I have spent my entire life either at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse, or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse. 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.

  我这辈子,要么是在学校,要么在去学校的路上,要么是在讨论学校里发生了什么事。我的父母都是教育家,我的外祖父母也都是搞教育的,过去40年我也在从事同样的事业。所以,很显然,过去的这些年里,我有机会从各个角度审视教育改革。一些改革是有成效的。而另一些却收效甚微。我们知道孩子们为什么掉队辍学。我们知道孩子们为什么学不下去。原因无非是贫穷,低出席率,同龄人的坏影响。我们知道为什么。但是我们从未讨论或者极少讨论的是人和人之间的那种联系的价值和重要性,这就是“关系”。

  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 look at some of the worst.

  James Comer (美国著名儿童精神科医师)说过,没有强有力的联系,学习就不会有显著的进步。 George Washington Carver(美国著名教育学家)说过,学习就是理解各种关系。在座的各位都曾经被一位老师或者一个成年人影响过。这么多年,我都在看人们怎么教学。我看过最好的也看过最差的。