题记：翻译此，目的简单，为了学英语和抵抗惰性，水平显然不值一提。

English readings in education 教育英语文选，周南照编注，教育科学出版社，1984年11月第一版。

1

  Education can mean many different things. Anything that you can learn is a part of your education, even though you may not have learned it in school. You learn from books, magazines, newspapers, pictures, maps, television, and radio. You learn from talking with other people. Education that you get in school is called formal education. Learning outside of the classroom is called informal education.

教育可能意味着许多不同的事情。你学到的任何东西都是你的教育的一部分，即使可能不是在学校学到的。你可以从书籍、杂志、报纸、图片、地图、电视或收音机学习。你也可以在同别人的谈话中学习。你在学校接受的教育称为正规教育，在课堂之外学到的称为非正规教育。

From the time of the cavemen human beings have always taught what they knew to their young. If they had not, no child would have survived. He would not have known which animals were dangerous, which plants were good to eat, or how to make a fire to keep warm.

从洞穴时代开始，人类就总是传授他们知道的东西给下一代。如果他们不这样做，新的一代就无法存活。因为新的一代，将不知道哪一种动物是危险的，那一种植物适宜食用，或如何生火来保持温暖。

After many centuries man learned to write down what he knew. In this way he could save up more knowledge and pass it on to his children and grandchildren.

许多个世纪之后，人类学会了记下他们知道的东西。通过这种办法，人类可以保存更多的知识，并且传递给子子孙孙。

………

All through history people have had many different ideas about how to teach students and what to teach them. Some have thought that the main purpose of education was to preserve the great things from the past, such as classical languages and literature. Some have thought that the aim of education was to give the student the manners and graces of the ruling classes. Others have cared most about teaching their religious beliefs to the next generation, as the Puritan schools taught the Bible.

纵观历史，人们对于怎样教和教什么有许多不同的见识。有的人认为，教育的主要目的是为了保存曾经的重要物件，比如古典语言和文学。有的人认为，教育的目的在于教给学生统治阶级的礼仪和优雅。还有的人，更在意把他们的宗教信仰传授给下一代，比如清教徒学校教圣经。

Some teachers have been most concerned with the students’ learning facts. Others have tried to teach the students to have open, inquiring minds, as Socrates and the Greek philosophers did. Some have taught skills more than thinking.

有的教师更关心学生的学习状况。还有的教师尽力培养学生有开放的、不停追问的思想，比如苏格拉底和希腊哲学家所做的。有的教师教技能多于思考。

Some educators believe that schools should help each person to grow and learn all that be can for his own sake. Some believe that the main purpose of education is to give the student an understanding of the world he lives in and to encourage him to work toward solving his world’s problems.

有的教育者认为，学校应该帮助每一个学生成长和学习所有对他们自己的利益有关的东西。有的人认为，教育的主要目的是帮助学生理解他所在的世界，并且鼓励他去解决自己世界的问题。

In the progressive idea of education the teacher begins with the natural abilities of each child. The child is taught basic skills in a way that has meaning for him. What the child studies is kept within the scope of his understanding. It is related to his own experience, so that he will want to learn.

在进步的教育思想中，教师的教育以每一个儿童的自然禀赋为起点。每一个儿童被用对他来说有意义的方法，传授基本的技能。儿童学习的东西被控制在他所理解的范围内。这些东西与儿童自己的经验有关，因此他愿意去学。

Child-centered education began with Rousseau and Pestalozzi. It was developed further in the United States by John Dewey. In the United States it was called progressive education.

儿童中心教育思想肇始于卢梭和裴斯泰洛奇。这种思想在美国被约翰杜威进一步发展。在美国，它被称为进步教育。

(Arthur W. Foshay)——from THE NEW BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE, Grolier Inc, 1978