Thank you very much.
Moitas grazas.
I moved to America 12 years ago with my wife Terry and our two kids. Actually, truthfully, we moved to Los Angeles --
Mudeime aos EE. UU. hai 12 anos coa miña muller Terry e os nosos dous cativos. En realidade, sinceiramente, mudámonos a Los Ángeles...
(Laughter)
(Risas)
thinking we were moving to America, but anyway --
pensando que nos iamos aos EE. UU., pero vaia...
(Laughter)
(Risas)
It's a short plane ride from Los Angeles to America.
É un voo curto dende Los Ángeles aos EE. UU.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
I got here 12 years ago, and when I got here, I was told various things, like, "Americans don't get irony."
Cheguei aquí hai 12 anos, e cando cheguei, dixéronme varias cousas, como, "os americanos non collen a ironía."
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Have you come across this idea? It's not true. I've traveled the whole length and breadth of this country. I have found no evidence that Americans don't get irony. It's one of those cultural myths, like, "The British are reserved."
Cadrouvos de escoitar isto? Isto non é certo. Teño viaxado ao largo e longo deste país. Non atopei probas de que os americanos non collan a ironía. É un deses mitos culturais, como, "os británicos son reservados."
(Laughter)
(Risas)
I don't know why people think this. We've invaded every country we've encountered.
Non sei por que a xente pensa iso. Temos invadido cada país que atopamos.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
But it's not true Americans don't get irony, but I just want you to know that that's what people are saying about you behind your back. You know, so when you leave living rooms in Europe, people say, thankfully, nobody was ironic in your presence.
Pero non é certo cos americanos non collen a ironía, pero eu só quero que saibades que a xente anda a dicir iso ás vosas costas. Así que cando saídes das salas de estar en Europa, a xente di, menos mal que ninguén foi irónico diante deles.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
But I knew that Americans get irony when I came across that legislation, "No Child Left Behind."
Pero eu sabía que os americanos collían a ironía cando souben daquela lei, "Ningún Neno Deixado de Lado"
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Because whoever thought of that title gets irony.
Porque quen pensou nese título colle a ironía.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Don't they?
Ou non?
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
Because it's leaving millions of children behind. Now I can see that's not a very attractive name for legislation: "Millions of Children Left Behind." I can see that. What's the plan? We propose to leave millions of children behind, and here's how it's going to work.
Porque se están a deixar millóns de nenos de lado. Ben vexo que non é un nome moi atractivo para unha lei: "Millóns de Nenos Deixados de Lado". Ben o vexo. Cal é o plan? Propoñemos deixar millóns de nenos de lado, e así é como isto vai funcionar.
And it's working beautifully.
E está a funcionar de marabilla.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
In some parts of the country, 60 percent of kids drop out of high school. In the Native American communities, it's 80 percent of kids. If we halved that number, one estimate is it would create a net gain to the U.S. economy over 10 years, of nearly a trillion dollars. From an economic point of view, this is good math, isn't it, that we should do this? It actually costs an enormous amount to mop up the damage from the dropout crisis.
Nalgunhas partes do país, o 60 por cento dos rapaces abandonan o instituto. Nas comunidades de nativos americanos, son o 80 por cento. Se reduciramos ese número á metade, estímase que, nuns 10 anos, crearíase unha ganancia neta para a economía dos EE. UU. de preto dun billón de dólares. Dende un punto de vista económico, isto son boas contas, non si? e deberiámolas aplicar? Realmente costa unha enorme cantidade arranxar os danos causados pola crise do abandono.
But the dropout crisis is just the tip of an iceberg. What it doesn't count are all the kids who are in school but being disengaged from it, who don't enjoy it, who don't get any real benefit from it.
Pero a crise do abandono é só a punta do iceberg. Porque non se contan todos os rapaces que están na escola pero sen implicarse nela, sen desfrutala, sen tirar dela beneficio ningún.
