The boost students need to overcome obstacles | Anindya Kundu

翻译人员: Chen Zou 校对人员: Amy H. Fann

So, I teach college students about inequality and race in education,

我在学校教授在教育界中的 不公平和种族问题。

and I like to leave my office open to any of my students

我办公室的大门总是向想见我，

who might just want to see me to chat.

和我聊天的学生敞开。

And a few semesters ago,

几个学期之前，

one of my more cheerful students, Mahari,

我的一个非常开朗的学生，马哈里

actually came to see me

来到我的办公室，

and mentioned that he was feeling a bit like an outcast because he's black.

提到了他在学校感觉到有些 被排斥，因为他是黑人。

He had just transferred to NYU from a community college

他刚刚带着优秀生奖学金 从一个社区大学

on a merit scholarship,

转学到纽约大学，

and turns out,

结果发现

only about five percent of students at NYU are black.

在纽约大学，只有5%的学生是黑人。

And so I started to remember

于是我开始想起

that I know that feeling of being an outsider

我知道在自己的社区 作为一个局外人的

in your own community.

那种感觉。

It's partially what drew me to my work.

那也是我在这个 领域工作的一部分原因。

At my university,

在我的学校，

我是少数有色人种的教职工之一，

I'm one of the few faculty members of color,

and growing up, I experienced my family's social mobility,

在长大的过程中，我经历了 家庭的社会流动性，

moving out of apartments into a nice house,

从一个公寓搬到 一个很漂亮的房子，

but in an overwhelmingly white neighborhood.

但是这个居住区的居民 绝大多数是白人。

I was 12,

我12岁，

and kids would say that were surprised that I didn't smell like curry.

那时的小孩会跟我说， 他们很惊讶我闻起来没有咖喱味。

(Laughter)

（观众笑声）

That's because school is in the morning,

那是因为我们只有上午上学，

and I had Eggo waffles for breakfast.

而我的早餐是鸡蛋和华夫饼。

(Laughter)

（观众笑声）

Curry is for dinner.

晚上才吃咖喱。

(Laughter)

（观众笑声）

So when Mahari was leaving,

当马哈里离开的时候，

I asked him how he was coping with feeling isolated.

我问他，他是如何 处理这种被孤立的感觉的。

And he said that despite feeling lonely,

他告诉我尽管感觉到很孤独，

但他会将自己沉浸在工作中，

he just threw himself at his work,

that he built strategies around his grit

他的策略是建立在他的韧性

and his desire to be successful.

和对成功的追求之上。

A mentor of mine is actually Dr. Angela Duckworth,

我的一个导师是安琪拉 · 达克沃斯 （Angela Duckworth）博士，

the psychologist at UPenn who has defined this stick-to-itiveness of grit

宾州大学的心理学家， 她对韧性的定义是

as being "the perseverance and passion for long-term goals."

“为了实现长期目标 所怀有的坚持和激情”。

Angela's book has become a bestseller,

安琪拉的书成为了畅销书，

and schools across the country,

全国范围内的学校，

particularly charter schools,

尤其是特许学校，

have become interested in citing "grit" as a core value.

开始热衷于引用“韧性” 作为其办学的核心价值。

But sometimes grit isn't enough,

但有时候光有韧性是不够的，

especially in education.

尤其是在教育界中。

So when Mahari was leaving my office,

所以当马哈里离开 我办公室的时候，

I worried that he might need something more specific

我依然担心他可能需要 一些更具体的东西，

to combat the challenges that he mentioned to me.

去应对他所提到的挑战。

As a sociologist, I also study achievement,

作为一个社会学家， 我也会研究个人成就，

但是是从一个稍微不同的角度。

but from a slightly different perspective.

I research students who have overcome immense obstacles

我对克服巨大障碍的学生做了研究，

related to their background.

并将这些障碍和他们的 背景联系起来。

来自低收入家庭的学生，

Students from low-income,

often single-parent households,

还有来自单亲家庭的孩子，

students who have been homeless, incarcerated or perhaps undocumented,

那些没有家的，曾待过监狱的， 或者没有合法身份的学生，

or some who have struggled with substance abuse

或者是曾遭受过虐待，

or lived through violent or sexual trauma.

