Q&A
■ 麻州瑟谷可否核發有效的文憑？
我不知道其他學校如何。我接觸過的瑟谷學校都有發證書，我不確定每一間學校的情況，因為每一州法律不一樣，但它們確實可以、也有在核發證書。瑟谷學校的證書完全受到企業與大學的尊重，文憑只是文憑，它就只是一紙中學文憑，有很多其他方法可以拿到相同的中學證書。
我確信在香港和臺灣也是如此，畢竟21世紀受不了學校的孩子特別多，20世紀也有啦。我確定他們有很多方法搞定這件事。是說瑟谷人是真的很喜歡瑟谷畢業證書代表的意義。
■ 有提供成績單或推薦信嗎？
我們有個稱之為成績單的東西，但它只是一張紙，上面描述學校，以及在這裡身為學生應該要做的事——負責自己的教育。我們從來不提供任何形式的成績，但當你願意幫某人寫推薦信的時候，如果你知道他們曾經深思與耕耘過什麼，你可以提及。
並非你不能說，例如你知道某人對歷史很有興趣，你可以說。事實上，如果某個人對歷史很有興趣，而且閱讀許多文獻，他懂的會比修歷史課的人多很多。
■ 有遇過視瑟谷教育為錯誤或失敗的人嗎？
我覺得學校職員常常對父母加諸在學生身上的種種影響感到失望，你有時候會覺得學生們被送來瑟谷好像是來這裡放鬆享樂，但我們認為學生來這裡是要了解自己、變得成熟並逐漸認識這個世界。這有時跟父母的感覺會很不一樣。
現在是一個很特殊的時期，我想可能是因為社會的走向，部分是因為網路非常普及，部分是因為新冠疫情讓很多父母把小孩留在家裡，爸媽覺得小孩應該要在校外用特定的方式學些特定的事物。爸媽常常不了解的是，小孩來到瑟谷是進入一個文化裡，而這個文化對他們的發展、成熟與自我實現至關重要。
我們常常首先會跟家長談成長需要什麼：你得掌握語言和身體，這些任務比你在學校做的任何事情都還要艱鉅，然後你必須搞懂如何使用這些東西（語言與身體）。就如每一間瑟谷學校，我們面臨著一場持續的戰鬥，你們也會面對，情況在世界的另一端並無不同。這場戰鬥在對抗「小孩應該要被給予很多機會」這個概念，而我的感覺是小孩會自己找到這些機會，並且在他們需要或想要時開口要求。孩子們應該被允許擁有發展自我與自我實現的自由，這是他們生命中很重要的一部分。
■ 如何應對人們對於未來的恐懼？
這很難，你跟家長談的時候必須嚴肅而冷靜。當你的小孩受到的教育和國內其他的小孩不一樣，而且你被告知一套完全不同的做法時，是很令人不安的。我們有研究校友的書、關於校友故事的書、也有校友現身說法⋯⋯這些資料都無法讓家長覺得自己的小孩很ok，我不知道他們為什麼會如此，但他們就是沒辦法。
我的確記得我們剛下決定把小孩送到瑟谷時，也是有點擔心。所以這個問題我沒有真正的答案，每個家長都需要往自己的內在探尋，想想自己如何生活、選擇如何繼續生活，以及如何掌握新事物，因為孩子們在瑟谷就是這麼做的。他們想要回到瑟谷，他們會找到答案。
關於這個問題，我最後想說的是：在英文世界中有個小故事，也許在其他語言裡也有同樣的說法——在找到王子之前，你得多親幾隻青蛙。我是這麼看的，為了爭取到一個學生加入，你得跟很多人聊瑟谷，而每一個學生都是珍寶，然後你必須在他們奮力自由的過程中，支持他們。
（未完待續）
I don’t know that much about other schools. The large Sudbury schools I’m in touch with are all able to offer diplomas. I don’t know exactly how each one is because the laws are different in every state. But they certainly are able to and they certainly do. Those diplomas are respected completely by employers and colleges. A diploma is just a diploma. It’s just a high school diploma. There are other ways to get similar high school diplomas.
I’m sure that’s true in HK and TW because I know that there are difficulties with kids who just can’t stand school in the 21 century particularly, also in the 20th. And they’ve got other ways to get along I’m quite sure. But people who go to SVS really like the idea of the Sudbury Valley diploma.
We have something that we call a transcript, but it’s only a piece of paper describing the school and what a child has to do to be a student there which they take charge of their own education. We’ve never offered grades of any kind, but when you write a letter for someone if you wish and if you have knowledge of what they have thought deeply about and worked deeply on, you can mention it. It’s not like you can’t say I know they are very interested in history. You can say that.
The fact is that if somebody is interested in history and reads about a lot of history, they are gonna know a lot more than people who have taken history courses.
I think staff are often disappointed in the kind of influences that the parents put upon students. Occasionally you feel that students have been sent to SVS as if to a hospital to relax and enjoy life. And what we think as a school is that they are sent here to understand themselves and to mature and get to understand the world. So that’s a very different feeling sometimes from what parents feel.
It’s a very odd period now I think probably because society was heading that way and partly because the Internet is so prevalent and partly because of Covid which meant a lot of parents set their children at home for a long time. Parents think their children need to be taught specific things in specific ways outside of the school. What parents often do not understand is that children who are in school are in a culture. And the culture is very important for their development, for the maturation and for their self-actualization.
We often talk to parents about first of all what it takes to grow up, which is you have to master language and your body which are enormous jobs much bigger than anything you ever do in your school. And then you have to figure out how to use those things. So we are facing a constant battle that every school is facing. And you’ll be facing it too. It’s not any different on the other side of the world. Against thinking that children should be given many many opportunities which I do feel they will find for themselves and ask for a thing when they need them or want them. And feeling that children should be allowed to be free to develop and to have that self-actualization be the important part of their lives.
It’s hard that you have to talk to them very seriously and calmly because it’s worrisome when your child is not being taught the same thing that every other child in the country is being taught. And not being told that the same thing is important. We have books that are studies of alumni, we have books that are stories of alumni, we have writings from alumni… None of those things may make a parent feel ok about their own child. I don’t why they don’t but they don’t.
But I do remember that when we first made the decision to send our children to Sudbury Valley when we found out about it we were a little worried too. So there is no real answer. Every parent has to look into themselves and figure out how they have lived their own lives and how they choose to go on with their lives and master new material because they will do it the same way their children do. They want to go back to school and they'll find information.
I guess the final thing I would say on that subject is: there’s a silly little saying in English that might be the same saying in the other languages. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince. And the way I looked at it is that you have to talk to a lot of people about the school in order to get even one student and each one is a treasure and then you have to support them in their struggle to be free.
(To be continued)
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