我认为重要的是要成为和学会如何成为一个批判性的思考者。
I think it’s important to learn how to be a critical thinker.
在教科BC课程部，有这样一位外教，他课堂上认真负责，学术严谨，深得学生们喜爱；他课下幽默风趣，和学生们打成一片。他就是Mr. Stephen，我们小记者社团有幸采访了他，下面让我们一起走进Mr. Stephen，了解他在中国的工作与生活。
In the Jiaoke BC program, there is a foreign teacher, he is serious and responsible in class, expects strong academic rigor, and is deeply loved by students. He is funny after class and gets along with the students. He is Mr. Stephen. Our journalist club had the honor to interview him. Now let’s chat with Mr. Stephen and learn about his work and life in China.
我来自加拿大渥太华，在大学学习英语文学专业时，我还不知道今后要从事什么职业。后来机缘巧合之下，我跟随一个朋友在泰国教了两年书，我发现我喜欢上了教师这份工作，所以我回到加拿大完成了我的教育学学位。因为我有一些朋友在中国工作，而且这里有很多加拿大学校，所有我来到了中国。
I’m from Ottawa in Canada, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after I studied English literature in university. After that, I followed a friend to teach English in Thailand for two years, I saw that as an interesting opportunity for work. Then I moved back to Canada and did my education degree, after which I moved to China. I have some friends here, and I knew there’s a lot of Canadian schools. So it was kind of an easy adjustment to come here.
我认为重要的是要成为和学会如何成为一个批判性的思考者。当我选择数字文学时，就要学会如何阅读，学会如何质疑事物的来源。最重要的是不要记住，就像在《饥饿游戏》中，不是记住书中发生了什么，而是理解书的主题，学会如何根据一段内容解释一章。此外，我认为要具备批判性思维和数字素养，还因为我们消费的很多东西都是在线信息，无论是文章还是视频之类的。
I think it’s important to learn how to be a critical thinker and also just kind of learn to be. I would take digitally literate, so obviously learn how to read and learn how to question where things come from. The most important thing is not to memorize answers. For example, you should not memorize what happens in The Hunger Games, you should understand the theme of the book or learn how to read a paragraph and interpret a chapter based on that paragraph. Besides, I think being able to think critically and also be digitally literate because so much of what we consumed is like online information whether it’s articles or videos or anything like that.
在我工作的过程中，有很多事情让工作变得更加顺利，避免受到跨文化因素的挑战。我认为最大的挑战是新生刚来到BC课程部的时候，他们通常不习惯加拿大学校的运作方式，也不习惯加拿大老师的教学方式。这些学生很多来自中国体制内的学校，而这些学校较为严格，有大量需要记忆的内容，也有大量的作业，当然也有老师负责任的指导。然而，我认为BC课程是更以学生为中心的课程，作业多是小组任务和讨论。所以这对一些新生来说，适应BC课程可能是一个挑战。通常就像新学期开始的时候，许多新生可能会害羞，不想表达自己，但这种情况通常会随着时间的推移而改变
I think there are a lot of things that make it easier to teach here, which allowed me to avoid being influenced by cross-cultural factors. I think the biggest challenge is maybe when new students come in. They often aren’t used to the way that Canadian schools operate or how a BC teacher teaches. Most of these students are from local schools, these schools are more rigorous, with a lot of memorization, a lot of homework and, of course, responsible guidance from teachers. Whereas I think BC courses are more student-centered, with more group assignments and discussions. So that’s probably a challenge for some of the new students. Often at the beginning of the new school year, new students are likely shy and don’t want to speak up but that usually changes over time.
我们的BC课程，有其自己的核心素养。我认为这是衡量“成功”的好方法，因为你可以在任何科目中看到它们，比如专注于沟通，创造性思维或批判性思维等。“成功”与否，不一定和你的学习成绩有关，我认为更重要的是你对自己是否认可，你在课堂上参与了多少，你为良好的课堂氛围做出了多少贡献，甚至你是否喜欢来学校，你在这里是否感到舒适等，这些都可以是衡量你是否“成功”的一种方式。尽你最大的努力，向内部探寻自我，发现自我，接近自我，就可以称之为“成功”。
For our BC curriculum, there are the core competencies. I think that’s a good way to measure success, because you can look at that in any of your subjects, like communication or creative thinking or critical thinking. It’s not necessarily like your academic performance, but I think it’s more like how much have you improved or how much are you participating in class, how much do you contribute to a good class atmosphere, or even things like are you like coming to school, do you feel comfortable here. All of these factors can be a way to determine if you are successful. Putting forth your best effort, exploring your inner self, finding yourself, accessing your own self is important to recognize if you’re being successful.
在我的生活中，体育运动如足球、冰球、高尔夫球，旅行，阅读和摄影摄像，都是我的爱好，而这些爱好又可以对我的工作产生积极的影响。比如你必须要有耐心，尤其是在打高尔夫球的时候。旅行时的摄影摄像，又需要有想象力和创造力。不同的爱好，可以让我的思维保持活跃。很多人可能会去同一个地方，但会根据自己的理解拍出不同的照片。同样的，很多学生一起读一首诗或故事，也会有不同的理解，这些不同的理解都可以是正确的或者都是有效的或有趣的，所以我认为这是一种很特别的经历或发现。
Some things I like are a few sports like soccer, ice hockey and golf, traveling, reading, taking photos and videos. These things can have a positive effect on my teaching. For example, you have to be patient, especially in golf. Photography while traveling requires imagination and creativity. Having different hobbies keeps you active. Many people might go to the same place and take different looking pictures, in the same way many students might read a poem or story and have different ideas about it. But all the ideas can be right or can be valid or interesting, so I think there is a special experience or discovery.
快问快答 Quick Question
Q：What’s your favorite sport?
A： I would say golf. I think it’s something that you can play your whole life.
Q：Is it necessary for students to do their homework?
A：Yes, but I don’t think students need to have very much homework.
Q：What do you care most about when you travel?
A：Yeah, I think just food and just kind of the new environment and architecture of a place is interesting.
Q：Do you have any special crafts or skills?
A：I would say photography, and recently I also got into taking film photos. So it just kind of teaches you to slow down and look around a bit more.
Q：What activity do you enjoy most at BC?
A：For me, it’s coaching, so I hope to coach the soccer team this year.
Q：What kind of student would you find comforting?
A：I think it’s a student who offers their ideas in class, even if they don’t know if it is right or not. And just a student who likes to do group work because I think it’s important to learn from other people.
撰稿&翻译：Chloe Wu, Elaine Yang
*所有的写作都是由我们的学生完成的。他们的英语处于语言发展的不同阶段。希望大家支持他们的这份努力。All writing is completed by our students, who are in different stages of English language development. They work very hard to write in both their native language and convey that meaning into English. We want to support their efforts by not heavily editing their work.