Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in an education class.

旁白：听一段教育课程的讲座。

The professor is discussing the Italian educator Maria Montessori.

教授正在讨论意大利教育家玛利娅•蒙台梭利。

Professor: Ok, if you did your reading for today, then you were introduced to a very influential alternative to traditional education.

教授：好的，如果你们完成了今天的阅读，那么你已经接触到了，除了传统教育以外，非常具有影响力的教育（方式）。

This educational philosophy and methodology was pioneered in Italy in the early 1900s by Doctor Maria Montessori.

这种教育理念和方法，是由玛利娅•蒙台梭利博士在意大利开创的。

It's called the Montessori Method.

这就是所谓的蒙台梭利方法。

But what made the Montessori Method for young children so different?

但是，对年幼的孩子来说，蒙台梭利方法有什么不同？

What made it so different, so special?

是什么让它如此与众不同，如此特别？

Male student: It's based on very different ideas about how kids learn best, right?

男学生：对于孩子如何才能更好的学习，这种教育方法秉持非常不同的观念？

Professor: Um-hmm... It was groundbreaking.

教授：嗯……这是开创性的。

To begin with, unlike the traditional classrooms at the time, the Montessori classroom environment was more suited to the child.

首先，与当时的传统教室不同，蒙台梭利的课堂环境更适合孩子。

The furniture was child-sized.

家具是儿童大小的。

Well, it's that way in almost all schools now, but that wasn't always the case.

好吧，现在几乎所有的学校都是这样，但在当时情况并非总如此。

We can thank Montessori for this.

对于这一点，我们可以感谢蒙台梭利。

You won't see any long benches with children in rows or heavy desks that separate children.

你现在看不到到孩子们排成排坐在长凳上或是沉重的书桌。

Children are free to interact with each other.

孩子们可以自由地相互交流。

And in Montessori classrooms, the furniture is lightweight, so children can move it around easily, and having furniture and materials made to fit them, makes kids feel more competent.

在蒙特梭利教室中，家具是轻便的，所以孩子们可以轻松地移动它。拥有适合他们的家具和材料，使孩子们感到更有能力。

This fits in with Montessori's notion of liberty and autonomy.

这符合蒙台梭利自由和自治的概念。

Children are free to move around the room and they learn to do things for themselves.

孩子们可以自由地在房间里走动，他们学会为自己做事。

Male student: I'm not sure I get that part.

男学生：我不确定我理解了那部分。

It sounds like potential chaos.

听起来像是潜在的混乱。

Professor: Oh, no, no, no.

教授：噢，不不不。

Let's not confuse this liberty of activity with lack of discipline.

不要把这种活动的自由性与缺乏纪律混为一谈。

In fact, teachers have to maintain this specific environment carefully through a number of rules, which are generally about respect and what's right.

事实上，教师必须通过一些规则来保持这个特定的环境，这些规则通常是关于尊重和什么是正确的。

It's just that the child needs freedom of choice to develop independence and self-direction.

只是孩子需要自由选择的权利来培养独立性和自我指导。

Also, unlike what happens in most conventional classrooms, children choose their own activities.

此外，不同于大多数传统的教室，孩子们选择自己的活动。

They may be guided by the teacher, but it's ultimately up to each child to select tasks, which brings us to the manipulative equipment you find in a Montessori classroom, like little boards that have rough or smooth surfaces, or blocks that can be stacked into a tower.

他们可能是由老师指导，但这最终取决于每个孩子选择的任务，这就将我们带到蒙台梭利教室的操纵设备（的话题上），比如（这些设备中）有粗糙或光滑的表面像小板或积木，可以堆叠成一个塔。

Now this equipment was designed by Montessori over time with much experimentation, designed...well, designed to help children teach themselves through playing.

这个设备是由蒙台梭利经过长时间的实验设计出来的……旨在帮助孩子通过游戏自学。

Female student: Well, what do the teachers do?

女学生：那么，老师们做什么？

I mean if the kids are teaching themselves.

我的意思是，如果孩子们在自学。

Professor: Ah, well, that's a good question.

教授：啊，这是个好问题。

To start, a child may not work with an activity until the teacher has demonstrated its proper use.

首先，在老师演示正确的操作方式之前，一个孩子可能无法开展活动。

Then the Montessori teacher's job is to observe the child's play, because when the children play, they are acquiring the bases for later concepts.

那么，蒙台梭利老师的工作就是观察孩子的玩耍，因为当孩子们玩耍时，他们在为以后的思想概念（的形成）获取基础。

So the teacher helps motivate and focus each child and monitors the child's progress, but does not interfere with the child's observations and deductions.

因此，教师要去激励和关注每个孩子，并监督孩子的进步，但不干扰孩子的观察和推断。

That was and still is a novel idea, and for many teachers not the easiest thing to do.

这在过去，乃至于现在仍然是个新奇的理念，而且对许多老师来说，不是最容易做的事。

In facts, for some, it's very difficult.

事实上，对于一些人来说，这是非常困难的。

Montessori herself called the teacher a director.

蒙台梭利自己把老师称作为监督人。

Remember, the independence of the learner lies at the heart of the Montessori methodology.

记住，学习者的独立性是蒙台梭利方法论的核心所在。

FeMale student: Ok, yeah, it does seem like that the teacher need a lot of training and patience.

女学生：好的，是的，看起来老师需要大量的训练和耐心。

Professor: True.

教授：是的。

As I said, it is not easy for a lot of teachers to step back like that, but getting back to the equipment.

正如我所说的，对于不少老师而言，像那样袖手旁观，并不容易，但要回到设备上。

Basic Montessori equipment can be divided into a number of major subject areas such as practical life, mathematics and what is called sensorial.

蒙台梭利的基本设备可分为多个主要科目，如数日常生活、数学以及所谓的感官。

With a sensorial equipment, the children can explore things like sounds and textures.

一个感官的设备，孩子们可以探索声音和纹理之类的事物。

At the same time, they develop motor skills.

同时，他们发展运动技能。

But this apparent play is laying the groundwork for the later math and language work.

但这种表面上的游戏为以后的数学和语言学习打下了基础。

Now let's take a look at the materials called brown stairs.

现在让我们来看看所谓的棕色楼梯的材料。

For a young child playing with this graduated blocks, these brown stairs, they are not just a sensorial lesson.

对于把玩这些进阶型积木的小孩子，这些褐色的积木不仅仅是一个感官的训练。

By manipulating them, the child develops fine motor skills and by sorting and classifying them by size, by weight, the child learns some basic mathematics.

通过操纵它们，孩子发展了精细的运动技能，通过按大小和重量分类，孩子学习一些基本的数学运算。

Similarly, with practical-life equipment, the child can learn how to button a shirt, cut up an apple for a snack and other real-world tasks.

同样，通过日常生活设备，孩子可以学习如何扣衬衫，切苹果来制作小食以及其它现实世界的任务。

Male student: With all this integration and real-world learning, is there any room for creativity?

男学生：有了这些整合和现实世界的学习，那还有创造力的空间吗？

Professor: Is creativity encouraged?

教授：会鼓励创造力吗？

Well, Montessori teachers wouldn’t praise a child for using a violin as a baseball bat or for putting their head like a hat.

好的，蒙台梭利老师都不会表扬孩子用小提琴当棒球棒或像一顶帽子一样戴在他们的头。

But actually, creativity comes through learning to play the violin, using the object for the purpose that was intended and practical life exercises stress that.

但事实上，创造力来自于学习拉小提琴，来自于为了达到目的而使用某些事物，并且日常生活练习强调了这一点。