【注】Julian为新西兰联合报前任主编。他针对奥克兰名校"Auckland Grammar School”写了这篇分班教育的文章，具有一定的参考价值。转发此文章，并不代表本人观点。名校的教育体系也并不一定适合每一个学生。各取所需吧。
每年这个时候，全国的家长们就开始为他们12—13岁的孩子报读新一年的中学奔波。他们面临的问题是，他们的宝贝在入学后是否能进入最优秀、最好的班级读书。
“分班教学”的教育方式在教育系统一直备受争议，不过多数学校还是保留了这种方式，或者是根据自己的方法进行分组教学。
名校Auckland Grammar School (简称：AGS)一直以来坚持“分班教学”。在每年的新学期里，他们将把500多名9年级（或称“中三”）的男孩根据学习能力从A到Q进行分班。
也有些学校认为，如果让学习能力较差的学生在一起上课，他们的成绩会变得更加不好。其中一个原因是，即使学生们开始时没有被告知，哪个班是高级班，哪个班是低级班，但他们后来还是会有所察觉。这样，学习能力较差的学生被认定为“后进生”，这在很大程度上影响他们的自尊和学习表现。
不过这种说法在德国完全行不通，德国学校的分级是强制性的。学校根据每个学生小学四年的学习成绩以及他们的能力和特长，决定他们升学的中学类型，这直接影响这些学生们日后接受教育的方向。
我并不是要把这种特别的教育系统引入我国（新西兰）。然而，这种“分班教学”在激励学生方面确实起了作用，特别是对一些男孩子而言，的确可以激发他们的潜能。
AGS中三（9年级）的年级主任表示，“每个学生都有各自的学习需求，我们在此基础上进行分班教学。”
“‘分班教学’最大程度上解决了同一班级里学生能力差距过大的问题。在学生学习能力水平不一的班级里，老师需要煞费苦心地调节课程进度，既不能让学习能力差的学生落下太多，又不能让学习能力好的学生感觉枯燥无聊。因此，不分班的教学方法反而不利于大多数学生。”
Fennelly认为，“‘分班教学’有利于老师安排符合整个班级水平的课程。高级班里的学生能加快学习进程、接受更大的挑战；等级较低班级的学生能得到适合他们能力的学习指导和资源，尽快拉近与高级班的距离。因此，“分班教学”使教师和学生双方得益。”
“一般地说，男孩子的竞争意识比较强，他们会把很多事情都转换成一种竞争。当他们有了明确的方向和正确的动机时，就会全力以赴去实现目标。‘分班教学’时，学习能力接近的男孩子一起上课，你追我赶，一起朝着自己的目标努力，争相成为优秀学生。”
追求卓越的学术成果同样是女校的目标，特别是一些私立学校，像奥克兰的St Cuthbert’s和基督城的Rangi Ruru Girls' College。
在这些学校里，他们更加注重学生的学习环境和成就，而不是分班教学。两所学校的校长都表示，他们看重的是“创新教学”和“思考能力”。
但是，AGS这所曾输送25名获得罗德奖学金的学生去哈佛大学的名校，从来不认为“分班教学”有任何问题，因为这正是为了给男孩子们提供最好的学习条件。
AGS的前任校长John Morris表示，学校“分班教学”的做法一直遭到新西兰教育机构的反对，认为这样做不够公平，太特殊了。
他说：“教育标准的改变对AGS来说不是个好现象，这个标准的转变包括增加更多的内部评估，减少了对外部考试的重视，从总体上降低了教育系统的标准和期望。
“在AGS里，一种健康的竞争心态长期存在于学校的各个项目中。学校始终在学术、运动和文化追求方面保持着最好的状态，我们一直鼓励每个男孩子认识自己的潜能，尽可能把潜能发挥到极限。”
Morris还说：“我们对不同程度的学生进行有针对性的教育。学习能力比较强的学生会有某些特殊的学习要求，我们会增加部分提高的课程。学习能力比较弱的学生可以在小班上课，得到老师的单独指点，我们还为他们安排了辅导课程。学校还有一笔特殊经费，用于为残疾学生提供特殊的教学和服务。”
由于多年来优秀的名声，报名AGS的学生越来越多，远远超过了学校可承受的能力。如今AGS的入学学生都需要具备一定的条件，学校必须有选择性地录取学生。
不是这个学区的居民要到AGS上课，需要经过校方每年一度的投票决定。学生家长自愿捐款的数额也比一般学校高出5倍多，2010年的费用是880元，2011年是900元，而到了2014年却达到了$1,050元（国际学生的学费为$20,000）。
与此同时，地产中介的数据显示，学区内房价、租金比较高，家长们都希望住在学区内，让自己的孩子上名校。
正是由于AGS学区房价过高以及相对较高的学费，导致学校把部分家庭经济状况欠佳的学生阻挡在外面，使得他们无法取得入学资格。
这是一个令人惋惜的结果，男孩可以选择的男校本来就不多，特别是像AGS这样传统的英制学校。
一直有人对“分班教学”问题进行研究，结果显示这让学习能力比较差的学生处于不利境地。据英国国民议会的评估，把某个学生从混合班里换到差班以后，他的成绩会下降，甚至无法达到原有的水平。
同样，把一个学习能力比较强的人安排在高级班里，也不能保证他们一定会取得好的成绩。
然而，在AGS以及其他一些学校里，学生们年复一年地取得好成绩，有力地支持了“分班教学”制度。
英文原版：
At this time of the year, apprehensive parents around the country are enrolling their 12 or 13 year old son or daughter at the secondary school they will attend in this year. One issue they will need to come to terms with is that their Johnny or Elizabeth may not end up in the top class.
