I have spent my entire life either at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse, or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse.
Čitav sam svoj život provela u školskoj zgradi, na putu do školske zgrade, ili govoreći o onome što se događa unutar školske zgrade.
(Laughter)
Oboje mojih roditelja bili su učitelji,
Both my parents were educators, my maternal grandparents were educators, and for the past 40 years, I've done the same thing. And so, needless to say, over those years I've had a chance to look at education reform from a lot of perspectives. Some of those reforms have been good. Some of them have been not so good. And we know why kids drop out. We know why kids don't learn. It's either poverty, low attendance, negative peer influences... We know why. But one of the things that we never discuss or we rarely discuss is the value and importance of human connection. Relationships.
moji baka i djed po majci bili su učitelji, a posljednjih sam se 40 godina i sama bavila istim poslom. Prema tome, ne moram posebno naglašavati da sam svih tih godina imala prigodu promatrati obrazovnu reformu iz najrazličitijih kuteva. Neke su od tih reformi bile dobre; neke od njih i nisu bile toliko dobre... I mi znamo zašto djeca odustaju od školovanja; mi znamo zašto djeca ne uče. Ili zbog siromaštva, ili zbog nepohađanja, ili zbog negativnog utjecaja vršnjaka... Znamo zašto. Ali jedna od stvari o kojima nikad ne razgovaramo, ili rijetko razgovaramo, vrijednost je i značaj ljudske povezanosti. Odnosa.
James Comer says that no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. George Washington Carver says all learning is understanding relationships. Everyone in this room has been affected by a teacher or an adult. For years, I have watched people teach. I have looked at the best and I've looked at some of the worst.
James Comer kaže da bez važnog i utjecajnog odnosa ne može biti niti znatnijeg učenja. George Washington Carver kaže da se sve učenje i sastoji u razumijevanju odnosa. Svatko u ovoj osobi bio je pod utjecajem učitelja ili neke druge odrasle osobe. Godinama promatram ljude kako poučavaju. Vidjela sam najbolje među njima, ali sam vidjela i neke od najgorih.
A colleague said to me one time, "They don't pay me to like the kids. They pay me to teach a lesson. The kids should learn it. I should teach it, they should learn it, Case closed."
Kolega mi jednom reče: "Ne plaćaju me da bih volio djecu. Plaćaju me da ih poučim nečemu. Djeca moraju učiti. Ja moram poučavati. Oni moraju učiti. To je sve."
Well, I said to her, "You know, kids don't learn from people they don't like."
Dakle, rekla sam joj: "Znaš, djeca ne uče od ljudi koje ne vole."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh) (Pljesak)
(Applause)
She said, "That's just a bunch of hooey."
Odgovorila je: "Ma, daj, pričaš gluposti!"
And I said to her,
A ja sam joj rekla: "Draga, tvoja će godina biti duga
"Well, your year is going to be long and arduous, dear."
i jako zahtjevna."
Needless to say, it was. Some people think that you can either have it in you to build a relationship, or you don't. I think Stephen Covey had the right idea. He said you ought to just throw in a few simple things, like seeking first to understand, as opposed to being understood. Simple things, like apologizing. You ever thought about that? Tell a kid you're sorry, they're in shock.
Ne moram vam reći da je tako bilo. Neki ljudi misle da ili imate u sebi što je potrebno za izgraditi odnos, ili jednostavno nemate. Ja mislim da je Stephen Covey imao dobru ideju. Rekao je da treba započeti s nekoliko jednostavnih stvari... Primjerice, nastojati najprije razumjeti umjesto očekivati da vas razumiju. Jednostavne stvari poput isprike. Jeste li ikad razmišljali o tome? Kažete li djeci da vam je žao, šokirat ćete ih.
(Laughter)
I taught a lesson once on ratios. I'm not real good with math, but I was working on it.
Sjećam se jednog svoga predavanja o razlomcima. Nisam baš dobra u matematici, ali trudila sam se.
