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TED英語演講稿：大人可以跟孩子學(xué)什么？
鄒奇奇背景資料
美國華盛頓州西雅圖市華裔女童鄒奇奇(英文名Adora Svitak)，2008年被美國媒體譽為“世界上最聰明的孩子”，她比鳳姐牛多了，3歲時就開始閱讀各種書籍，從4歲起寫下了400多篇故事和詩歌，8歲時出版的故事集《飛揚的手指》轟動美國，其中包含的300多篇故事大多以中世紀為背景，從古埃及寫到了文藝復(fù)興，文中透露的政治、宗教和教育見解，思想深刻，文思嚴謹。鄒奇奇也被美國廣播公司譽為“美國文壇小巨人”。
鄒奇奇的母親鄒燦(Joyce)是中國重慶人，1988年到美國后，學(xué)習(xí)法語專業(yè)的她又獲得了英語文學(xué)碩士學(xué)位，現(xiàn)在是美國一家電話語音翻譯公司的中英文翻譯員。奇奇的父親約翰John Svitak是一名捷克裔美國人物理學(xué)博士，現(xiàn)任職于微軟公司。除了奇奇外，他們還有另一個名叫希希的10歲女兒，姐妹倆的名字合起來就是“希奇”。全家生活在美國華盛頓州西雅圖市。盡管鄒奇奇的外表和其他同齡孩子沒啥兩樣，但她的知識和成就卻遠非同齡孩子可比。
Now, I want to start with a question: When was the last time you were called childish? For kids like me, being called childish can be a frequent occurrence. Every time we make irrational demands, exhibit irresponsible behavior, or display any other signs of being normal American citizens, we are called childish, which really bothers me. After all, take a look at these events: Imperialism and colonization, world wars, George W. Bush. Ask yourself: Who's responsible? Adults.
Now, what have kids done? Well, Anne Frank touched millions with her powerful account of the Holocaust, Ruby Bridges helped end segregation in the United States, and, most recently, Charlie Simpson helped to raise 120,000 pounds for Haiti on his little bike. So, as you can see evidenced by such examples, age has absolutely nothing to do with it. The traits the word childish addresses are seen so often in adults that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking. (Applause)
Thank you. Then again, who's to say that certain types of irrational thinking aren't exactly what the world needs? Maybe you've had grand plans before, but stopped yourself, thinking: That's impossible or that costs too much or that won't benefit me. For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things. Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking, like my wish that no one went hungry or that everything were free kind of utopia. How many of you still dream like that and believe in the possibilities? Sometimes a knowledge of history and the past failures of utopian ideals can be a burden because you know that if everything were free, that the food stocks would become depleted, and scarce and lead to chaos. On the other hand, we kids still dream about perfection. And that's a good thing because in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first.
In many ways, our audacity to imagine helps push the boundaries of possibility. For instance, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, my home state -- yoohoo Washington -- (Applause) has a program called Kids Design Glass, and kids draw their own ideas for glass art. Now, the resident artist said they got some of their best ideas through the program because kids don't think about the limitations of how hard it can be to blow glass into certain shapes. They just think of good ideas. Now, when you think of glass, you might think of colorful Chihuly designs or maybe Italian vases, but kids challenge glass artists to go beyond that into the realm of broken-hearted snakes and bacon boys, who you can see has meat vision. (Laughter)
Now, our inherent wisdom doesn't have to be insiders' knowledge. Kids already do a lot of learning from adults, and we have a lot to share. I think that adults should start learning from kids. Now, I do most of my speaking in front of an education crowd, teachers and students, and I like this analogy. It shouldn't just be a teacher at the head of the classroom telling students do this, do that. The students should teach their teachers. Learning between grown ups and kids should be reciprocal. The reality, unfortunately, is a little different, and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it.
Now, if you don't trust someone, you place restrictions on them, right. If I doubt my older sister's ability to pay back the 10 percent interest I established on her last loan, I'm going to withhold her ability to get more money from me until she pays it back. (Laughter) True story, by the way. Now, adults seem to have a prevalently restrictive attitude towards kids from every "don't do that," "don't do this" in the school handbook, to restrictions on school internet use. As history points out, regimes become oppressive when they're fearful about keeping control. And, although adults may not be quite at the level of totalitarian regimes, kids have no, or very little, say in making the rules, when really the attitude should be reciprocal, meaning that the adult population should learn and take into account the wishes of the younger population.