Classroom streaming or tracking is often criticised in educational circles but most schools do stream or ‘band’ in their own way.
Schools such as Auckland Grammar have an unashamedly academic approach and will in this year's stream the third form or year nine intake of more than 500 boys from class A to class Q.
In contrast, other schools take the view that less able students achieve poorly when they are placed with classmates of the same ability. One of the reasons for this, they argue, is that even though students aren’t told which class is the lowest or the highest, the students instinctively know. As a result, the lowest students are labelled as underachievers and this can impact on their self esteem and academic performance.
Such thinking does not wash in Germany where a strong streaming system is enforced. In Germany, student achievements in their last four years of primary school determine the type of secondary school they will be permitted to attend and therefore the type of education they will receive.
While I do not propose introducing a similar system here, schools that stream on academic criteria play a valuable role in helping motivated students, particularly boys, to realise their full potential.
Auckland Grammar School (AGS), former Dean of Form 3, James Fennelly, said this week that “we recognise that each student has individual needs and it is on this basis that we stream.
“Streaming minimises the impact of having a diverse range of abilities in one class. In mixed ability classes, the teacher will pitch their lessons to the middle ground hoping that the less able do not get lost and that the more able do not get bored. Therefore, unstreamed classes disadvantage a large proportion of the students.
“In contrast, streaming helps teachers to deliver lessons that are suitable for the entire class. Students in the upper stream classes are able to be accelerated and challenged, while the students in the lower streams are able to be given the appropriate assistance and resources to ensure that they are not left behind. Hence streaming is beneficial for both the teacher and the students,” Fennelly said.
“Boys are undeniably competitive; given the right conditions, they will turn most things into some form of a competition. With the right motivation, they will work hard to achieve goals. Streaming helps boys to have tangible goals to aim for. In a class of boys of similar ability, each student can realise their own goals and aim, for instance, to be the top of the class,” he said.
The pursuit of academic excellence is also the goal of a number of girls’ schools, particularly independent schools such as St Cuthbert’s in Auckland and Rangi Ruru Girls' College in Christchurch.
At these schools the emphasis is on fostering an environment of learning and achievement rather than on classroom streaming. The principals of both schools highlight the importance of “innovative teaching practice” and “thinking skills”.
But AGS, which has produced 25 Rhodes Scholars to Oxford University, makes no apologies for streaming because that is what is best for boys.
Former Headmaster, John Morris, said the school had fought strongly against the 'mediocrity' and 'equity' lobby group in New Zealand education.
“It was an anathema to AGS that New Zealand senior school qualifications had changed dramatically to a standards-based system. This change involved more internal assessment, less emphasis on external exams and a general lowering of standards and expectations,” Morris said.
“At AGS, healthy competition is promoted in all activities,” he said.
“The school insists on all-round excellence in academic, sporting and cultural pursuits, encouraging each boy to recognise and develop his individual potential to the full,” he said.
“The special needs of the very able are accommodated by offering accelerated classes and courses. The special needs of less able students are catered for by small class sizes, the careful selection of teachers and the provision of learning assistance programmes. Special provision is made for the disabled in accordance with the needs presented by the particular handicap a student may bear.”
Historically, because of its reputation, the demand for places at AGS has outstripped the school’s capacity, and entry is selective.
Every year a ballot is held for out-of-zone students and the voluntary donation which was $880 in 2010 and will be $1,050 in 2014 are about five times higher than the state school average.
Also, real estate agents confirmed that there is a premium on property prices in the ‘grammar zone’ due to the strong demand by parents wanting to take advantage of the “good schools” in the area including St Cuthbert’s.
The high house prices in the grammar zone combined with AGS’s relatively high fees have a downside in that they reduce access to the school for students from lower socio-economic groups.
This is an unfortunate outcome of having too few educational institutions for boys, like AGS, that are modelled on the traditional English grammar schools.
There are those in educational circles who will continue to conduct research showing that students in the lower ranked classrooms are disadvantaged in some way. For example, a study in the United Kingdom commission by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment showed that if you take a student out of mixed-ability education and put them in a 'slow' stream they tend to reach the level of underachievement they feel is expected of them.
And having a 'fast' stream for quicker learners doesn't always guarantee greater exam success.
However, at AGS and schools like it, the academic results achieved by students year after year, support an argument for classroom streaming.
* 欢迎转载，转载请注明出处！
更多以往信息：
回复0：
新西兰教育及留学[目录]
回复1：
新西兰教育新闻及推广信息（2013年12月）
回复2：
新西兰中小学留学信息
回复3：
新西兰大学留学信息
回复4：
新西兰其他信息（移民、就业等）
微信号：StudyNZ
