????如何向教師傳授教學方法？大衛(wèi)?K?科恩的著作——《教學及其困境》（Teaching and Its Predicaments）對這一悖論進行了論述。雖然該書開出的藥方過于籠統(tǒng)——教師必須能夠做到換位思考、意志堅決，同時社會必須提供支持，但是它對對教師面臨的任務所作的描述卻極為出色。現(xiàn)在77歲的科恩是密歇根大學（the University of Michigan）教育與公共政策學教授，他將教師與諸如心理治療師和牧師等“人類靈魂的導師”進行對比。對這些專業(yè)人士而言，僅具備專業(yè)知識是不夠的。同樣，良好的意愿亦不足矣，否則更多的特許學校早就取得成功了。

????科恩稱，教學面臨的困境核心在于，教師（及其他“靈魂工程師”）的工作“離不開對象的配合”。與之相反的是，無論病人是否配合，外科醫(yī)生都能完成手術。此外，外科醫(yī)生并不指望把病人變成“實習外科醫(yī)生”，而銷售人員也沒有期望提高顧客銷售吸塵器的能力。然而，教師只有“把自己的某些專業(yè)技能傳授給學生，幫助他們掌握這些技能”，才算取得了成功。因為學生是教室以外社會與經(jīng)濟因素的產(chǎn)物，所以，要求教學取得立竿見影的效果對教師而言顯然是沉重的負擔。這樣看來，相對于醫(yī)生來說，我們對教師的期望值顯然更高。如果一個人因為體形肥胖、嗜睡慵懶去看心臟病專科醫(yī)生，結(jié)果很有可能是醫(yī)生也無法創(chuàng)造奇跡。

????長久以來，教學工作本身以及社會對教學工作的不滿一直是人們熱議的話題。但是，科恩表示，除非將教學的藝術從“墨守成規(guī)、缺乏想象力的機械實踐變成一種在學術上有遠大志向、有進取精神的事業(yè)”，否則教學改革就無法取得成功。他說，要做到這一點，普通的課程設置和測驗遠遠不夠。問題在于，除此之外，科恩與其他的改革家一樣束手無策。因此，他呼吁培養(yǎng)更多兢兢業(yè)業(yè)的教師無異于尋求一張空頭支票。

????或許，他本應該走出象牙塔，來解決更實際的問題。為美國而教（Teach for America）招聘天資聰慧的應屆大學畢業(yè)生充實城市教師隊伍，科恩對這一做法大加贊賞。但是，這些應屆生通常很快就對這項工作失去了熱情，如何留住他們，科恩并無良策；對于資格認證的結(jié)構(gòu)性問題，科恩也沒有找到解決方法。眼下經(jīng)濟形勢黯淡，很多半路出家的專業(yè)人才意味著新鮮的師資人才庫，但是大部分教育管理機構(gòu)仍然要求教師擁有教育專業(yè)的碩士學位。紐約市教學研究員（NYC Teaching Fellows）等項目通過簡化資格認證流程，降低了準入門檻，但是它們僅是為數(shù)不多的特例。

????最后，科恩指出，近期大部分改革制定的方案只能臨時應急，但改良教育“更像是一次長征。”這無疑使教育改革的未來更加暗淡。無論如何，該書對教育面臨的挑戰(zhàn)進行了深入的思考和闡述。畢竟，如果不先搞清楚問題所在，就更談不上解決問題了。

????譯者：喬樹靜/汪皓

????How do you go about teaching teachers how to teach? David K. Cohen's Teaching and Its Predicaments takes on that paradox. While the book's prescriptions are often too general -- teachers must show empathy and resolve, and communities should provide backup -- its descriptions of the task facing teachers are superb. Cohen, 77, a professor of education and public policy at the University of Michigan, compares teachers to other "human improvers" like psychotherapists and pastors. For these professionals, Cohen says, expertise isn't enough. Nor are good intentions -- or else more charter schools would succeed.

????The core of the pedagogical predicament, according to Cohen, is that teachers (and other improvers) "depend on clients." By contrast, surgeons can do their job regardless of the patient's engagement. Moreover, surgeons aren't looking to turn patients into "apprentice surgeons," nor are salespersons trying to improve customers' ability to sell vacuum cleaners. Teachers, however, succeed only "if they help students acquire some elements of their own special expertise." Since students are a product of social and economic forces outside the classroom, it's a remarkable burden to demand quick results from teachers. Aren't we asking them to perform what we don't even expect from doctors? If you're fat and lethargic when you go see the cardiologist, chances are she can't work magic on you.

????Teaching and its discontents have long been hotly debated. Yet Cohen says reforms won't succeed until the art of teaching is transformed "from a largely routine and unimaginative practice into an intellectually ambitious and adventurous enterprise." He says it takes more than a common curriculum and tests. The problem is that, like other reformers, he doesn't much know what else to do. It's pie-in-the-sky for him to cry out for more dedicated teachers.

????Perhaps he should have stepped down from the ivory tower and addressed concrete issues. He praises the efforts of Teach for America to recruit smart recent college graduates into urban teaching ranks. But he suggests no ideas on how to retain more of those recruits, who too often burn out. Nor does Cohen really address the structural problem of certification. Most school districts still require the formal credential of a master's degree in education, even though there are many mid-career professionals in a poor economy who represent a fresh talent pool. Programs like NYC Teaching Fellows may reduce the barriers to entry by streamlining the certification process, but they're the exception.

????Cohen concludes that improved teaching "is more likely to be a long march than the quick fix that most recent reforms envision." That surely paints a bleak picture. Nonetheless, his book offers a thoughtful account of the challenge. You can't begin to fix what you don't understand.