaju novca u bankama! Tko je osmislio takav poslovni model?! Razumijete? I tako je bilo desetljećima... A znate li zašto? Jer im nije bilo stalo! Klijenti nisu bili važni. Bankari su bili važni! Oni su stvorili nešto što je njima odgovaralo! Kako ste mogli otići u banku kad ste bili na poslu?! Nije bilo važno! A njih nije briga uzrujava li se Geoff ili ne zato što ne može u banku! Idi u drugu banku! Svi se oni ponašaju na isti način. Jel'? Onda se jednoga dana jedan ludi bankar dosjetio. Možda bismo banku trebali držati otvorenom u doba kad se ljudi s posla vrate kući?! To bi im se moglo svidjeti! A subota?! A da uvedemo tehnološke promjene?!
Now look, I'm a technology fan, but I have to admit to you all I'm a little old. So I was a little slow, and I did not trust technology, and when they first came out with those new contraptions, these tellers that you put in a card and they give you money, I was like, "There's no way that machine is going to count that money right. I am never using that, right?"
E sad, ja volim tehnologiju, ali moram vam priznati - malo sam ostario. Bio sam malo sporiji, i nisam vjerovao u tehnologiju... I kad su uveli te novotarije, te bankomate u koje stavite karticu, a oni vam daju novac... Mislio sam: "Nema šanse da mi taj stroj izbaci traženu svotu! Neću to nikad koristiti, jel?!"
So technology has changed. Things have changed. Yet not in education. Why? Why is it that when we had rotary phones, when we were having folks being crippled by polio, that we were teaching the same way then that we're doing right now? And if you come up with a plan to change things, people consider you radical. They will say the worst things about you. I said one day, well, look, if the science says -- this is science, not me -- that our poorest children lose ground in the summertime -- You see where they are in June and say, okay, they're there. You look at them in September, they've gone down. You say, whoo! So I heard about that in '75 when I was at the Ed School at Harvard. I said, "Oh, wow, this is an important study." Because it suggests we should do something. (Laughter) Every 10 years they reproduce the same study. It says exactly the same thing: Poor kids lose ground in the summertime. The system decides you can't run schools in the summer.
I tako se tehnologija izmijenila. Sve se promijenilo. Ali, ne i u obrazovanju. Zašto? Kako to da smo i u doba starih fiksnih telefona i u doba kad su ljudi još obolijevali od dječje paralize, poučavali na isti način kao što to činimo i danas? I ako imate plan kako promijeniti stvari, ljudi vas smatraju radikalnim?! Govore o vama najružnije stvari?! Jednog sam dana rekao, pazite, ako znanost kaže - to kaže znanost, ne ja - da se najsiromašnija naša djeca potpuno izgube tijekom ljeta... Vidite ih kakvi su u lipnju, i kažete: "Dobro, tu su." Pogledate ih u rujnu - potonuli su... Kažete: opa! Čuo sam za to 1975. tijekom pohađanja Ed School na Harvardu. Rekao sam: "Oh, čovječe, ovo je važna studija!" Jer nam ukazuje da bismo nešto trebali učiniti. (Smijeh) Svakih 10 godina reproduciraju istu studiju. Ona tvrdi jednu te istu stvar: Siromašna djeca izgube se tijekom ljeta. A sustav je odlučio da ljeti nema škole!
You know, I always wonder, who makes up those rules? For years I went to -- Look, I went the Harvard Ed School. I thought I knew something. They said it was the agrarian calendar, and people had — but let me tell you why that doesn't make sense. I never got that. I never got that, because anyone knows if you farm, you don't plant crops in July and August. You plant them in the spring. So who came up with this idea? Who owns it? Why did we ever do it? Well it just turns out in the 1840s we did have, schools were open all year. They were open all year, because we had a lot of folks who had to work all day. They didn't have any place for their kids to go. It was a perfect place to have schools. So this is not something that is ordained from the education gods.
