VOA教育报道2024--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."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.

Gartrell said this teaching "starts with appreciating each member of the group as a worthy¹ member and worthy of expressing thoughts and ideas." He said after that, children can learn to treat others with kindness to solve conflicts and negotiate² difficult situations by using words that do not hurt other people's feelings.

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

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."At ACCA in Virginia, children are given a lot of autonomy³. There are hours spent doing free play. Children vote on what they study and eat.

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.

The ACCA said the decision-making process is meant to affirm⁴ to children that their thoughts and the thoughts of their classmates are valuable.

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 Patrol⁵, an animated⁶ TV series.

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."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.

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.

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..."María-Isabel Ballivian is the preschool's executive⁷ director. She said she looks for ways to remind students that they are American. For example, she holds a large Fourth of July gathering⁸.

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

Words in This Story

appreciate -v. to be able to understand in some way

worthy -adj. valued enough to merit⁹ a person's time, effort or concern

contribute -v. to personally add to value to something or someone else

autonomy -n. the ability to act independently without external help

character -n. a person or creature that appears in a movie, TV show, play or cartoon

animated -adj. relating to movie or TV cartoons which have the appearance of moving pictures rather than film or video

resilient -adj. able to recover from injury, damage or disease

1 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

2 negotiate   

v.洽谈，协商，谈判，顺利通过，成功越过

参考例句：

• I'll negotiate with their coach on the date of the match.我将与他们的教练磋商比赛的日期问题。
• I managed to negotiate successfully with the authorities.我设法同当局进行了成功的协商。

3 autonomy   

n.自治，自治权，人身自由，自主权

参考例句：

• Branch managers have full autonomy in their own areas.分支机构的经理在其管辖范围内有充分的自主权。
• China has instituted a system of regional autonomy in minority areas.中国在少数民族聚居地区实行民族区域自治。

4 affirm   

vt.断言，坚持声称，证实，确认

参考例句：

• We can not affirm that what should be done the next step.我们不能肯定下一步该做什么。
• I dare not affirm whether we can use so this word.我不敢肯定我们是否能这样用这个词。

5 patrol   

v.巡逻，巡查；n.巡逻，巡查，巡逻队

参考例句：

• They attacked two soldiers on patrol.他们袭击了两名正在巡逻的士兵。
• Policemen patrol the streets.警察在街上巡逻。

6 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

7 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 merit   

n.优点，价值，功绩，成绩；vt.值得

参考例句：

• There is great merit in dealing fairly with your employees.公正地对待你的雇员有极大好处。
• History affords us lessons that merit attention.历史给我们提供了值得注意的借鉴。