Now, what's even worse than restriction is that adults often underestimate kids abilities. We love challenges, but when expectations are low, trust me, we will sink to them. My own parents had anything but low expectations for me and my sister. Okay, so they didn't tell us to become doctors or lawyers or anything like that, but my dad did read to us about Aristotle and pioneer germ fighters when lots of other kids were hearing "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round." Well, we heard that one too, but "Pioneer Germ Fighters" totally rules. (Laughter)
I loved to write from the age of four, and when I was six my mom bought me my own laptop equipped with Microsoft Word. Thank you Bill Gates and thank you Ma. I wrote over 300 short stories on that little laptop, and I wanted to get published. Instead of just scoffing at this heresy that a kid wanted to get published, or saying wait until you're older, my parents were really supportive. Many publishers were not quite so encouraging. One large children's publisher ironically saying that they didn't work with children. Children's publisher not working with children? I don't know, you're kind of alienating a large client there. (Laughter) Now, one publisher, Action Publishing, was willing to take that leap and trust me, and to listen to what I had to say. They published my first book, "Flying Fingers," -- you see it here -- and from there on, it's gone to speaking at hundreds of schools, keynoting to thousands of educators, and finally, today, speaking to you.
I appreciate your attention today, because to show that you truly care, you listen. But there's a problem with this rosy picture of kids being so much better than adults. Kids grow up and become adults just like you. (Laughter) Or just like you, really? The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult, but rather better adults than you have been, which may be a little challenging considering your guys credentials, but the way progress happens is because new generations and new eras grow and develop and become better than the previous ones. It's the reason we're not in the Dark Ages anymore. No matter your position of place in life, it is imperative to create opportunities for children so that we can grow up to blow you away. (Laughter)
Adults and fellow TEDsters, you need to listen and learn from kids and trust us and expect more from us. You must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of tomorrow, which means we're going to be taking care of you when you're old and senile. No, just kidding. No, really, we are going to be the next generation, the ones who will bring this world forward. And, in case you don't think that this really has meaning for you, remember that cloning is possible, and that involves going through childhood again, in which case, you'll want to be heard just like my generation. Now, the world needs opportunities for new leaders and new ideas. Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed. Are you ready to make the match? Because the world's problems shouldn't be the human family's heirloom.
Thank you. (Applause) Thank you. Thank you.