Znate, uvijek se pitam: "Tko izmišlja takva pravila?" Godinama sam išao na... znate, išao sam na Harvard Ed School. Mislio sam da znam nešto. Govorilo se da je to razdoblje poljoprivrednih poslova, i da ljudi... Ali, reći ću vam zašto to nema smisla! Nikad to nisam razumio! Nikad nisam razumio zato što svatko zna da ako se bavite zemljoradnjom, ne sijete u srpnju i u kolovozu! Sjetva je u proljeće! Pa tko se onda toga dosjetio?! Čija je to zamisao?! Zašto smo ikad tako radili? Međutim, 1840-ih škole su bile otvorene cijele godine. Bile su otvorene cijele godine, jer je mnogo ljudi moralo raditi po cijele dane. Nisu imali gdje zbrinuti djecu. Idealno je bilo imati škole. Dakle, to nije nešto zapovijeđeno od strane "obrazovnih bogova".
So why don't we? Why don't we? Because our business has refused to use science. Science. You have Bill Gates coming out and saying, "Look, this works, right? We can do this." How many places in America are going to change? None. None. Okay, yeah, there are two. All right? Yes, there'll be some place, because some folks will do the right thing. As a profession, we have to stop this. The science is clear.
Pa zašto onda ne bismo? Zašto ne bismo? Zato što je naša struka odbila iskoristiti znanost. Znanost! To je ono kad Bill Gates dođe i kaže: "Vidite, ovo radi, zar ne? Mi to možemo učiniti." Koliko će se sredina u Americi izmijeniti? Nijedna. Nijedna. Dobro, hoće... dva. U redu? Da, bit će ih nekoliko, jer će neki ljudi učiniti ono što je jedino ispravno. Kao struka, moramo to zaustaviti. Znanost je tu jasna.
Here's what we know. We know that the problem begins immediately. Right? This idea, zero to three. My wife, Yvonne, and I, we have four kids, three grown ones and a 15-year-old. That's a longer story. (Laughter) With our first kids, we did not know the science about brain development. We didn't know how critical those first three years were. We didn't know what was happening in those young brains. We didn't know the role that language, a stimulus and response, call and response, how important that was in developing those children. We know that now. What are we doing about it? Nothing. Wealthy people know. Educated people know. And their kids have an advantage. Poor people don't know, and we're not doing anything to help them at all. But we know this is critical.
Evo što znamo... Znamo da problem nastaje u ovom trenutku. Točno? Sad, 0 minuta do 3. Moja supruga Yvonne i ja imamo četvero djece, troje odraslih i jedno 15-godišnje. To je duža priča... (Smijeh) S prvim našim djetetom, ništa nismo znali o znanosti o razvoju mozga. Nismo znali koliko su ključne prve tri godine. Nismo znali što se zbiva u tim mladim mozgovima. Nismo znali o ulozi koju jezik, podražaj i odgovor, poziv i odgovor... koliko su značajni u razvoju djece. Sad to znamo! I što činimo s time u vezi? Ništa. Imućni ljudi znaju. Obrazovani ljudi znaju. I njihova su djeca u prednosti. Siromašni ljudi ne znaju, i mi ne činimo ništa da bismo im pomogli. Ali, mi znamo da je to ključno.
