第2462期:Preschools Aim to Make Students Better Citizens

Early education expert Dan Gartrell says the most important civics lesson that preschools can teach is “social democracy.” 

早期教育专家丹·加特雷尔表示，幼儿园可以教授的最重要的公民课程是“社会民主”。 

Gartrell wrote a book about teaching democracy to preschoolers. It is called Education for a Civil Society. The book is used by the ACCA Child Development Center near Washington, D.C. in Northern Virginia. 

加特雷尔写了一本关于向学龄前儿童教授民主的书。它被称为公民社会教育。这本书由弗吉尼亚州北部华盛顿特区附近的 ACCA 儿童发展中心使用。 

Gartrell said this teaching “starts with appreciating each member of the group as a worthy member and worthy of expressing thoughts and ideas.” He said after that, children can learn to treat others with kindness to solve conflicts and negotiate difficult situations by using words that do not hurt other people’s feelings. 

加特雷尔说，这种教学“首先要认识到团队中的每个成员都是有价值的成员，并且值得表达思想和想法。” 他说，孩子们可以学会善待他人，用不伤害别人感情的言语来解决冲突和协商困难的情况。 

Rachel Robertson is chief academic officer for Bright Horizons. The company operates preschool centers around the world. It uses democratic ideas in its education. 

雷切尔·罗伯逊 (Rachel Robertson) 是 Bright Horizons 的首席学术官。该公司在世界各地经营学前中心。它在教育中运用民主思想。 

Robertson said that a child starts to be a “real community member” at around age three or four. She said the child starts “contributing to the classroom community and thinking a little bit broader about the world.” 

罗伯逊说，孩子在三四岁左右开始成为“真正的社区成员”。她说，孩子开始“为课堂社区做出贡献，并对世界进行更广泛的思考”。 

At ACCA in Virginia, children are given a lot of autonomy. There are hours spent doing free play. Children vote on what they study and eat. 

在弗吉尼亚州的 ACCA，孩子们被赋予了很大的自主权。有几个小时可以自由玩耍。孩子们对他们学习和吃的东西进行投票。 

On a recent day, one classroom had just finished studying sand because the children wanted to know about it after they visited beaches over the summer. The children also tried different apples and voted on which apples the school should order. 

最近的一天，一个教室刚刚完成了对沙子的学习，因为孩子们在夏天参观了海滩后想了解沙子。孩子们还尝试了不同的苹果，并投票决定学校应该订购哪些苹果。

The ACCA said the decision-making process is meant to affirm to children that their thoughts and the thoughts of their classmates are valuable. 

ACCA表示，决策过程旨在向孩子们确认他们的想法和同学的想法是有价值的。

Reporters with the Associated Press recently visited an ACCA classroom. The reporters found the children taking a vote on who the best character was on Paw Patrol, an animated TV series. 

美联社记者近日参观了ACCA教室。记者发现，孩子们正在投票选出动画片《狗狗巡逻队》中的最佳角色。 

The three- and four-year-old children were choosing between two finalists: a German shepherd named Chase who wears a police uniform, and Skye, who wears a pink “pup pack.” 

三岁和四岁的孩子在两名决赛选手中进行选择：身穿警服的德国牧羊犬蔡斯和身穿粉红色“小狗包”的斯凯。 

Educators at ACCA say they are teaching ideas of civics to students early. Their goal, they say, is to raise good citizens and strengthen democracy.

ACCA 的教育工作者表示，他们正在尽早向学生传授公民知识。他们说，他们的目标是培养好公民并加强民主。 

The students are not learning about the structure and rules of government. But teachers say they are working with students on how to solve problems with classmates, how to deal with anger or disappointment and how to think of the needs of others. 

学生们没有学习政府的结构和规则。但老师们表示，他们正在与学生一起学习如何解决与同学之间的问题、如何处理愤怒或失望以及如何考虑他人的需求。 

Mary Folks is a teacher at ACCA. She said, “We’re all here to help develop these children to become better citizens…to be better problem-solvers and to be better equipped socially, emotionally…” 

玛丽·福克斯 (Mary Folks) 是 ACCA 的一名教师。她说：“我们都在这里帮助这些孩子成为更好的公民……成为更好的问题解决者，并在社交和情感上拥有更好的装备……” 

María-Isabel Ballivian is the preschool’s executive director. She said she looks for ways to remind students that they are American. For example, she holds a large Fourth of July gathering. 

María-Isabel Ballivian 是该幼儿园的执行董事。她说她正在寻找方法提醒学生他们是美国人。例如，她举办了一场大型的国庆日聚会。 

Ballivian said, “If we give them now a sense of belonging, that’s going to be a tool that they will have to become resilient once they face discrimination.” 

巴利维说：“如果我们现在给他们一种归属感，这将成为他们在面临歧视时必须变得有弹性的工具。” 

Ballivian added, “I don’t see how we can change the adults…But I do know, if we work hard, we can prepare our children for a better future.” 

巴利维补充道：“我不知道我们如何才能改变成年人……但我确实知道，如果我们努力工作，我们就能让我们的孩子为更美好的未来做好准备。” 

As for the class vote at ACCA, they narrowly supported Skye in their vote for best Paw Patrol character. 

至于 ACCA 的班级投票，他们以微弱优势支持斯凯投票选出最佳狗狗巡逻队角色。