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French education
法兰西教育
Bac blues
会考后的忧伤
Moves are afoot to reconsider France's harsh grading system
法国正在考虑改革它苛刻的成绩评级制度
WARY of competition when it comes to global markets, the French embrace it wholeheartedly in the classroom. As school pupils enjoy the end of their summer holiday, few will relish a return to their harsh grading system. Termly reports in secondary schools record pupils' marks, in Cartesian fashion, to the nearest two decimal points. Every child knows how they compare with the average. A result at the school-leaving baccalaureat exam of 16 out of 20 is considered outstanding. For younger children, a dictee to test spelling is marked by progressively deducting points for every error, which can crush the grade down to zero, or even into negative territory.
提到全球市场，就少不了竞争中“战战兢兢，如履薄冰”的心态。而法兰西一心要将这种小心翼翼奉为教育的信条。享受美好假期的孩子们一想到要回到学校那苛刻的分级制度，一个个就像霜打的茄子一样愁容满面。中学记录学生成绩的学期报告会使用笛卡尔的算法，将大家的成绩精确到小数点后两位。毕业会考的成绩在16到20分之间的孩子才会被评为优秀。而对于这些小朋友们来说，拼写测试中的听写就是扣分的战斗机,分数被一个一个的错误蚕食鲸吞，这会使得他们的分数跌至零分甚至是负分。
Benot Hamon, the education minister, thinks the system, at least for younger people, is too harsh. He argues that “in France we are defined by failure”, and this begins with poor grades. He wants schools to “stimulate instead of discourage” and to give pupils more positive feedback. Mr Hamon has launched a review of the national grading system. It is due to report early next year.
法国教育部长博努瓦·哈蒙认为，这样的教学体制，最起码对年轻人来说实在是过于苛刻。这位教育部长认为“在法国，我们被定义成了不及格”，并且都始于过低的分数。他希望学校对学生是“鼓舞促进而不是使其丧失信心”，并且希望学校可以给学生更多积极的反馈。哈蒙部长推出了一份关于全国教育分级制度的反思评论，这份检讨将于明年早些时候公诸于世。
Mr Hamon's concern seems to be over the stress and anxiety that harsh grading inflicts on French schoolchildren, and the lack of confidence that this engenders in a country that is already excessively pessimistic. Fully 75% of the children say they worry about getting poor marks in maths, for example, according to a study by the Paris-based OECD think-tank—only just less than the figure of 78% in South Korea, and far above the 46% in Sweden.
哈蒙部长似乎是想结束苛刻分级制度给法国中小学生造成的紧张与焦虑，并提升因此制度造成国家过于悲观而缺乏已久的自信。例如，根据位于巴黎的经合组织智库发布研究数据，足足有75%的孩子表示他们担心自己的数学成绩会越来越差。在此项调查上法国仅略低于韩国，但是却远远高于瑞典,在韩国，这样的孩子占到78％，而在瑞典，却只有46％。
Last year the education ministry reported on an experiment in middle schools, in which marks out of 20 were abandoned in favour of comments, or vague letter grades. Boys, the report noted, disliked a less competitive environment more than girls; stronger pupils disliked it more than weaker ones. But by creating less stress over failure, the report found, pupils were encouraged to take risks and participate in class, and often became more confident.
去年，法国教育部在中学进行了改革实验，在这些学校中，笛卡尔的打分方式被摒弃，取而代之的是评论意见或者是模糊的字母等级。报告指出，和女生相比，男生对于这种竞争压力小的环境并不太感冒；与那些相对弱一些的学生相比，那些成绩优异的学生也不喜欢这样的弱竞争氛围。但是研究者们还发现，及格带来的压力减轻使学生们受到了鼓励，更愿意冒险尝试并且参与课堂活动，并且自信也与日俱增。
Curiously, it was parents rather than pupils who most resisted the absence of grades. They worried about over-protected children, and the difficulty of judging their progress. If Mr Hamon is to get anywhere, he may find that his biggest obstacle is pushy parents.
而奇怪的是，最反对模糊分数的不是学生，而是各位小朋友的家长。这些家长担心对孩子的过度保护会难以判断其长进。如果哈蒙部长随处看看，他或许会发现，其实教育中最大的改革就是这些爱出风头的固执父母。 翻译 周晓婷 校对 邵夏沁
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