Now, you take pre-kindergarten. We know it's important for kids. Poor kids need that experience. Nope. Lots of places, it doesn't exist. We know health services matter. You know, we provide health services and people are always fussing at me about, you know, because I'm all into accountability and data and all of that good stuff, but we do health services, and I have to raise a lot of money. People used to say when they'd come fund us, "Geoff, why do you provide these health services?" I used to make stuff up. Right? I'd say, "Well, you know a child who has cavities is not going to, uh, be able to study as well." And I had to because I had to raise the money. But now I'm older, and you know what I tell them? You know why I provide kids with those health benefits and the sports and the recreation and the arts? Because I actually like kids. I actually like kids. (Laughter) (Applause)
Uzmimo vrtić za primjer. Znamo da je važan za djecu! Siromašnoj je djeci potrebno to iskustvo! Ništa. U mnogim mjestima - ne postoji. Znamo da je zdravstvena zaštita važna. Znate, mi osiguravamo zdravstvenu zaštitu i ljudi se oko mene uvijek uskomešaju, znate, jer sav sam u odgovornosti i u podacima i u svim tim dobrim stvarima, ali mi pružamo zdravstvenu zaštitu i za to moram prikupljati dosta novca. Naši me donatori često znaju pitati: "Geoff, zašto pružate te zdravstvene usluge?" Običavao sam izmišljati. Jel'? Rekao bih: "Znate, dijete s bolnim karijesom na zubima neće moći istodobno i učiti." Morao sam to činiti jer sam morao prikupiti novac. No, sad sam stariji, i znate li što im govorim? Znate li zašto djeci osiguravam te zdravstvene pogodnosti, sportske aktivnosti, igru, prilike za bavljenje umjetnošću? Zato što ja, zapravo, volim djecu. Ja ustvari volim djecu. (Smijeh) (Pljesak)
But when they really get pushy, people really get pushy, I say, "I do it because you do it for your kid." And you've never read a study from MIT that says giving your kid dance instruction is going to help them do algebra better, but you will give that kid dance instruction, and you will be thrilled that that kid wants to do dance instruction, and it will make your day. And why shouldn't poor kids have the same opportunity? It's the floor for these children. (Applause)
Ali kad postanu uistinu naporni, a ljudi takvi znaju biti, kažem im: "Činim to zato što vi to činite za svoje dijete." I nikad nisam pročitao studiju s MIT-a u kojoj se tvrdi da će plesna poduka vašem djetetu pomoći da se bolje snalazi u algebri, već ćete tom djetetu osigurati plesnu poduku i bit ćete uzbuđeni zbog toga što to dijete želi naučiti plesati, i to će vam uljepšati dan. A zašto ne bi siromašna djeca imala istu tu priliku? To je najmanje što im možemo pružiti. (Pljesak)
So here's the other thing. I'm a tester guy. I believe you need data, you need information, because you work at something, you think it's working, and you find out it's not working. I mean, you're educators. You work, you say, you think you've got it, great, no? And you find out they didn't get it. But here's the problem with testing. The testing that we do -- we're going to have our test in New York next week — is in April. You know when we're going to get the results back? Maybe July, maybe June. And the results have great data. They'll tell you Raheem really struggled, couldn't do two-digit multiplication -- so great data, but you're getting it back after school is over. And so, what do you do? You go on vacation. (Laughter) You come back from vacation. Now you've got all of this test data from last year. You don't look at it. Why would you look at it? You're going to go and teach this year. So how much money did we just spend on all of that? Billions and billions of dollars for data that it's too late to use. I need that data in September. I need that data in November. I need to know you're struggling, and I need to know whether or not what I did corrected that. I need to know that this week. I don't need to know that at the end of the year when it's too late.
Još jedna stvar... Ja volim testiranja. Vjerujem da su vam potrebni podaci, trebaju vam informacije, zato što radite na nečemu, mislite da to funkcionira, a onda otkrijete da ne funkcionira. Hoću reći, vi ste odgajatelji. Radite, govorite, mislite da ste uspjeli, sjajno, ne? I onda otkrijete da nisu razumjeli. Međutim, postoji problem s testiranjem. Naša testiranja... a naše će testiranje biti sljedećeg tjedna u New Yorku... obično su u travnju. Znate li kad ćemo dobiti povratnu informaciju?! Možda u srpnju, možda u lipnju! A povratne informacije sadrže odlične informacije. One će vam reći da se Raheem zbilja trudio, nije uspijevao množiti dvoznamenkaste brojeve - odlične informacije, dakle - ali dobivate ih pošto je škola već završila! I onda, što činite? Idete na godišnji odmor! (Smijeh) Vraćate se s godišnjeg odmora. Raspolažete svim tim prošlogodišnjim testovnim podacima. Ne pogledate ih! Zašto biste ih gledali?! Ionako ćete poučavati ove godine! Koliko smo onda novca potrošili na sve to? Milijarde i milijarde dolara za podatke za čije je korištenje prekasno! Ti mi podaci trebaju u rujnu! Ti mi podaci trebaju u studenome! Trebam znati da se boriš, trebam znati je li ono što sam ja učinio pomoglo! Trebam to znati ovoga tjedna! Ne trebam to doznati krajem godine, kad je prekasno!