And the reason is not that we're not spending enough money. America spends more money on education than most other countries. Class sizes are smaller than in many countries. And there are hundreds of initiatives every year to try and improve education. The trouble is, it's all going in the wrong direction. There are three principles on which human life flourishes, and they are contradicted by the culture of education under which most teachers have to labor and most students have to endure.
E a razón non é que non esteamos a gastar cartos abondos. Os EE. UU. gastan máis cartos en educación ca a maioría de países. Os tamaños das clases son menores ca en moitos países. E hai centos de iniciativas cada ano para tentar mellorar a educación. O problema é que todo vai na dirección equivocada. Hai tres principios sobre os que a vida humana florece, e que están en contradición coa cultura educativa baixo que a maioría do profesorado ten que traballar e a maioría do estudantado ten que soportar.
The first is this, that human beings are naturally different and diverse. Can I ask you, how many of you have got children of your own? Okay. Or grandchildren. How about two children or more? Right. And the rest of you have seen such children.
O primeiro é que os seres humanos son naturalmente distintos e diversos. Pódovos preguntar, cantos de vós tedes fillos? OK, ou netos. E cantos tedes dous fillos ou máis? Ben. E os outros, tedes visto algún neno.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Small people wandering about.
Xente cativa vagando por aí.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
I will make you a bet, and I am confident that I will win the bet. If you've got two children or more, I bet you they are completely different from each other. Aren't they?
Vouvos facer unha aposta, e estou seguro de gañala. Se tendes dous fillos ou máis, apóstovos a que son completamente distintos un do outro. A que si?
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
You would never confuse them, would you? Like, "Which one are you? Remind me."
Nunca os confundiriades, verdade? En plan, "Ti quen viñas sendo? Lémbramo."
(Laughter)
(Risas)
"Your mother and I need some color-coding system so we don't get confused."
"A túa nai e máis eu precisamos cun código de cores para non confundirnos."
Education under "No Child Left Behind" is based on not diversity but conformity. What schools are encouraged to do is to find out what kids can do across a very narrow spectrum of achievement. One of the effects of "No Child Left Behind" has been to narrow the focus onto the so-called STEM disciplines. They're very important. I'm not here to argue against science and math. On the contrary, they're necessary but they're not sufficient. A real education has to give equal weight to the arts, the humanities, to physical education. An awful lot of kids, sorry, thank you --
A educación baixo "Ningún Neno Deixado de Lado" baséase na conformidade no canto de na diversidade. Anímase ás escolas a que descubran que nenos son quen de pasar a través dun moi estreito espectro de logros. Un dos efectos de "Ningún Neno Deixado de Lado" foi poñer o foco nas chamadas disciplinas STEM. Son moi importantes. Non estou aquí para discutir a ciencia e as matemáticas. Ao revés, son precisas pero non abondan. A educación real ten que dar igual importancia ás artes, ás humanidades, ou á educación física. Montóns de nenos, perdón, grazas...
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
One estimate in America currently is that something like 10 percent of kids, getting on that way, are being diagnosed with various conditions under the broad title of attention deficit disorder. ADHD. I'm not saying there's no such thing. I just don't believe it's an epidemic like this. If you sit kids down, hour after hour, doing low-grade clerical work, don't be surprised if they start to fidget, you know?
Calcúlase que actualmente nos EE. UU. un 10 por cento dos rapaces, dese xeito, están a ser diagnosticados de diversas patoloxías baixo o nome xenéricio de "trastorno por déficit de atención". TDAH. Non digo que iso non exista. Simplemente non creo que haxa unha epidemia tal. Se sentas a cativos, hora tras hora, facendo aburridos traballos repetitivos non te estrañes se dan en bulir, non si?
(Laughter)
(Risas)
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
Children are not, for the most part, suffering from a psychological condition. They're suffering from childhood.
