VOA标准英语2012--Dakar School Integrates Special Needs Children Into Regular Classes

Dakar School Integrates Special Needs Children Into Regular Classes

In Dakar, a school exchange program attempts to break the stigma¹ associated with mental deficiencies by bridging the gap between regular and special needs students.
On a Thursday morning at Xale Buur La, an elementary school in a low-income neighborhood of Dakar, some 50 or so young boys and girls sit cramped² on small wooden benches scribbling³ adjectives on mini chalkboards.
The teacher calls on a tall boy from the back of the class to come up to the board. Babacar Fall breaks out into a huge smile and leaps over his classmates, many of them half his age, and strides to the front of the room.
Exchange program
Babacar, 18, is a student from the Aminata Mbaye Center - one of five schools for intellectually deficient⁴ children in Dakar. Twice a week he, along with eight of his classmates and his teacher, spend two hours at Xale Buur La. They come here to learn as part of an exchange program between the two schools - one that helps students with intellectual deficiencies integrate into regular classes.
It began nearly four years ago after the director at the Aminata Mbaye Center, Claude Sarr, saw a need to address an issue few were willing to openly talk about in Senegal.
Sarr says they have no idea how many children there are with mental deficiencies in Dakar and the surrounding area. Most parents keep their children at home and refuse to bring them to the hospitals to be checked. These parents might know there is something wrong with their child, but they are often worried about how they will be treated in public and what effect this will have on their development.
'Mainstreaming'
Sarr says that a specialized⁵ school like Aminata Mbaye should not even exist. If a child lives in a family where everyone is 'normal' there is no reason to take this child and put them into a school where everyone is not normal. The problem is that the community, teachers and students are not necessarily prepared to receive them.
The practice of ‘mainstreaming’, or mixing special needs students into regular classes, can be controversial. Opponents often argue that special needs students require special care, monopolize⁶ the teacher’s time and slow the learning process for the so-called ‘normal’ kids.
When the mainstreaming program first began between Aminata Mbaye and Xale Buur La, there were some initial problems to work out.
Maxim⁷ Correa is a teacher at the Aminata Mbaye Center who also gives lessons every second week at Xale Buur La. Correa was not trained specifically to teach intellectually deficient children and explains how he has had to adapt his teaching style and method to suit the needs of all the students.
Engaging students
Correa says that his own students have sporadic⁸ whims⁹, which means he needs to know how to negotiate with them and to find more creative ways of getting them to follow a lesson. He may encourage them by promising¹⁰ a field trip or a chance to listen to music - something fun to incite¹¹ them to learn.
Correa says it requires a lot of patience and perseverance¹² on his part, because he often has to teach the same lesson three times to his students and needs to vary it every time.
The range in age of students from Aminata Mbaye who have been involved in this exchange program is anywhere between 14 to 34 years old. When they come into ‘regular’ classrooms, where the average age can be as young as 10, this can initially¹³ be quite frustrating¹⁴ for the older students.
Correa says, in the beginning, his students found it difficult to be with kids so much younger than them, but that now this is less of an issue because they know each other and do not necessarily see the age factor. But Correa says he still needs to make a special effort to include the special needs kids, because the majority are reticent¹⁵ by their very nature.
Ismaila Keita is a teacher trainer and educational consultant¹⁶ who makes regular visits to Xale Buur La to monitor the classes. He has been involved in Dakar’s school system for over 40 years.
Keita says if you do not mix the kids from Aminata Mbaye it just slows their development and makes the division between so-called “regular” and deficient children even greater. It is like when you are sick and you lock yourself in your room without seeing a doctor or getting help. You will never improve. We have to teach kids to come together rather than separating them.
Keita says that in Senegal there are many kids who start school late for all sorts of reasons, so it is not uncommon¹⁷ for older kids to be placed with younger kids in classrooms. Although, in some cases, the older students get very frustrated¹⁸ and end up leaving, this is now happening a lot less. Keita says they are trying to get the kids to understand that school is actually an ongoing¹⁹ learning process and neither age nor intellectual ability should restrict who can be involved.
On the drive back to the Aminata Mbaye Center, Babacar climbs to the back of the bus. He says he has had a good morning. They are wise kids, he says with a smile.

1 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

2 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

3 scribbling   

n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字！ 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字，妈妈看在眼里，就替他报读了幼稚园。 来自互联网

4 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

5 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

6 monopolize   

v.垄断，独占，专营

参考例句：

• She tried to monopolize his time.她想独占他的时间。
• They are controlling so much cocoa that they are virtually monopolizing the market.他们控制了大量的可可粉，因此他们几乎垄断了整个市场。

7 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

8 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

9 WHIMS   

虚妄，禅病

参考例句：

• The mate observed regretfully that he could not account for that young fellow's whims. 那位伙伴很遗憾地说他不能说出那年轻人产生怪念头的原因。
• The rest she had for food and her own whims. 剩下的钱她用来吃饭和买一些自己喜欢的东西。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

11 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。

12 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 reticent   

adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的

参考例句：

• He was reticent about his opinion.他有保留意见。
• He was extremely reticent about his personal life.他对自己的个人生活讳莫如深。

16 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

17 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

18 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。