Because in my older years, I've become somewhat of a clairvoyant. I can predict school scores. You take me to any school. I'm really good at inner city schools that are struggling. And you tell me last year 48 percent of those kids were on grade level. And I say, "Okay, what's the plan, what did we do from last year to this year?" You say, "We're doing the same thing." I'm going to make a prediction. (Laughter) This year, somewhere between 44 and 52 percent of those kids will be on grade level. And I will be right every single time.
U ovim starijim godinama postao sam i ponešto vidovit. Mogu predvidjeti školske rezultate. Odvedite me u bilo koju školu. Doista znam raditi sa školama u problemima, onima u starim gradskim jezgrama. Kažete mi da je prošle godine 48% te djece bilo u skladu s očekivanim standardom za svoj uzrast. Reći ću vam: "Dobro, kakav je plan, što smo učinili od prošle godine do ove?" Vi mi kažete: "Radimo isto što i prošle godine." Prognozirat ću... (Smijeh) Ove godine, negdje između 44% i 52% te djece bit će na očekivanoj razini za svoj uzrast. I bit ću u pravu svaki put! Jel'?
So we're spending all of this money, but we're getting what? Teachers need real information right now about what's happening to their kids. The high stakes is today, because you can do something about it.
Dakle, trošimo sav taj novac... I što dobivamo?! Učiteljima je upravo sada potrebna stvarna informacija o tome što se s njihovom djecom zbiva. Danas su ulozi visoki, jer možete nešto učiniti!
So here's the other issue that I just think we've got to be concerned about. We can't stifle innovation in our business. We have to innovate. And people in our business get mad about innovation. They get angry if you do something different. If you try something new, people are always like, "Ooh, charter schools." Hey, let's try some stuff. Let's see. This stuff hasn't worked for 55 years. Let's try something different. And here's the rub. Some of it's not going to work. You know, people tell me, "Yeah, those charter schools, a lot of them don't work." A lot of them don't. They should be closed. I mean, I really believe they should be closed. But we can't confuse figuring out the science and things not working with we shouldn't therefore do anything. Right? Because that's not the way the world works.
Evo i drugog problema o kojemu mislim da trebamo brinuti... Ne možemo ugušiti inovativnost u našoj djelatnosti. Moramo inovirati! A ljudi u našem zanimanju polude kad im se spomene inovacija. Naljute se učinite li što drugačije. Pokušate li što novo, ljudi često reagiraju: "U, da, slobodne škole!?" Hej... pokušajmo nešto! Ajmo vidjeti! Nije funkcioniralo 55 godina! Pokušajmo nešto novo! A postoji i poteškoća... ponešto od toga neće funkcionirati. Znate, ljudi mi govore: "Da, te slobodne škole... dosta njih ne funkcionira." Dosta njih i ne! Trebalo bi ih zatvoriti! Hoću reći, doista vjerujem da bi ih trebalo zatvoriti! Ali, ne smijemo brkati slučajeve u kojima znanost i procesi ne funkcioniraju sa stavom prema kojemu zato ne bismo ništa trebali ni raditi. Istina? Jer svijet tako ne funkcionira!
If you think about technology, imagine if that's how we thought about technology. Every time something didn't work, we just threw in the towel and said, "Let's forget it." Right? You know, they convinced me. I'm sure some of you were like me -- the latest and greatest thing, the PalmPilot. They told me, "Geoff, if you get this PalmPilot you'll never need another thing." That thing lasted all of three weeks. It was over. I was so disgusted I spent my money on this thing. Did anybody stop inventing? Not a person. Not a soul. The folks went out there. They kept inventing. The fact that you have failure, that shouldn't stop you from pushing the science forward.
