我提出了挑戰,也給了我不斷學習的機會。I have left
out, however, the most important reasons why I teach.
不過,我要教書的最重要的幾個原因還沒有講到呢。
One is Vicky. My first doctoral student, Vicky was an energetic student who
labored at her dissertation on a little-known 14th century poet.
其中一個原因與維基有關。維基是我的第一個博士生。她精力充沛,孜孜不倦地撰寫她那篇論述14世紀一位不知名詩人的學位論文。 She wrote articles
and sent them off to learned journals. She did it all herself, with an
occasional nudge from me. 她寫過一些文章,寄給了學術刊物。這一切都由她獨立完成,我偶爾從旁略加指點。
But I was there when she finished her dissertation, learned that her
articles were accepted, got a job and won a fellowship to Harvard working on a
book developing ideas she'd first had as my student.
我親眼看到了她完成論文,看到了她得悉自己的文章被采用,親眼目睹她找到了工作并獲得了在哈佛大學當研究員的職位,著書論述她在做我學生時萌發的思想。
Another reason is George, who started as an engineering student, then
switched to English because he decided he liked people better than things.
另一個原因與喬治有關。他開始學的是工程學,后來他深信自己愛人勝過愛物,所以改學英語。
There is Jeanne, who left 買粉絲llege, but was brought back by her classmates
because they wanted her to see the end of the self-reliance house project.
還有珍妮。她中途輟學,但是她的同學把她拉了回來。因為他們想讓她看到自力更生整修舊房子這一項目的結果。 I was there when she came
back. I was there when she told me that she later became interested in the urban
poor and went on to be買粉絲e a civil rights lawyer.
我親眼看到她回來了。我親耳聽到她對我說,她后來對城市貧民產生了興趣,繼而成了捍衛公民權的律師。
There is Jacqui, a cleaning woman who knows more by intuition than most of
us learn by analysis. 還要提一提清潔女工杰基。她憑直覺了解的事情比我們多數人通過分析弄清的東西還要多。
Jacqui has decided to finish high school and go to 買粉絲llege.
杰基已經決定讀完中學,然后還要上大學。
These are the real reasons I teach, these people who grow and change in
front of me. 這些在我眼前成長、變化的人,便是我要當教師的真正原因。
Being a teacher is being present at the creation, when the clay begins to
breathe. 當一名教師意味著是創造的見證人,他目睹人體開始呼吸,開始了生命。
A "promotion" out of teaching would give me money and power. But I have
money. “升職了”,不再教書了,也許會給我帶來金錢和權力。 I get paid to do what I enjoy: reading, talking
with people, and asking question like, "What is the point of being rich?"
可是我現在也有錢。我拿了薪金去做自己樂意做的事:讀書、交談、提問,比如問:“做個富翁有什么意思呢?”And I have power. I have the
power to nudge, to fan sparks, to suggest books, to point out a pathway. What
other power matters? 我現在還有權呢。我有權啟迪,有權激發才智,有權開出書目,有權指點迷津。還有其他什么權力更值得考慮呢?
But teaching offers something besides money and power: it offers love.
但教書還會帶來金錢和權力以外的東西:那便是愛。
Not only the love of learning and of books and ideas, but also the love
that a teacher feels for that rare student who walks into a teacher's life and
begins to breathe. 不僅是愛學習、愛書本、愛思想,而且還有老師對出類拔萃的學生的愛。這樣的學生走進了老師的生活,老師自己也開始成長了。
Perhaps love is the wrong word: magic might be better.
“愛”這個字也許用得不恰當:用“魔力”可能更為貼切。
I teach because, being around people who are beginning to breathe, I
occasionally find myself catching my breath with them.
我教書,是因為在與開始成長的學生朝夕相處時,我有時感到自己也和他們一起開始成長了。
And I have power. I have the power to nudge, to fan sparks, to suggest
books, to point out a pathway. What other power matters?
我現在還有權呢。我有權啟迪,有權激發才智,有權開出書目,有權指點迷津。還有其他什么權力更值得考慮呢? But teaching offers something
besides money and power: it offers love. 但教書還會帶來金錢和權力以外的東西:那便是愛。Not only the
love of learning and of books and ideas, but also the love that a teacher feels
for that rare student who walks into a teacher's life and begins to breathe.
不僅是愛學習、愛書本、愛思想,而且還有老師對出類拔萃的學生的愛。這樣的學生走進了老師的生活,老師自己也開始成長了。Perhaps love is the
wrong word: magic might be better. “愛”這個字也許用得不恰當:用“魔力”可能更為貼切。I teach because,
being around people who are beginning to breathe, I occasionally find myself
catching my breath with them. 我教書,是因為在與開始成長的學生朝夕相處時,我有時感到自己也和他們一起開始成長了。
希望對你有用!