另类小学行得通？

Jasmine Bailey

An elementary school with no homework or tests？ Probably sounds like a dream for most kids， and it was one that came true in 1972 when Canadas ALPHA Alternative School opened its doors.

ALPHA， an acronym for A Lot of Parents Hoping for an Alternative， bans just about everything a traditional school is all about. With multi-age group classrooms and an emphasis on arts and imagination—the school provides a different way of learning.

But what effect does such an environment have by the time those youngsters reach adulthood？ Well， as a part of ALPHAs 40-year anniversary， Michael Barker， a Toronto photographer， caught up with some of the members of the 1）inaugural class.

小学取消作业和考试？对于大多数孩子来说，这听上去就像是美梦一般，而在1972年，加拿大一所名为“ALPHA”的非传统学校就让这“美梦”成真了。

“ALPHA”，是“A Lot of Parents Hoping for an Alternative”的缩写，意为“家长期望另一种教育方式”，它与传统学校截然不同。该学校不按年龄分班，注重艺术以及想象力的培养，提供一种不同于传统教育的学习方式。但是，随着那些小学生逐渐长大成人，这样的教育环境对他们有什么样的影响？这个呢，作为“ALPHA”学校创校四十周年庆的一部分，一名来自多伦多的摄影师迈克尔·巴克，找到了几位该校第一届的学生。

He took the adults portraits and matched them up with pictures from their younger years—also getting interviews about what they are doing now. The goal？ To get a “sense of the long-term effects of this radical experiment in cooperative education.” Their paths varied； some working in home improvement or on cars； others write， work on computers， or became nurses.

A writer for the Daily Mail points out that however different their life paths are “many of them followed more right-side-of-the-brain routes.” Also claiming that Barkers project“s h o w s h o w a n elementary education truly influences someones life-path.”

But how much of an influence does a more free-flowing school environment actually have？ And if its a positive impact， why dont all schools follow the same model？ ALPHA isnt the only school to adopt the no homework model—Finlands school system does the same. And it “surprised the world by ranking No.1 out of 80 countries for the highest scores on a standardized test evaluating education systems in 2000.” The U.S. usually falls between 15 and 25.

But on the 2）flip side， one study done at Indiana University showed that homework， for example， is actually helpful in improving standardized test scores...especially in math and science. The author of that study claims that the quality of homework is much more beneficial than the quantity.

ALPHA is still going strong today. The school houses grades 3-6 but it keeps it exclusive—admitting only about 80 students a year.

他为这些长大成人的学生们拍了照，并和他们早年的照片对应上，还采访了他们的现状。他的目的？为了看看“这种激进的实验性合作教育的长期效果”。他们的人生道路各异，有从事家居装潢或是汽车行业的，有从事写作、电脑行业或是成为护士的。

一位为《每日邮报》撰稿的作家指出，尽管他们的生活轨迹不尽相同，他们“大多数人都是右脑思维者”。同时他还说，巴克所做的事情“告诉了人们小学教育对于一个人以后的生活道路是有很重大的影响的”。

但是，这样自由开放的学习环境到底影响有多深远？如果它起到的影响是正面积极的，为什么不是所有的学校都效仿这样的模式？“ALPHA”学校并不是唯一一所取消作业的学校——芬兰的学校也采取了相同的模式。“让人们惊讶的是，在2000年评估教育系统的标准测试中，芬兰取得最高分，在80个国家中排名第一。”而美国通常在15和25名之间徘徊。

但是从反面来看，一份印第安纳大学的研究表明，作业是能帮助学生提高标准化测试成绩的，特别是在数学和自然科目上。这项研究的作者表明，相比作业的数量，作业的质量才是提高成绩的有益因素。

“ALPHA”学校依旧声名在外。学校设有三到六年级，但限制甚严，每年只招收80名学生。