Pomislite li na tehnologiju, zamislite da smo tako razmišljali o tehnologiji. Svaki put kad nešto nije funkcioniralo, samo bismo ubacili ručnik i rekli: "Zaboravimo to." Jel' tako? Znate, uvjerili su me. Siguran sam da su neki od vas poput mene - posljednja odlična stvar - PalmPilot... Rekli su mi: "Geoff, nabaviš li si ovaj PalmPilot, nikad ti više ništa drugo neće trebati." Ta je stvar trajala svega tri tjedna! I gotovo! Zgadilo mi se na što sam potrošio novac! Je li itko prestao inovirati? Nitko. Ni živa duša. Ljudi su nastavili. Nastavili su s inovacijama. Činjenica da ste propali ne bi vas trebala zaustaviti od daljnjih znanstvenih istraživanja.
Our job as educators, there's some stuff we know that we can do. And we've got to do better. The evaluation, we have to start with kids earlier, we have to make sure that we provide the support to young people. We've got to give them all of these opportunities. So that we have to do. But this innovation issue, this idea that we've got to keep innovating until we really nail this science down is something that is absolutely critical.
Naš posao kao odgajatelja... Postoje neke stvari koje znamo da možemo učiniti. I moramo bolje. Evaluacija, moramo započeti s djecom ranije, moramo osigurati podršku mladim ljudima. Moramo im pružiti sve moguće prilike! To, dakle, moramo učiniti! Ali, te inovacije... ta ideja da moramo nastaviti inovirati sve dok ne razjasnimo u potpunosti tu znanost... To je apsolutno ključno.
And this is something, by the way, that I think is going to be a challenge for our entire field. America cannot wait another 50 years to get this right. We have run out of time. I don't know about a fiscal cliff, but I know there's an educational cliff that we are walking over right this very second, and if we allow folks to continue this foolishness about saying we can't afford this — So Bill Gates says it's going to cost five billion dollars. What is five billion dollars to the United States? What did we spend in Afghanistan this year? How many trillions? (Applause)
I to je nešto što će po mom mišljenju biti izazov za čitavu našu struku. Amerika ne može čekati još 50 godina da to ispravi. Isteklo nam je vrijeme. Ne znam za fiskalnu liticu, ali znam da postoji obrazovna litica koju prelazimo upravo u ovom trenutku. I dopustimo li ljudima da nastave govoriti gluposti o tome kako si ovo ne možemo priuštiti... I tako Bill Gates kaže da će to koštati pet milijardi dolara. Što je pet milijardi dolara za Sjedinjene Države?! Koliko smo ove godine potrošili u Afganistanu?! Koliko bilijuna? (Pljesak)
When the country cares about something, we'll spend a trillion dollars without blinking an eye. When the safety of America is threatened, we will spend any amount of money. The real safety of our nation is preparing this next generation so that they can take our place and be the leaders of the world when it comes to thinking and technology and democracy and all that stuff we care about. I dare say it's a pittance, what it would require for us to really begin to solve some of these problems.
Kad je zemlji do nečega stalo, potrošit ćemo bilijun dolara a da ni ne trepnemo. Kad je sigurnost Amerike ugrožena, potrošit ćemo koju god svotu. Prava sigurnost naše nacije sastoji se u pripremi sljedeće generacije kako bi zauzela naše mjesto i bila lider ovoga svijeta u pogledu mišljenja, tehnologije i demokracije, i svega onoga do čega nam je stalo. Usuđujem se reći da je zanemarivo koliko bi nas koštalo da uistinu započnemo rješavati neke od tih problema.
