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.

小學(xué)取消作業(yè)和考試？對(duì)于大多數(shù)孩子來(lái)說(shuō)，這聽(tīng)上去就像是美夢(mèng)一般，而在1972年，加拿大一所名為“ALPHA”的非傳統(tǒng)學(xué)校就讓這“美夢(mèng)”成真了。

“ALPHA”，是“A Lot of Parents Hoping for an Alternative”的縮寫，意為“家長(zhǎng)期望另一種教育方式”，它與傳統(tǒng)學(xué)校截然不同。該學(xué)校不按年齡分班，注重藝術(shù)以及想象力的培養(yǎng)，提供一種不同于傳統(tǒng)教育的學(xué)習(xí)方式。但是，隨著那些小學(xué)生逐漸長(zhǎng)大成人，這樣的教育環(huán)境對(duì)他們有什么樣的影響？這個(gè)呢，作為“ALPHA”學(xué)校創(chuàng)校四十周年慶的一部分，一名來(lái)自多倫多的攝影師邁克爾·巴克，找到了幾位該校第一屆的學(xué)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.

他為這些長(zhǎng)大成人的學(xué)生們拍了照，并和他們?cè)缒甑恼掌瑢?duì)應(yīng)上，還采訪了他們的現(xiàn)狀。他的目的？為了看看“這種激進(jìn)的實(shí)驗(yàn)性合作教育的長(zhǎng)期效果”。他們的人生道路各異，有從事家居裝潢或是汽車行業(yè)的，有從事寫作、電腦行業(yè)或是成為護(hù)士的。

一位為《每日郵報(bào)》撰稿的作家指出，盡管他們的生活軌跡不盡相同，他們“大多數(shù)人都是右腦思維者”。同時(shí)他還說(shuō)，巴克所做的事情“告訴了人們小學(xué)教育對(duì)于一個(gè)人以后的生活道路是有很重大的影響的”。

但是，這樣自由開(kāi)放的學(xué)習(xí)環(huán)境到底影響有多深遠(yuǎn)？如果它起到的影響是正面積極的，為什么不是所有的學(xué)校都效仿這樣的模式？“ALPHA”學(xué)校并不是唯一一所取消作業(yè)的學(xué)校——芬蘭的學(xué)校也采取了相同的模式。“讓人們驚訝的是，在2000年評(píng)估教育系統(tǒng)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)測(cè)試中，芬蘭取得最高分，在80個(gè)國(guó)家中排名第一。”而美國(guó)通常在15和25名之間徘徊。

但是從反面來(lái)看，一份印第安納大學(xué)的研究表明，作業(yè)是能幫助學(xué)生提高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化測(cè)試成績(jī)的，特別是在數(shù)學(xué)和自然科目上。這項(xiàng)研究的作者表明，相比作業(yè)的數(shù)量，作業(yè)的質(zhì)量才是提高成績(jī)的有益因素。

“ALPHA”學(xué)校依舊聲名在外。學(xué)校設(shè)有三到六年級(jí)，但限制甚嚴(yán)，每年只招收80名學(xué)生。