亦或者是经受暴力 或者性侵犯创伤的学生。

So let me tell you about two of the grittiest people I've met.

让我来说说我见过的 两个最有韧性的学生。

Tyrique was raised by a single mother,

泰瑞克被单身妈妈带大，

and then after high school, he fell in with the wrong crowd.

高中毕业之后，他开始走上了歧途。

He got arrested for armed robbery.

他因为持武器抢劫被捕。

But in prison, he started to work hard.

但是在监狱里，他开始努力工作。

他上了一些提供 有效学分的大学课程，

He took college credit courses,

so when he got out, he was able to get a master's,

所以当他从监狱里出来的时候， 就可以拿到一个硕士学位，

and today he's a manager at a nonprofit.

现在他是一个非盈利组织的经理。

Vanessa had to move around a lot as a kid,

维纳赛在小的时候经常搬家，

from the Lower East Side to Staten Island to the Bronx.

从曼哈顿的东区到 史泰登岛，再到布朗克斯。

She was raised primarily by her extended family,

她主要是由大家庭带大，

because her own mother had a heroin addiction.

因为她的生母有毒瘾。

Yet at 15,

然而在15岁的时候，

Vanessa had to drop out of school,

维纳赛不得不退学，

and she had a son of her own.

她有了一个儿子。

But eventually, she was able to go to community college,

但最终，她去了社区大学，

get her associate's,

拿到了副学士学位。

then go to an elite college to finish her bachelor's.

然后她去了一所精英大学， 完成了学士学位。

So some people might hear these stories and say,

有些人听到这些故事也许会说，

"Yes, those two definitely have grit.

“是的，这两个人绝对是坚韧的范例。

They basically pulled themselves up by the bootstraps."

他们基本上是白手起家。”

But that's an incomplete picture,

但这并不是故事的全部，

because what's more important

因为更重要的是

在生命中有帮助 影响他们环境资源的因素，

is that they had factors in their lives that helped to influence their agency,

or their specific capacity

或者他们有某种特殊的能力

to actually overcome the obstacles that they were facing

能够克服他们所面对的障碍，

and navigate the system given their circumstances.

依据他们自身的情况 找到正确的道路。

So, allow me to elaborate.

那么让我来澄清一下。

In prison, Tyrique was actually aimless at first,

作为一个22岁的雷克斯岛的学生， 刚进监狱的时候，

as a 22-year-old on Rikers Island.

泰瑞克并没有明确的目标。

This is until an older detainee took him aside

直到后来一个被拘留者 将他拉到一边，

and asked him to help with the youth program.

要求他一起参与一个青年项目。

And in mentoring youth,

在给年轻人作导师的过程中，

he started to see his own mistakes and possibilities in the teens.

他开始意识到自己在青少年时期 所犯的错误，以及所面对的可能性。

This is what got him interested in taking college-credit courses.

这使他开始对上提供学分的 大学课程产生了兴趣。

And when he got out,

刑满释放后，

he got a job with Fortune Society,

他在“福利社会”得到了一个工作，

where many executives are people who have been formerly incarcerated.

那里的很多执行官都有过 被正式拘留的经历。

So then he was able to get a master's in social work,

他后来通过努力拿到了 社会工作的硕士学位，

and today, he even lectures at Columbia about prison reform.

而今天，他甚至会在哥伦比亚大学 做关于监狱改革的演讲。

And Vanessa ...

再看看维纳塞，

well, after the birth of her son,

在她儿子出生之后，

she happened to find a program called Vocational Foundation

她偶然找到一个叫作 职业基金的项目，

that gave her 20 dollars biweekly,

可以获得40美金的周薪，

a MetroCard

一张交通卡，

以及从零开始学电脑的经历。

and her first experiences with a computer.