So once we do that, I'll no longer be angry. (Laughter) So, you guys, help me get there. Thank you all very much. Thank you. (Applause)
I jednom kad to učinimo, ja više neću biti bijesan. (Smijeh) Stoga, ljudi, pomozite mi da u tome uspijemo. Hvala vam najljepša svima! Hvala! (Pljesak)
John Legend: So what is the high school dropout rate at Harlem Children's Zone?
John Legend: Kolika je stopa prekida školovanja u srednjoj školi u Harlem Children's Zone (neprofitna organizacija, op.p.)?
Geoffrey Canada: Well, you know, John, 100 percent of our kids graduated high school last year in my school. A hundred percent of them went to college. This year's seniors will have 100 percent graduating high school. Last I heard we had 93 percent accepted to college. We'd better get that other seven percent. So that's just how this goes. (Applause)
Geoffrey Canada: Pa, znaš, Johne, 100% naše djece maturiralo je prošle godine u mojoj školi. 100% njih upisalo je fakultet. Ove će godine 100% maturanata uspjeti završiti srednju školu. Posljednje što sam čuo bilo je da ih je 93% prihvaćeno na fakultet. Bolje da se pobrinemo i za tih 7%. Eto, tako to kod nas ide. (Pljesak)
JL: So how do you stick with them after they leave high school?
JL: Kako održavate kontakte s njima pošto napuste srednju školu?
GC: Well, you know, one of the bad problems we have in this country is these kids, the same kids, these same vulnerable kids, when you get them in school, they drop out in record numbers. And so we've figured out that you've got to really design a network of support for these kids that in many ways mimics what a good parent does. They harass you, right? They call you, they say, "I want to see your grades. How'd you do on that last test? What are you talking about that you want to leave school? And you're not coming back here." So a bunch of my kids know you can't come back to Harlem because Geoff is looking for you. They're like, "I really can't come back." No. You'd better stay in school. But I'm not kidding about some of this, and it gets a little bit to the grit issue. When kids know that you refuse to let them fail, it puts a different pressure on them, and they don't give up as easy. So sometimes they don't have it inside, and they're, like, "You know, I don't want to do this, but I know my mother's going to be mad." Well, that matters to kids, and it helps get them through. We try to create a set of strategies that gets them tutoring and help and support, but also a set of encouragements that say to them, "You can do it. It is going to be hard, but we refuse to let you fail."
GC: Pa znaš, jedan od teških problema s kojima se u ovoj zemlji susrećemo je da ta djeca, ista djeca, ta ista ranjiva djeca, kad jednoga dana ipak krenu u školu, napuštaju je u rekordnim razmjerima. I tako smo zaključili da uistinu trebamo osmisliti sustav podrške za takvu djecu, koji uvelike sliči onome što dobar roditelj čini. Maltretiraju te, jel'? Nazivaju te, kažu: "Da vidimo tvoje ocjene. Kako si prošao na posljednjem testu? O čemu ti to govoriš? Želiš napustiti školu?! I ne vraćaš se ovamo?!" I tako gomila moje djece zna da se ne možeš vratiti u Harlem, jer Geoff o tebi brine. Kažu: "Ja se zaista ne mogu vratiti." Ne. Bolje da ostaneš u školi. Ali ne šalim se ja s ovime u vezi i to već pomalo graniči s inatom. Kad djeca znaju da im nećeš dopustiti da padnu, time im namećeš dodatni pritisak, i ne odustaju lako. Dakle, ponekad oni to nemaju u sebi, i razmišljaju u stilu: "Ma, znaš, ne želim ja to, ali znam da će moja mama poludjeti." Djeci je to važno, i pomaže im da izdrže. Mi nastojimo osmisliti niz strategija kojima im osiguravamo instrukcije, pomoć i podršku, ali i niz poticaja koji im govore: "Ti to možeš. Bit će teško, ali nećemo ti dopustiti da odustaneš."
JL: Well, thank you Dr. Canada. Please give it up for him one more time.
JL: Pa, hvala Vam, dr. Canada. Molim Vas još jedan pljesak.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)