(Laughter)
Kasnije sam provjerila što stoji u priručniku -
And I got back and looked at that teacher edition. I'd taught the whole lesson wrong.
cijelu sam lekciju pogrešno predavala. (Smijeh)
(Laughter)
So I came back to class the next day and I said, "Look, guys, I need to apologize. I taught the whole lesson wrong. I'm so sorry."
Sljedećeg sam se dana vratila na nastavu, i rekla: "Slušajte... moram vam se ispričati. Sve što sam vam jučer govorila bilo je pogrešno. Jako mi je žao."
They said, "That's okay, Ms. Pierson. You were so excited, we just let you go."
Rekli su mi: "Nema problema, nastavnice. Bili ste tako uzbuđeni i zaneseni. Jednostavno smo vas pustili da govorite."
I have had classes that were so low,
(Smijeh) (Pljesak)
so academically deficient, that I cried. I wondered, "How am I going to take this group, in nine months, from where they are to where they need to be? And it was difficult, it was awfully hard. How do I raise the self-esteem of a child and his academic achievement at the same time?
Sjećam se razrednih odjela koji su bili toliko slabi, s toliko lošim školskim uspjesima... plakala sam zbog njih. Pitala sam se kako ću uspjeti skupinu djece, u devet mjeseci, od toga gdje jesu do onoga gdje trebaju biti? I bilo je teško. Bilo je strašno naporno. Kako da podignem i djetetovo samopoštovanje i njegov školski uspjeh, istodobno?
One year I came up with a bright idea. I told all my students, "You were chosen to be in my class because I am the best teacher and you are the best students, they put us all together so we could show everybody else how to do it."
Jedne sam se godine dosjetila sjajne ideje. Rekla sam svojim učenicima: "Vi ste odabrani da budete u mome razredu, jer ja sam najbolja učiteljica i vi ste najbolji učenici. Spojili su nas da bismo svima drugima pokazali kako se to radi!"
One of the students said, "Really?"
Jedan od učenika rekao je: "Ozbiljno?"
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
I said, "Really. We have to show the other classes how to do it, so when we walk down the hall, people will notice us, so you can't make noise. You just have to strut."
Rekla sam: "Ozbiljno. Moramo pokazati ostalim razredima kako se to radi, tako da nas dok hodamo hodnikom ljudi primjećuju. Zato ne trebate praviti buku; trebate se samo znati šepuriti.
(Laughter)
And I gave them a saying to say: "I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress, and places to go."
I dala sam im jednu izreku: "Ja jesam Netko. Bila sam Netko kad sam ovamo došla. Bit ću još bolji Netko kad budem odavde odlazila. Moćna sam i snažna. Zaslužujem obrazovanje koje ovdje stječem. Svašta trebam učiniti, mnoge ljude trebam impresionirati, i brojna mjesta koja trebam vidjeti."
And they said, "Yeah!"
Rekli su: "To!"
(Laughter)
You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you.
Izgovaraš li ovo dovoljno često, ono polako postaje dijelom tebe.
(Applause)
I tako ... (Pljesak)
I gave a quiz, 20 questions. A student missed 18. I put a "+2" on his paper and a big smiley face.
Dala sam im test - 20 pitanja. Učenik je na 18 odgovorio pogrešno. Napisala sam mu "+2" na papir, i velikog "smješka".
(Laughter)
He said, "Ms. Pierson, is this an F?"
Upitao me: "Nastavnice, je li ovo F?"
I said, "Yes."
"Jest.", odgovorila sam mu.
(Laughter)
"Zašto ste onda dodali i "smješka"?", upitao me.
He said, "Then why'd you put a smiley face?"
Rekla sam mu: "Zato što si na pravom putu.
I said, "Because you're on a roll. You got two right. You didn't miss them all."
Dva si pogodio. Nisi promašio svih 20."
(Laughter)
I said, "And when we review this, won't you do better?"
I dodala sam: "Pošto ponovimo ovo
He said, "Yes, ma'am, I can do better."
nećeš li biti bolji?"
You see, "-18" sucks all the life out of you. "+2" said, "I ain't all bad."