These simple resources are what helped her get her GED,

正是这些简单的资源 帮助她获得了高中水平的教育。

but then she suffered from a very serious kidney failure,

但是后来她又患上了 非常严重的肾衰竭，

which was particularly problematic because she was only born with one kidney.

这个问题对她来说尤为严重， 因为她出生时只有一个肾。

She spent 10 years on dialysis waiting for a successful transplant.

她做了十年的透析， 只为等待一个成功的移植手术。

After that,

在那之后，

her mentors at community college had kept in touch with her,

由于她在社区大学的导师 一直与她保持联系，

and so she was able to go,

于是她能够参与

and they put her in an honors program.

他们为她安排的荣誉项目。

And that's the pathway that allowed her to become accepted

正是这个渠道帮助她进入了

to one of the most elite colleges for women in the country,

对于女性来说全国 最精英的大学之一，

and she received her bachelor's at 36,

她在36岁的时候 拿到了学士学位，

为她年轻的儿子树立了 一个不可思议的榜样。

setting an incredible example for her young son.

What these stories primarily indicate is that teaching is social

这些故事主要暗示的是， 育人是一个社会行为，

and benefits from social scaffolding.

而且能从社会框架中收益。

There were factors pushing these two in one direction,

有一些因素在推动 这两个人朝着同一方向前进，

but through tailored mentorship and opportunities,

但是他们各自遇到的 导师和机会却因人而异，

他们能够反省自己的处境，

they were able to reflect on their circumstances

and resist negative influences.

拒绝消极的影响。

They also learned simple skills like developing a network,

他们也学到了简单的技能， 比如发展人脉，

or asking for help --

或者寻求帮助——

things many of us in this room can forget that we have needed from time to time,

这些是我们在场的很多人 经常需要，却很容易忘记，

or can take for granted.

或者认为理所当然的。

And when we think of people like this,

当我们想到这样的人的时候，

我们应该只认为他们 是出色的，而不是个例。

we should only think of them as exceptional, but not as exceptions.

Thinking of them as exceptions absolves us

把他们当作个例 就等于免除了我们

of the collective responsibility to help students in similar situations.

帮助在相似处境中的 学生的集体责任。

When Presidents Bush, Obama and now even Trump,

当总统布什，奥巴马 以及现在的特朗普，

have called education "the civil rights issue of our time,"

都把教育称作 “我们时代的民权问题”，

perhaps we should treat it that way.

也许我们的确应该这样做。

If schools were able to think about the agency that their students have

如果学校能够想到 他们的学生所拥有的环境资源，

and bring to the table when they push them,

当他们推动学生进步的时候 将这一因素放到台面上，

what students learn can become more relevant to their lives,

学生所学习的技能就可以 与他们的生活更息息相关，

and then they can tap into those internal reservoirs of grit and character.

这样一来他们就可以实现 更深层的韧性和性格。

So this here --

那么这是——

My student Mahari

我的学生马哈里，

got accepted to law school with scholarships,

被法学院录取，还获得了奖学金，

and not to brag,

我并不是在炫耀，

but I did write one of his letters of recommendation.

但我确实是他的推荐人之一。

(Laughter)

（观众笑声）

And even though I know hard work is what got him this achievement,

即使我知道是辛勤工作 使得他有了今天的成就，

I've seen him find his voice along the way,

我也曾目睹他一路上 如何找到了自己的声音，

which as someone who's grown up a little bit shy and awkward,

作为一个在长大过程中 有一点害羞和古怪的人，

I know it takes time and support.

我知道这需要时间和支持。

So even though he will rely a lot on his grit

所以即使他需要经常 依赖他的韧性，

to get him through that first-year law school grind,

才能艰难地度过 在法学院的第一年，

我会始终作为他的导师，

I'll be there as a mentor for him,

check in with him from time to time,

时不时地跟进他的状态，

maybe take him out to get some curry ...

也许带他去尝尝咖喱，

(Laughter)

（观众笑声）

so that he can keep growing his agency to succeed even more.

帮助他不断扩充身边的资源， 从而取得更大的成功。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（观众掌声）