在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语--对学校选择不满意的父母聚集在一起学习“豆荚”

时间:2020-08-14 23:49:12

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

On a farm at the edge of Everglades National Park in Florida, Timea Hunter trains people to ride horses. There, she has held plenty of horse-riding classes, parties, and other events. So, with her children's school building closed, she asked herself: Why not also use the farm as a classroom?

This year, her son and daughter will have distance learning through their usual school. But Hunter and four to six other families also plan to hire a teacher who can provide in-person classes on the farm.

The farm has a very nice outdoor eating area, Hunter told The Associated Press, or AP. It also has a small play area for children and big tables where they can study under the trees.

"We are not educated [in how] to do this," she said. So, everybody is saying, "What are we going to do? How are we going to do it?"

In the United States, the coronavirus health crisis has hurt hopes of quickly reopening schools nationally. Now, some parents are hurrying to hire private teachers for small groups. The race to set up these "learning pods" threatens to worsen educational inequities.

In some cases, parents are paying thousands of dollars each to include their children in pods. They are promising1 teachers $40 to $100 an hour or more. Three weeks after a Facebook group on learning pods formed, it has more than 30,000 members. And it has launched several smaller groups in states and cities. New websites have been born, offering to connect families with teachers.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has called learning pods "luxuries" that are not a choice for parents who earn low wages.

"We hear these different things about some parents are going to create their own learning pods and all this other stuff," DeSantis said at a recent discussion on education. He said that such programs are going to depend on the bfinancial means of parents. "When you have working-class parents," they really do need to have a choice, he added.

Hunter said distance learning was extremely hard on her 9-year-old son – and on her. She said the teacher met with the class once a week. Parents were responsible for the rest of the teaching. Now she also worries about a younger daughter who is entering her first year of school.

Among those considering work as a pod teacher is Jeanette Matas who, like many, has concerns about going back to her job as an educator. The 42-year-old works as reading teacher in Miami. While teaching online classes, she has seen her 6th-grade and 7th-grade students taking care of younger brothers and sisters. Matas says such situations give students from lower-income families an unequal deal.

Her grandmother died of COVID-19 after her caregiver infected her. And her own third-grade daughter has suffered from lung infections that kept her away from school for weeks. So Matas is thinking of taking a year away from her job, getting hired to teach her own pod and bringing her children.

Matas said the coronavirus has deeply affected2 her family and she does not want to go back to the usual classroom.

Some see the pods as a necessary and even creative solution to the crisis facing the U.S. educational system.

"It is civil society in action," said Lindsey Burke. She directs the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy organization. The Center pushes for school choice policies that permit use of public money in private or alternative schools.

Tina Cheuk is an education researcher at California Polytechnic3 State University. She says she is troubled by the move toward learning pods and the push to pay for them with money meant for public schools.

That decision will have consequences for public education, Cheuk said. Not only would it take money from public education. But the pods threaten to replace teachers with college students or retirees, she noted4.

Cheuk added that choosing to be in a pod may seem innocent but ignores the effects on public education.

A group of Oakland, California school administrators5 wrote about their concerns in an open letter. It told parents that health experts suggest limiting in-person contact. The school officials also noted the possibility of causing some students to feel left out. That is especially true for those who may see or hear of others learning together while they remain alone, the letter said.

Some parents are forming learning pods with neighbors they already know. Others are contacting social media groups to help identify wider choices. This raises questions about the safety and quality of such schooling6.

Melissa Cedeno works as a digital marketer in Miami, Florida. The 37-year-old is also a parent with two young boys in grade school. Cedeno is seeking to put together a small learning group. On Facebook, she wrote that she is searching for other children and a teacher to help students with their local school's online programs. Her Facebook ad said parents would be able to observe the classes through the camera inside her home. That way, they know their children are safe. And Cedeno said she would do background investigations8 on the teaching candidates.

Atlanta, Georgia, parent Nikolai Pizarro de Jesus has homeschooled her 12-year-old son since he was very young. Recently, she has been helping9 families plan more socio-economically accessible pods by connecting them with experienced homeschooling families.

She is hopeful that discussions about learning pods will increase people's understanding of inequalities that have long existed in public education.

I'm Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

hire – v. to give work or a job to someone in exchange for wages or a salary

pod – n. a long, thin part of some plants that has seeds inside

luxury – n. a condition or situation of great comfort, ease, and wealth

grade – n. a school in the U.S. for young children (or) a level of study that is completed by a student during one year

alternative school – n. a school with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional

consequence – n. something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions

open letter – n. a letter, often critical, addressed to a particular person or group of people but intended for publication.

background investigation7 – n. a process a person or company uses to verify that a person is who they claim to be.

accessible – adj. able to be used or obtained


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 promising BkQzsk     
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。
2 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
3 polytechnic g1vzw     
adj.各种工艺的,综合技术的;n.工艺(专科)学校;理工(专科)学校
参考例句:
  • She was trained as a teacher at Manchester Polytechnic.她在曼彻斯特工艺专科学校就读,准备毕业后做老师。
  • When he was 17,Einstein entered the Polytechnic Zurich,Switzerland,where he studied mathematics and physics.17岁时,爱因斯坦进入了瑞士苏黎士的专科学院,学习数学和物理学。
4 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
5 administrators d04952b3df94d47c04fc2dc28396a62d     
n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 );有管理(或行政)才能的人;(由遗嘱检验法庭指定的)遗产管理人;奉派暂管主教教区的牧师
参考例句:
  • He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员,但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
  • Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
6 schooling AjAzM6     
n.教育;正规学校教育
参考例句:
  • A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
  • Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。
7 investigation MRKzq     
n.调查,调查研究
参考例句:
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
8 investigations 02de25420938593f7db7bd4052010b32     
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究
参考例句:
  • His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查,但没有发现什么。
  • He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。
9 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。