A maioría dos nenos non están sufrindo ningunha patoloxía psicolóxica. Sofren de infancia.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
And I know this because I spent my early life as a child. I went through the whole thing. Kids prosper best with a broad curriculum that celebrates their various talents, not just a small range of them. And by the way, the arts aren't just important because they improve math scores. They're important because they speak to parts of children's being which are otherwise untouched.
E sei disto porque pasei a primeira parte da miña vida como neno. Pasei por todo este asunto. Os nenos medran mellor cun currículo amplo que salienta os seus variados talentos, e non só un pequeno grupo deles. E, xa de paso, as artes non son só importantes porque melloren as notas en matemáticas. Sono porque comunican con partes do ser do neno que senón non se tocarían.
The second, thank you --
O segundo, grazas...
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
The second principle that drives human life flourishing is curiosity. If you can light the spark of curiosity in a child, they will learn without any further assistance, very often. Children are natural learners. It's a real achievement to put that particular ability out, or to stifle it. Curiosity is the engine of achievement. Now the reason I say this is because one of the effects of the current culture here, if I can say so, has been to de-professionalize teachers. There is no system in the world or any school in the country that is better than its teachers. Teachers are the lifeblood of the success of schools. But teaching is a creative profession. Teaching, properly conceived, is not a delivery system. You know, you're not there just to pass on received information. Great teachers do that, but what great teachers also do is mentor, stimulate, provoke, engage. You see, in the end, education is about learning. If there's no learning going on, there's no education going on. And people can spend an awful lot of time discussing education without ever discussing learning. The whole point of education is to get people to learn.
O segundo principio que dirixe o florecemento da vida humana é a curiosidade. Se podes acender a faísca da curiosidade nun neno, moi a miúdo, eles aprenderán sen máis axuda. Os nenos son aprendices por natureza. É un verdadeiro logro apagar esa capacidade, ou contela. A curiosidade é o motor do logro. A razón pola que digo isto é porque un dos efectos da cultura actual, se podo dicir tal cousa, foi desprofesionalizar aos profesores. Non hai un sistema no mundo nin ningunha escola no país que sexa mellor ca os seus profesores. Os profesores son a alma do éxito nas escolas. Pero ensinar é unha profesión creativa. O ensino, ben entendido, non é un sistema de mensaxería. Ti non estás aí só para pasar a información que recibiches. Os grandes profesores fan iso, pero o que tamén fan os grandes profesores é guiar, estimular, provocar, implicar. Vedes, ao final, a educación vai de aprender. Se non está habendo aprendizaxe, non está habendo educación. E a xente pode pasar unha chea de tempo discutindo de educación sen discutir xamais de aprendizaxe. O obxectivo da educación é que a xente aprenda.
An old friend of mine -- actually very old, he's dead.
Un vello amigo meu... tan vello que xa está morto.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
That's as old as it gets, I'm afraid.
Non chegas a máis vello, témome.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
But a wonderful guy he was, wonderful philosopher. He used to talk about the difference between the task and achievement senses of verbs. You can be engaged in the activity of something, but not really be achieving it, like dieting.
Pero el era un tipo marabilloso, un marabilloso filósofo. Adoitaba falar sobre a diferenza entre os significados de tarefa e logro dos verbos. Podes estar involucrado nunha tarefa calquera, pero non lograla, como con "facer dieta".
(Laughter)
(Risas)
It's a very good example. There he is. He's dieting. Is he losing any weight? Not really.
É un exemplo moi bo. Velaí. El está a facer dieta. Está a perder algo de peso? En realidade non.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Teaching is a word like that. You can say, "There's Deborah, she's in room 34, she's teaching." But if nobody's learning anything, she may be engaged in the task of teaching but not actually fulfilling it.
Ensinar é unha palabra igual. Podes dicir, "Esta é Deborah, está na aula 34, está a ensinar." Pero se ninguén está a aprender nada, por moi implicada que estea na tarefa de ensinar non está a cumprir con ela.
