在教育等軟領(lǐng)域，人的作用不可忽視

Norbert Wiener was one of the first, and most enthusiastic, champions of automation and machine intelligence. But the father of cybernetics, as he was known, was convinced of the continuing value of humans in a more mechanised world.

諾伯特•維納(Norbert Wiener)是自動化和機(jī)器智能的最早也是最熱烈的擁護(hù)者之一。但人稱“控制論之父”的維納確信，人類在一個(gè)更機(jī)械化的世界中仍有長久不衰的價(jià)值。

In a book published in 1950 called The Human Use of Human Beings, Wiener argued that automation could deliver huge gains to society. But it must only be used for “the benefit of man, for increasing his leisure and enriching his spiritual life, rather than merely for profits and the worship of the machine”.

在1950年出版的一本名為《人有人的用處：控制論與社會》(The Human Use of Human Beings)的書中，維納認(rèn)為自動化可以為社會帶來巨大好處。但它必須只用于“對人有益的、增加他們閑暇和豐富他們精神生活的地方，而不僅僅是為了利潤和對機(jī)器的崇拜”。

Wiener’s words should echo around our heads as we contemplate the increasing use of technology in so many areas of our society, especially in “soft” sectors such as education. There is no doubt that technology can play a massive role in augmentingand amplifying human skills. But we must never lose sight of the human.

當(dāng)考慮到科技被越來越多地運(yùn)用于我們社會的諸多領(lǐng)域，尤其是在教育等“軟”領(lǐng)域，維納的話應(yīng)該在我們腦中回響。毫無疑問，科技在增強(qiáng)和擴(kuò)充人類技能方面能發(fā)揮重大作用。但我們絕不能忽視人類。

A report from the OECD last month on education highlights the irreplaceable role of teachers even as the use of technology spreads in the classroom. If we want top quality education, there is no substitute for recruiting, developing and retaining top quality teachers. But all too often they are overstretched, underpaid and disempowered.

經(jīng)濟(jì)合作與發(fā)展組織(OECD)近期關(guān)于教育的一份報(bào)告強(qiáng)調(diào)了教師的不可替代作用，即便科技在教室中使用漸廣。如果我們想要高質(zhì)量的教育，那么，沒有什么東西能替代對高素質(zhì)教師的招聘、培養(yǎng)和留用。但他們往往是超負(fù)荷、低薪資和缺少自主權(quán)的。

We are already in danger of creating “industrial” school systems, the authors note, in which teachers are reduced to near-automatons, implementing a preive model of education and ticking boxes. “Those trained only to reheat pre-cooked hamburgers are unlikely to become master chefs,” in the words of Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s director for education and skills. The solution, if there is one, is to devolvemore autonomy to motivated teachers working in collaborative schools.

作者指出，我們已經(jīng)面臨著創(chuàng)建“工業(yè)化”學(xué)校系統(tǒng)的危險(xiǎn)，即讓教師淪為“類機(jī)器人”，以實(shí)施一種灌輸和打勾填表式的教育范式。用經(jīng)合組織教育與技術(shù)總監(jiān)安德烈亞斯•施萊歇爾(Andreas Schleicher)的話說：“那些只接受了重新加熱預(yù)煮漢堡包之類培訓(xùn)的人，不太可能成為主廚。”解決方案(如果有的話)是將更多的自主權(quán)賦予那些在有協(xié)作精神的學(xué)校工作的有主動性的教師。