Happy Teachers’ Day, everyone!
I’m delighted to say that this is the 18th year I’ve been in education, and I want to wish all teachers a Happy Teachers’ Day.
祝大家教師節快樂！我很開心地說，這是我從事教育工作的第１8個年頭。我想祝福全天下所有的老師——教師節快樂。
Today, I want to tell you just how important our jobs are. In the past decade, we have seen a great deal of conflicting news content. In this post-truth world, many attempt to seize power by using anger, hate, and lies to divide, deceive, and manipulate us.
今天，我想向各位報告，我們的工作是多麽的重要。在過去的十年裡，我們目睹了大量自相矛盾的新聞內容（news content）。在這個後真相的世界（post-truth world）裡，許多有心人士想透過憤怒、仇恨與謊言，來撕裂、欺騙及操控我們以攫取權力。
Education is the only effective tool we have to resist their manipulation, and we, teachers, are on the front lines of this so-called information warfare. How, though, do teachers fight against a world where the truth seems subjective and even facts can be construed to justify the actions of those in power? How do we help our students think for themselves, become active participants in their own communities, and take control of their own lives?
教育則是唯一有效的工具以與之抗衡，而我們——老師——就處於這場資訊戰（information warfare）的第一線。但在這個真理毫無客觀性的世界裡，經過詮釋（construed）的真相（facts）也能正當化掌權者的行為。老師們該如何對抗這樣的世道？我們如何幫助我們的學生獨立思考，成為自身社群的積極參與者（active participants），並掌控自己的人生？
Education in a post-truth world suggests we rethink pedagogy not as a linear path with an endpoint but as a practice that constantly questions.
在後真相的世界裡，教育暗示著我們應重新思考教育學（pedagogy）。它並非一條有終點的直線路徑，而是一種不斷提問的實踐方式。
The notion of a neutral, objective education is illusory as we, teachers, do not exist outside of ideology, social values, and politics. “Education is never innocent and is always implicated in relations of power and specific visions of the present and future (Peters et al., 2018, p. 207)." Without reflection and change, education can become a tool for those in power to extend their control and render the population “unthinking," as can be seen in some totalitarian (and even a few democratic) countries.
中立（neutral）、客觀（objective）教育的概念是幻象，因為我們——老師——並不置身於意識形態（ideology）、社會價值觀與政治之外。「 教育從來都不是單純的（innocent），它總是涉及權力關係（relations of power）以及對當下與未來的具體願景」（Peters et al., 2018, p. 207）。若無反思與改變，教育就會淪為掌權者擴大統治並使大眾無法思考的工具，正如我們在一些極權主義（totalitarian）國家中——甚至少數的民主國家——所看到的那樣。
We must not hide behind so-called objectivity and pretend politics does not surround us, as it shapes our school policies, our curricula, and even the concepts we plant in our students’ heads. Instead, we must stand up to unethical political practices that seek to manipulate our children and us by playing on our biases and hate. We must prevent politics from turning us into unthinking individuals who do not question unjust practices.
我們絕對不能躲在那所謂的「客觀」背後，假裝政治不在我們身邊。因為，政治形塑了我們的學校政策、我們的學校課程（curricula），乃至我們植入學生腦中的那些觀念（ideas）。我們必須對抗種種不道德的政治作為，那些作為試圖利用我們的偏見與仇恨，來操控我們以及我們的孩子。我們必須杜絕政治將我們變成不懂得質疑不公不義的無腦個體（unthinking individuals）。
Rather than teach our students to retreat from challenging information, we must teach them to engage such content in and outside the classroom so that they may be able to deal with complex issues as critically thinking individuals. We must also be held ethically accountable and self-reflective for the information we impart and for our own actions. We must teach ourselves and our children to think!
與其教學生在遭遇具挑戰性的資訊時選擇迴避（retreat），不如讓他們在課內與課外接觸這些資訊，使他們——批判性思考的個體（critically thinking individuals）——得以處理複雜的問題。我們還必須對自身的行為與傳授的資訊承擔道德責任（ethically accountable），並自我反省。我們必須訓練我們自己以及我們的孩子不斷地思考!
Moreover, we must teach our children to listen and care. Just thinking is not enough, as many who can “think" only care about their self-interest. Thinking and questioning without care can quickly become tools to secure one’s own advantage and well-being.
此外，我們須教導我們的孩子懂得傾聽與關懷。僅有思考，是遠遠不夠的，因為許多懂得思考的人只關心自己的利益。沒有關愛的思考與質疑，將淪為獲取利益的工具。
As teachers, we also need to focus on developing our children’s capacity for listening, empathizing, and caring for others so that they may understand and consider diverse viewpoints. Only then will our students speak for underprivileged groups and stand up for injustices. The welfare of individuals, our communities, and our society is intertwined. The well-being of others is our well-being.
我們須教導我們的孩子懂得傾聽與關懷。僅有思考，是遠遠不夠的，因為許多懂得思考的人只關心自己的利益。沒有關愛的思考與質疑，將淪為獲取利益的工具。因此，身為老師，我們亦需著重培養孩子傾聽、共情（empathizing）與關懷他人的能力，使他們能夠理解並考慮不同的觀點。 只有這樣，我們的學生才會為弱勢群體發聲，挺身對抗不公不義。 個人、社群乃至社會的福利是交織在一起的。他人的幸福就是我們的幸福。
Thus, education is a continuing process that seeks to potentially transform our complex society by giving our children the capacity to think and care for themselves and others! Only then will they be able to navigate their lives and transform society.
據此，教育是一個持續的過程，旨在為我們的孩子提供批判性思考能力與工具，來引導他們的生活並改善社會，如此便可能轉化我們的種種情結。
Happy Teachers’ Day, everyone. May we all continue to teach our children to become thinking and caring individuals who can and will create a new tomorrow.
祝大家教師節快樂。願我們都持續教導我們的孩子成為喜愛思考的人（thinking individuals），他們能夠也將會創造一個嶄新的明天。
參考文獻 Reference
Peters, M. A., Rider, S., Hyvönen, M., & Besley, T. (Eds.). (2018). Post-truth, fake news: Viral modernity & higher education. Springer.
什麼是模糊性 Why do we need ambiguity?
http://bit.ly/37wnBlL
選擇關懷，拒絕仇恨 Care, Not Hate
https://bit.ly/3DUMFDQ
俄烏戰爭: 該相信誰? Who do we believe?
https://bit.ly/3shkBo2
淺談「假新聞」What is “fake news”?
https://bit.ly/3rlj1PL
Eric's English Lounge 