The role of a teacher is to facilitate learning. That's it. And part of the problem is, I think, that the dominant culture of education has come to focus on not teaching and learning, but testing. Now, testing is important. Standardized tests have a place. But they should not be the dominant culture of education. They should be diagnostic. They should help.
O rol dun profesor é facilitar a aprendizaxe. Simplemente. E unha parte do problema é, creo eu, que a cultura educativa dominante deu en se centrar non en ensinar e aprender, senón en examinar. Ben, examinar é importante As probas estandarizadas teñen o seu lugar. Pero non deberían ser a cultura educativa dominante. Deberían ser diagnósticas. Deberían axudar.
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
If I go for a medical examination, I want some standardized tests. I do. I want to know what my cholesterol level is compared to everybody else's on a standard scale. I don't want to be told on some scale my doctor invented in the car.
Se eu vou facer unha revisión médica, quero certas probas estandarizadas. Abofé. Quero saber o meu nivel de colesterol comparado co dos demais nunha escala estándar. E non quero que mo digan nunha escala que o médico inventou no coche.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
"Your cholesterol is what I call Level Orange."
"O teu colesterol está no que eu chamo 'nivel laranxa'."
"Really?"
"En serio?"
(Laughter)
(Risas)
"Is that good?" "We don't know."
"Iso é bó?" "Non o sabemos."
(Laughter)
(Risas)
But all that should support learning. It shouldn't obstruct it, which of course it often does. So in place of curiosity, what we have is a culture of compliance. Our children and teachers are encouraged to follow routine algorithms rather than to excite that power of imagination and curiosity. And the third principle is this: that human life is inherently creative. It's why we all have different résumés. We create our lives, and we can recreate them as we go through them. It's the common currency of being a human being. It's why human culture is so interesting and diverse and dynamic. I mean, other animals may well have imaginations and creativity, but it's not so much in evidence, is it, as ours? I mean, you may have a dog. And your dog may get depressed. You know, but it doesn't listen to Radiohead, does it?
Pero todo iso debería apoiar á aprendizaxe. Non debería obstruíla, que é o que fai a miúdo. E así, en vez dunha cultura da curiosidade temos unha da conformidade. Anímase aos nosos nenos e profesores a seguir algoritmos rutineiros no canto de espertar ese poder da imaxinación e a curiosidade. E o terceiro principio é este: a vida humana é inherentemente creativa. Por iso todos temos distintos currículos. Creamos as nosas vidas, e podemos recrealas ao pasarmos por elas. É a moeda común de ser un ser humano. Por iso a cultura humana é tan interesante e diversa e dinámica. É probable que outros animais teñan imaxinación e creatividade, pero non hai moitas probas, non si, como con nós? É dicir, ti podes ter un can. E o teu can pode deprimirse. Vale, pero non escoita Radiohead, a que non?
(Laughter)
(Risas)
And sit staring out the window with a bottle of Jack Daniels.
Nin senta a ollar pola xanela cunha botella de Jack Daniels.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
"Would you like to come for a walk?" "No, I'm fine."
"Queres saír dar un paseo?" "Non, estou ben."
(Laughter)
(Risas)
"You go. I'll wait. But take pictures."
"Vai ti. Eu quedo. Pero saca fotos."
(Laughter)
(Risas)
We all create our own lives through this restless process of imagining alternatives and possibilities, and one of the roles of education is to awaken and develop these powers of creativity. Instead, what we have is a culture of standardization.
Todos creamos as nosas vidas mediante este proceso sen pausa de imaxinar alternativas e posibilidades, e un dos roles da educación é o de espertar e desenvolver eses poderes da creatividade. Pola contra, o que temos é unha cultura da estandarización.
Now, it doesn't have to be that way. It really doesn't. Finland regularly comes out on top in math, science and reading. Now, we only know that's what they do well at, because that's all that's being tested. That's one of the problems of the test. They don't look for other things that matter just as much. The thing about work in Finland is this: they don't obsess about those disciplines. They have a very broad approach to education, which includes humanities, physical education, the arts.