Rekao je: "Hoću, nastavnice, mogu bolje!" Vidite... "-18" isisa iz vas sav život. "+2" vam kaže: "Pa i nisam baš toliko loš." (Smijeh) (Pljesak)
For years, I watched my mother take the time at recess to review, go on home visits in the afternoon, buy combs and brushes and peanut butter and crackers to put in her desk drawer for kids that needed to eat, and a washcloth and some soap for the kids who didn't smell so good. See, it's hard to teach kids who stink.
Godinama sam gledala svoju majku kako se tijekom školskih praznika preispituje, obilazi domove tijekom poslijepodneva, kupuje češljeve, i četkice, i maslac, i krekere, i sprema ih u svoj stol, za djecu kad ogladne, ručnike i ponešto sapuna za djeca koja nisu baš mirisala. Vidite... teško je nečemu poučavati djecu koja vonjaju.
(Laughter)
And kids can be cruel. And so she kept those things in her desk, and years later, after she retired, I watched some of those same kids come through and say to her, "You know, Ms. Walker, you made a difference in my life. You made it work for me. You made me feel like I was somebody, when I knew, at the bottom, I wasn't. And I want you to just see what I've become."
A djecu znaju biti okrutna. I tako je ona držala te stvari u svome stolu, i godinama kasnije, pošto je otišla u mirovinu, viđala sam tu istu djecu kako joj prilaze i govore: "Znate, nastavnice, Vi ste bili netko posve drugačiji u mom životu. Zahvaljujući Vama, uspio sam. Zahvaljući Vama, osjećao sam da sam Netko, i dok sam, u dnu duše, znao da nisam. I poželio sam samo da vidite tko sam postao."
And when my mama died two years ago at 92, there were so many former students at her funeral, it brought tears to my eyes, not because she was gone, but because she left a legacy of relationships that could never disappear.
Kad je moja majka prije dvije godine preminula, u dobi od 92 godine, toliko je bivših njenih učenika došlo na njen sprovod da me to ganulo, ne zato što je umrla, već zato što mi je u naslijeđe ostavila odnose koji nikad neće nestati.
Can we stand to have more relationships? Absolutely. Will you like all your children? Of course not.
Možemo li podnijeti imati više odnosa? Apsolutno. Hoće li vam sva vaša djeca biti draga? Neće, naravno.
(Laughter)
I vi znate da vaša najzahtjevnija djeca nikad ne izostaju.
And you know your toughest kids are never absent.
(Smijeh)
(Laughter)
Nikad. Nećete ih sve voljeti,
Never. You won't like them all, and the tough ones show up for a reason. It's the connection. It's the relationships. So teachers become great actors and great actresses, and we come to work when we don't feel like it, and we're listening to policy that doesn't make sense, and we teach anyway. We teach anyway, because that's what we do.
a ona zahtjevna su vam tu s razlogom. To je povezanost. To je odnos. I iako ih nećete sve voljeti, ključno je da ona to nikad, nikad ne osjete. I zato učitelji postaju veliki glumci i velike glumice, i na posao dolazimo i kad nam se to ne da, i slušamo politike i smjernice koje i nemaju baš puno smisla, i svejedno poučavamo. Svejedno poučavamo, jer to je ono radi čega smo ovdje.
Teaching and learning should bring joy. How powerful would our world be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks, who were not afraid to think, and who had a champion? Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.
Poučavanje i učenje trebalo bi nas radovati. Koliko bi moćan bio naš svijet kad bismo imali djecu koja se ne boje preuzeti rizik, koja se ne boje misliti, i koja su imala uzora? Svako dijete zaslužuje uzora, odrasloga koji od njih nikad neće odustati, koji razumije moć povezanosti, i ustrajava u tome da oni postanu najbolji što mogu postati.
Is this job tough? You betcha. Oh God, you betcha. But it is not impossible. We can do this. We're educators. We're born to make a difference.
Je li to teško? Itekako. O, Bože, itekako je teško. Ali nije nemoguće. Mi to možemo. Mi smo odgajatelji. Mi smo rođeni da bismo izazivali promjene.
Thank you so much.
Hvala vam lijepa.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)