小而美的力量：为何小而精的教育更胜一筹

以下文章根据Mr.Pratt公开场合演讲有所整理和调整。

Good morning. My name is Richard Pratt, and I have been fortunate to spend over thirty years working in schools.

This time has mostly been spent in large schools, including some of the most prestigious in the world, from the UK independent sector, and in international schools in China, including Hong Kong.

各位早上好！我是潘和平，非常荣幸我在教育领域工作了三十多年。我曾在一些全球最负盛名的学校任职，包括英国独立院校和中国（包括香港）的国际学校，但我大部分的时间都奉献给了大型的学校。

Last year, looking for something new, I came to Beijing to join a remarkable little school called JPED Academy. If you haven’t heard of it, then that’s fine. It isn’t our style to make a big noise and we are only small. Small in numbers I should say: we are big in heart and ambition. When making this move, speaking with friends and colleagues from other schools, I found myself apologizing for the fact that our school is very small, as if somehow, moving from being head of a large school, to a small one, was some kind of disappointment.

去年，我渴望新的挑战，我来到北京，并加入了一所规模不大却令人印象深刻的学校——达罗捷派。也许你们从未听说过它，这没关系。我们学校低调行事，规模虽小，却胸怀大志。虽然人数不多，但我们满怀热情和远大抱负。在做出这个决定之前，我和来自其他学校的朋友和同事沟通时，他们认为我在为学校规模小而感到遗憾，仿佛从大型学校校长转任小型学校校长是一种降级。

And then gradually, through living and working in my new role, and with much appreciation for work by a school leader in Europe called Dr Jeremy Majeski whose inspiration here I acknowledge, I have come realise that not only should I stop apologizing for our size, but actually now I know that it is time to remind people that, as we often say where I come from, the best things come in small packages!

然而，随着我在新岗位上的生活和工作，我逐渐意识到，不仅不应该为学校规模小而感到遗憾，正如我常说的，浓缩的才是精华！

我非常感谢欧洲一位名叫杰里米·马杰斯基的校长及其富有启发性的工作，他让我领悟到这一点。在小型学校，我们拥有强大的归属感和紧密的社区纽带。

In a small school, there is a sense of belonging. Everybody knows each other. Everyone is known by name. I feel confident that I know every student by name. We have close relationships with parents. Our faculty is a tight-knit team that sentimentally speaks of itself as a family. While all teachers in all schools, I am sure, care for their students, it is just impossible above a certain size to say that everyone cares for everyone.

在小型学校里，有一种归属感。每个人都彼此认识，每个人都用名字来相称。我确信我认识每个学生的名字，同时我们与我们的家长关系密切。我们的教师团队紧密团结，我们是一个家庭。虽然我确信所有学校的老师都关心他们的学生，但超过一定规模时，不可能做到关心每一个人。

But we can say that. When we have a pastoral team meeting and we are discussing an individual student who may be facing some difficulty, we all, everyone in the room, know the student and are able to contribute to the discussion.

当我们召开教师正面管教会议，讨论可能面临困难的个别学生时，房间里的每个老师们都认识这个学生，并能够为讨论做出贡献。

The more we know about the mental health challenges facing young people in contemporary society, the more we know how important are the sense of belonging and connectedness that we have in a small school. Children no longer live in villages or neighbourhoods that provide a sense of community. Often, the only chance for that sense of community that they have is through school. It has been said that “it takes a village to raise a child”. When our children live in cities, our schools need to feel like villages.

随着我们对当代年轻人面临的心理健康挑战的了解越多的时候，我们就越意识到小型学校所具有的归属感和联系的重要性。孩子们不再生活在提供社区感的小村庄或社区。通常，他们获得这种社区感的机会只有通过学校。有人说：“养育一个孩子需要整个村庄”。当我们的孩子生活在城市里时，我们的学校需要像村庄一样让人感觉温暖和安全。

These advantages of small communities are well understood and large schools often try to replicate them through advisory systems or house systems or the like. It is certainly a step in a good direction and I have been involved in that work in the past but it can never have the authenticity of a small school. The close-knit community that we have just cannot be replicated at scale.

小型学校的优势是众所周知的，大型学校通常会通过咨询系统、学院系统等方式来复制这些优势。这当然是朝着正确的方向迈出的一步，我过去也参与过这样的工作，但它永远无法拥有小型学校的真实性。我们所拥有的紧密联系的社区感是无法在大规模上复制的。

Of course, there is a trade-off. Our facilities are not as grand as in larger schools and some activities, orchestras and so on, are harder to organise. There are times when we need to think about partnerships and participating in events organized by larger entities. And we don’t put out the most intimidating sports teams. But that trade-off is so worth it.