Pero non ten por que ser dese xeito. De verdade que non ten por que. Finlandia acada a miúdo o liderado en matemáticas, ciencias e lectura. Pero nós só sabemos que iso é o que eles fan ben, porque é o que se está poñendo a proba. Ese é un dos problemas das probas. Non buscan outras cousas que sexan importantes. O importante de como se traballa en Finlandia é isto: non se obsesionan con esas disciplinas. Fan unha aproximación integral á educación, o que inclúe as humanidades, a educación física, as artes.
Second, there is no standardized testing in Finland. I mean, there's a bit, but it's not what gets people up in the morning, what keeps them at their desks.
En segundo lugar, en Finlandia non hai probas estandarizadas. Quero dicir, hai algunhas, pero a xente non se ergue polas mañás por elas, nin aguanta nos seus pupitres.
The third thing -- and I was at a meeting recently with some people from Finland, actual Finnish people, and somebody from the American system was saying to the people in Finland, "What do you do about the drop-out rate in Finland?"
En terceiro lugar... Hai pouco estaba nunha reunión con algunhas persoas de Finlandia, verdadeiros fineses, e alguén d sistema americano estaba preguntándolle aos finlandeses, "En Finlandia, que facedes coa taxa de abandono?"
And they all looked a bit bemused, and said, "Well, we don't have one. Why would you drop out? If people are in trouble, we get to them quite quickly and we help and support them."
E eles miráronse un chisco abraiados, e dixeron, "A ver, e que non temos. Por que vai abandonar ninguén? Se a xente ten problemas, chegamos a eles axiña e axudámoslles e apoiámolos."
Now people always say, "Well, you know, you can't compare Finland to America." No. I think there's a population of around five million in Finland. But you can compare it to a state in America. Many states in America have fewer people in them than that. I mean, I've been to some states in America and I was the only person there.
Agora a xente sempre di, "Xa sabes, non se pode comparar Finlandia cos EE. UU." Non. Creo que Finlandia ten unha poboación duns 5 millóns. Pero podedes comparala cun estado dos EE. UU. Moitos estados americanos teñen menos poboación. Teño estado nalgúns estados americanos e eu era a única persoa alí.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Really. Really. I was asked to lock up when I left.
En serio. En serio. Dixéronme que pechara ao saír.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
But what all the high-performing systems in the world do is currently what is not evident, sadly, across the systems in America -- I mean, as a whole. One is this: they individualize teaching and learning. They recognize that it's students who are learning and the system has to engage them, their curiosity, their individuality, and their creativity. That's how you get them to learn.
Pero o que todos os sistemas de alto rendemento do mundo fan é o que por desgraza non é evidente neste momento nos sistemas dos EE. UU.... Quero dicir, en conxunto. Unha é: individualizan o ensino e a aprendizaxe. Recoñecen que quen está aprendendo son os estudantes e o sistema ten que enganchalos, a súa curiosidade, a súa individualidade e a súa creatividade. Así se consegue que aprendan.
The second is that they attribute a very high status to the teaching profession. They recognize that you can't improve education if you don't pick great people to teach and keep giving them constant support and professional development. Investing in professional development is not a cost. It's an investment, and every other country that's succeeding well knows that, whether it's Australia, Canada, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong or Shanghai. They know that to be the case.
O segundo elemento é que lle atribúen un status moi alto á profesión de docente. Recoñecen que non podes mellorar a educación se non colles boa xente para ensinar e continúas a lles dar apoio constante e desenvolvemento profesional. Investir en desenvolvemento profesional non é un gasto. É un investimento, todos os países que están tendo éxito sábeno, ben sexa Australia, Canadá, Corea do Sur, Singapur, Hong Kong ou Shanghai. Saben que esa é a clave.