首先我要問大家一個問題： 上一回別人說你幼稚是什么時候? 像我這樣的小孩， 可能經(jīng)常會被人說成是幼稚。 每一次我們提出不合理的要求， 做出不負責(zé)任的行為， 或者展現(xiàn)出有別于 普通美國公民的慣常行為之時， 我們就被說成是幼稚。 這讓我很不服氣。 首先，讓我們來回顧下這些事件： 帝國主義和殖民主義， 世界大戰(zhàn)，小布什。 請你們捫心自問下：這些該歸咎于誰?是大人。
而小孩呢，做了些什么? 安妮·弗蘭克(Anne Frank)對大屠殺強有力的敘述打動了數(shù)百萬人的心。 魯比·布里奇斯為美國種族隔離的終結(jié)作出了貢獻。 另外，最近還有一個例子，查理·辛普森(Charlie Simpson)騎自行車 為海地募得 12萬英鎊。 所以，這些例子證明了年齡與行為完全沒有關(guān)系。 "幼稚"這個詞所對應(yīng)的特點 是常常可以從大人身上看到， 由此我們在批評 不負責(zé)和非理性的相關(guān)行為時， 應(yīng)停止使用這個年齡歧視的詞。
(掌聲)謝謝!
話說回來，誰能說 我們這個世界不正是需要 某些類型的非理性思維嗎? 也許你以前有過宏大的計劃， 但卻半途而廢，心想： 這個不可能，或代價太高 或這對我不利。 不管是好是壞，我們小孩子 在思考不做某事的理由時，不太受這些考量的影響。 小孩可能會有滿腦子的奇思妙想 和積極的想法， 例如我希望沒有人挨餓 或者所有東西都是免費的，有點像烏托邦的理念。 你們當中有多少人還會有這樣的夢想 并相信其可能性? 有時候?qū)v史 及對烏托邦的了解， 可能是一種負擔(dān)，因為你知道假如所有東西都是免費的， 食物儲備會被清空， 而缺失將會導(dǎo)致混亂。 另一方面， 我們小孩還對完美抱有希望。 這是件好事，因為要將任何事情變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實， 你首先得心懷夢想。
在很多方面，我們的大膽想象 拓寬了可能性的疆界。 例如，華盛頓州塔可馬市的玻璃博物館， 我的家鄉(xiāng)華盛頓州——你好! (掌聲)這個博物館里有一個項目叫“兒童玻璃設(shè)計”， 小孩們自由創(chuàng)作自己的玻璃作品。 后來，駐館藝術(shù)家說他們所有的一些極佳靈感就來自這個項目， 因為小孩不去理會 吹出不同形狀玻璃的難度限制 他們只是構(gòu)思好的點子。 當說到玻璃的時候，你們可能 想到的是奇胡利(Chihuly)色彩豐富的玻璃設(shè)計 或意大利花瓶，但小孩子敢于挑戰(zhàn)玻璃藝術(shù)家，并超越他們 進入心碎蛇 和火腿男孩的領(lǐng)地——看到了嗎，火腿男孩有“肉視力”哦 (笑聲)
我們先天的智慧 堪比內(nèi)行人的知識。 小孩已經(jīng)從大人身上學(xué)到許多， 而我們也有很多東西可以和大人共享。 我認為大人應(yīng)該開始向小孩學(xué)習(xí)。 聽我演講的觀眾大都是教育圈子里的， 這其中有老師和學(xué)生。我喜歡這個類比。 不應(yīng)該只是老師站在教室講臺上 告訴學(xué)生做這個做那個。 學(xué)生亦應(yīng)教育他們的老師。 成人和兒童之間 應(yīng)該互相學(xué)習(xí)。 不幸的是，于現(xiàn)實里，情況是截然不同的。 這跟信任的關(guān)系很大，或者說是缺乏信任的結(jié)果。
如果你不信任某人，你就給他們設(shè)限，對吧。 如果我懷疑我姐姐沒有能力 償還我給她的上一筆貸款的 百分之十的利息時， 我將要限制她再向我借錢， 直到她還清借款為止。(笑聲) 順便提一下，這是個真實的例子。 大人呢，似乎普遍地 對小孩持限制性的態(tài)度， 從學(xué)校手冊里的 “不能做這個”、“不能做那個” 到學(xué)�；ヂ�(lián)網(wǎng)使用的各種限制性規(guī)定。 歷史告訴我們，當政體害怕統(tǒng)治失控時， 它就會變得暴虐。 雖然大人可能不會 像獨裁政權(quán)一樣心狠手辣， 但小孩在制定規(guī)則方面是幾乎沒有話語權(quán)的。 而正確的態(tài)度應(yīng)該是兩者相互尊重的， 也就是說成人群體應(yīng)該了解 并認真對待年幼群體的 愿望。
然而比限制更糟糕的是， 大人常常低估小孩的能力。 我們喜歡挑戰(zhàn)，但假如大人對我們期望很低的話， 說真的，我們就會不思進取。 我自己的父母對我和姐姐 抱很高的期望。 當然，他們沒有讓我們立志成為醫(yī)生 或律師諸如此類的， 但我爸經(jīng)常讀 關(guān)于亞里斯多德 和先鋒細菌斗士的故事給我們聽，而其他小孩大多聽的是 《公車的輪子轉(zhuǎn)呀轉(zhuǎn)》。 其實我們也有聽這個，但《先鋒細菌斗士》實在是比那個強多了。 (笑聲)
四歲的時候我就喜歡上寫作， 六歲的時候， 我媽給我買了臺裝有微軟Word軟件的個人手提電腦。 謝謝你比爾·蓋茨!也謝謝你，媽咪! 我用那個小手提電腦寫了300多篇短篇故事， 而且我想發(fā)表我的作品。一個小孩想發(fā)表作品 這簡直是天方夜譚，但我父母沒有嘲笑我， 也沒有說等你長大點兒再說， 他們非常支持我。 但是很多出版社的回應(yīng)讓人失望。 頗具諷刺意味的是，一個很大的兒童出版社說， 他們不跟兒童打交道。 兒童出版社不跟兒童打交道? 怎么說呢，你這是在怠慢一個大客戶嘛。 (笑聲) 有一個出版商，行動出版社 愿意給我一個機會，并傾聽我想說的話。 他們出版了我的第一本書《飛舞的手指》——就是這個—— 那以后，我到數(shù)百個學(xué)校去演講， 給數(shù)千個老師作主題演講，最后，在今天，給你們作演講。
我感謝你們今天聽我演講， 因為你們會傾聽我， 這證明你們真的在乎。 但小孩比大人強得多的這幅樂觀圖景 是存在一個問題的。 小孩會長大并變成像你們一樣的大人。 (笑聲) 跟你們一樣，真的嗎? 我們的目標不是讓小孩變成你們這樣的大人， 而是比你們強的大人。考慮到你們都這么了不起， 這可能頗具挑戰(zhàn)性。 但進步 是因新的一代人和新的時期而發(fā)生， 不斷的進步和發(fā)展，并超越之前的年代。這就是為什么我們不再處于黑暗時代。 不管在生活中你的位置在哪里， 你必須給孩子創(chuàng)造機會。 這樣他們才能成長并讓你揚眉吐氣。 (笑聲)
大人和TED觀眾們， 你們需要傾聽并向小孩學(xué)習(xí)，信任我們和對我們懷有更高的期望。 今天你們需要聆聽， 因為我們是明天的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)， 這意味著當你們年老體衰時， 我們會照顧你們。哈，只是開玩笑了。 確實，我們將成為推動世界前進 的下一代人。 而且，假如你認為這對你沒有意義的話， 不要忘了克隆是可能的，而這意味著童年可以重來， 這種情況下，像我們這一代人一樣， 你也會希望大人傾聽你們的心聲。 世界需要產(chǎn)生新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人 和新想法的機會。 小孩需要機會去領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和取得成功。 你準備好去促成這一切了嗎? 因為這個世界的問題， 不應(yīng)該是人類家庭的傳家寶。
謝謝你們! (掌聲) 謝謝!謝謝!
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