当然，这是有一个权衡的。我们的设施虽然不如大型学校那么齐全，有些活动，如交响乐团的人数和乐器种类较专业较多，故有组织难度。有时我们需要考虑与大型机构或企业进行合作。我们的体育校队也不是最具威慑力的。但比较与大型学校，关注个人成长所需的资源，而非面面俱到，这种权衡是非常值得的。

In addition, it is now my conviction that one can only be a school for the future on a small scale. Truly innovative curriculum design and implementation needs a team that is flexible, can change direction quickly, and can pull together without the complex bureaucracy of a large organisation. Our commitment to Project-Based Learning works as well as it does because we are constantly able to refine what we are doing and how we do it. We don’t need a lot of meetings to make sure very voice is heard and ideas can be shared and developed quickly. For students, this means a rapid response to their changing needs and interests, and for teachers it means that they can see their ideas and innovation implemented, and refined and improved, quickly.

此外，我现在深信，只有在小规模上才能成为未来的学校。真正创新的课程设计和实施需要一个相对灵活的团队，能够快速改变方向，能够在没有大型组织的复杂官僚机构的情况下协同工作。我们对基于项目的学习的成果之所以能够如此成功，是因为我们不断地能够完善我们正在做的事情以及我们做到的方式方法。我们不需要很多会议来确保每个声音都被听到，想法可以快速分享和发展。对于学生来说，这意味着对他们不断变化的需求和兴趣的快速响应；对于教师来说，这意味着学校可以看到他们的想法并使其创新得到实施、快速的完善和改进。

In the age of AI this is even more important. Artificial Intelligence is changing the nature of what we do in schools and making the fact of interpersonal connection even more important than it ever was. Social and emotional intelligence, the ability to collaborate and communicate with others, comfort with change and adaptability, these are the qualities that will define the graduates who thrive in the age of AI. Simply put, small schools do these things better.

在人工智能时代，这一点变得更加重要。人工智能正在改变我们在学校中所做的事情的本质，并使人际关系的事实比以往任何时候都更加重要。社交和情感智能、与他人合作和沟通的能力、适应变化和灵活性，这些是定义在人工智能时代蓬勃发展的优秀毕业生的品质。简而言之，小型学校可以做得更好。

In my view, after a career in large schools, I am now convinced that the future is with small schools. Nimble, agile, adaptable, and personalised schools that respond to changing circumstances, can embrace new initiatives quickly. Schools where every student is known by a wide range of different community members are safer spaces for healthy mental and physical development. Large schools know this and try to simulate the effect of small schools by sub-dividing into divs. That is good work and it can be done well. But it just can’t be done as well as in a community that is intentionally and authentically small. When it comes to education, small really is beautiful!

在我看来，在大型学校工作了一段时间后，我现在相信未来是属于小型学校的。因为灵活、敏捷、适应性强、个性化的学校可以快速响应不断变化的情况，接受新的倡议。学生的身心健康发展非常重要，大型学校试图模拟小型学校，来达成良好的效果。但是，它无法像真实的小型学校那样做得那么好。说到教育，小确实是美丽的！

If you would like to know more about JPED and our work then please contact us (but don’t tell too many people or the secret might get out!).

如果您想了解有关达罗捷派及我们的工作的更多信息，请与我们联系（但不要告诉太多人，否则秘密可能会泄露！）

As we approach the 2024-2025 academic year, we still have a limited number of spots available for high school enrollment. In particular, to better serve embassy families and international communities in China, JPED has launched the Cultural Diversity Scholarship Program. This initiative aims to attract and support families from diverse nationalities in accessing premium international education. We offer dedicated scholarships for students who have excelled in their High School Entrance Examination. Applicants scoring above 620 points are eligible for various scholarship categories, including those for sports, arts, and community service. Exceptional candidates may even qualify for full tuition coverage.

在最后，本学年高中还有少量的名额开放中，特别地，为了进一步支持在华的使馆和外国家庭，达罗捷派特别设立了文化多样性奖学金计划（Cultural Diversity Scholarship Program），旨在吸引和帮助来自不同国家的家庭获得高质量的国际教育。对于中考成绩优异的家庭，我们还特设了专项奖学金，如果您的中考成绩超过620分即可申请奖学金（涵盖体育、艺术、社区服务贡献等专项奖学金），更有机会获得全额奖学金。

If you meet the eligibility criteria, we encourage you to reach out to our admission officer for up-to-date scholarship details and to arrange a personalized campus tour.