And the third is, they devolve responsibility to the school level for getting the job done. You see, there's a big difference here between going into a mode of command and control in education -- That's what happens in some systems. Central or state governments decide, they know best and they're going to tell you what to do. The trouble is that education doesn't go on in the committee rooms of our legislative buildings. It happens in classrooms and schools, and the people who do it are the teachers and the students, and if you remove their discretion, it stops working. You have to put it back to the people.
E o terceiro elemento é que delegan ao nivel de escola a responsabilidade de que se faga o traballo. Vedes, hai unha grande diferenza entre empregar un modelo de orde e control na educación... Iso é o que ocorre nalgúns sistemas. Os gobernos central e estatais deciden, eles saben máis ca ti e vanche dicir qué tes que facer. O problema é que a educación non acontece nas salas de reunión dos nosos edificios lexislativos. Ocorre nas aulas e nas escolas, e a xente que a fai son os docentes e os estudantes, e se eliminas o seu criterio, para de funcionar. Hai que lla devolver á xente.
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
There is wonderful work happening in this country. But I have to say it's happening in spite of the dominant culture of education, not because of it. It's like people are sailing into a headwind all the time. And the reason I think is this: that many of the current policies are based on mechanistic conceptions of education. It's like education is an industrial process that can be improved just by having better data, and somewhere in the back of the mind of some policy makers is this idea that if we fine-tune it well enough, if we just get it right, it will all hum along perfectly into the future. It won't, and it never did.
Estanse facendo iniciativas marabillosas neste país. Pero teño que dicir que se están facendo a pesar da cultura educativa dominante, non grazas a ela. É como estar navegando todo o tempo con vento de proa. E a razón pola que o penso é a seguinte: moitas das políticas actuais están baseadas en concepcións mecanicistas da educación. Como se a educación fose un proceso industrial que pode ser mellorado só con ter mellores datos; e nalgún lugar do fondo da mente dalgúns lexisladores está esta idea de que se a afinamos ben abondo, se conseguimos que vaia ben, tamén vai zunir á perfección no futuro. E non o fará nin nunca o fixo.
The point is that education is not a mechanical system. It's a human system. It's about people, people who either do want to learn or don't want to learn. Every student who drops out of school has a reason for it which is rooted in their own biography. They may find it boring. They may find it irrelevant. They may find that it's at odds with the life they're living outside of school. There are trends, but the stories are always unique. I was at a meeting recently in Los Angeles of -- they're called alternative education programs. These are programs designed to get kids back into education. They have certain common features. They're very personalized. They have strong support for the teachers, close links with the community and a broad and diverse curriculum, and often programs which involve students outside school as well as inside school. And they work. What's interesting to me is, these are called "alternative education."
O asunto é que a educación non é un sistema mecánico. É un sistema humano. Vai de persoas, persoas que ou van aprender ou non van facelo. Cada estudante que abandona a escola ten unha razón para facelo arraigada na súa propia biografía. Pode parecerlles aburrida. Pode parecerlles irrelevante. Mesmo poden pensar que non cadra coa vida que están a vivir fóra da escola. Hai tendencias, pero as historias son sempre únicas. Hai pouco estiven en Los Ángeles nunha reunión de... chámanlles "programas educativos alternativos". Son programas deseñados para reinsertar aos nenos na educación. Teñen certas características comúns. Están moi personalizados. Teñen un forte apoio para o profesorado, vínculos estreitos coa comunidade e un currículo amplo e variado, e tamén por veces, programas que implican aos estudantes dentro e fóra da escola. E funcionan. O que me parece interesante é, que se lles chame "educación alternativa".
(Laughter)
(Risas)
You know? And all the evidence from around the world is, if we all did that, there'd be no need for the alternative.
Entendedes? E todas as probas polo mundo adiante din que se todos fixeramos iso, non cumprirían alternativas.
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
(Applause ends)
(Fin dos aplausos)
So I think we have to embrace a different metaphor. We have to recognize that it's a human system, and there are conditions under which people thrive, and conditions under which they don't. We are after all organic creatures, and the culture of the school is absolutely essential. Culture is an organic term, isn't it?
Penso que temos que asumir unha metáfora distinta. Temos que recoñecer que este é un sistema humano e que hai condicións baixo as cales a xente prospera, e condicións baixo as que non. Somos, no fin de contas, criaturas orgánicas, e a cultura da escola é absolutamente esencial. Cultura é un termo orgánico, non si?
Not far from where I live is a place called Death Valley. Death Valley is the hottest, driest place in America, and nothing grows there. Nothing grows there because it doesn't rain. Hence, Death Valley. In the winter of 2004, it rained in Death Valley. Seven inches of rain fell over a very short period. And in the spring of 2005, there was a phenomenon. The whole floor of Death Valley was carpeted in flowers for a while. What it proved is this: that Death Valley isn't dead. It's dormant. Right beneath the surface are these seeds of possibility waiting for the right conditions to come about, and with organic systems, if the conditions are right, life is inevitable. It happens all the time. You take an area, a school, a district, you change the conditions, give people a different sense of possibility, a different set of expectations, a broader range of opportunities, you cherish and value the relationships between teachers and learners, you offer people the discretion to be creative and to innovate in what they do, and schools that were once bereft spring to life.
Preto de onde eu vivo hai un lugar chamado Val da Morte. O Val da Morte é o lugar máis cálido e seco dos EE. UU., alí non crece nada. Alí non crece nada porque non chove. Xa que logo, Val da Morte. No inverno de 2004, choveu no Val da Morte. 180 milímetros de chuvia nun período de tempo moi curto. E na primavera de 2005, ocoreu un fenómeno. Todo o chan do Val da Morte estivo alfombrado de flores por un tempo. O que isto demostra é que o Val da Morte non está morto. Está latente. Xusto baixo a superficie están estas sementes de posibilidade agardando a que se dean as circunstancias axeitadas, e con sistemas orgánicos, se as condicións son boas, a vida é inevitable. Ocorre acotío. Colles unha área, unha escola, un distrito, mudas as condicións, dáslle á xente unha sensación de posibilidades distinta, outro conxunto de expectativas, un rango de oportunidades máis amplo, coidas e valoras as relacións entre profesores e estudantes, ofréceslle á xente a posibilidade de seren creativos e de innovar no que fan, e as escolas que estiveron inertes renacen á vida.
Great leaders know that. The real role of leadership in education -- and I think it's true at the national level, the state level, at the school level -- is not and should not be command and control. The real role of leadership is climate control, creating a climate of possibility. And if you do that, people will rise to it and achieve things that you completely did not anticipate and couldn't have expected.
Os grandes líderes sábeno. O verdadeiro rol do liderado na educación --e creo que é certo a nivel nacional, a nivel estatal, a nivel escolar-- non é nin debería ser a orde e o control. O verdadeiro rol do liderado é o control do clima, creando un clima de posibilidade. E se fas iso, a xente erguerase e acadará cousas que en absoluto preveras e que nunca agardarías.
There's a wonderful quote from Benjamin Franklin. "There are three sorts of people in the world: Those who are immovable, people who don't get it, or don't want to do anything about it; there are people who are movable, people who see the need for change and are prepared to listen to it; and there are people who move, people who make things happen." And if we can encourage more people, that will be a movement. And if the movement is strong enough, that's, in the best sense of the word, a revolution. And that's what we need.
Hai unha marabillosa cita de Benjamin Franklin. "Hai tres tipos de persoas no mundo: Aqueles que son inamovibles, xente que non entende, ou non quere entender nada; os que son movibles, xente que ve a necesidade de cambiar e está preparada para escoitar; e hai xente que se move, xente que fai que as cousas ocorran." E se podemos animar a máis xente, haberá un movemento. E se o movemento é forte abondo, iso é, no mellor sentido da palabra, unha revolución. Iso é o que precisamos.
Thank you very much.
Moitas grazas.
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Thank you very much.
Moitas grazas.
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