Cameron的女儿今年10岁,到11月的时候他们也就面临填表选择上什么中学了,报纸报道引用Cameron夫人Samantha朋友的话说他们计划让孩子上个Local的State school http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/463996/David-Cameron-to-send-his-daughter-to-a-state-school-for-a-normal-education。他们首选的学校是The Grey Coat Hospital,一个Church of England的女子中学,前几天报道教育大臣Michael Gove的女儿已经得到位置今年9月就去上这个中学了,http://bbs.powerapple.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2442247&extra=page%3D1。看起来Cameron非常信任他的教育大臣啊,他们的女儿现在都在同一个公立小学St Mary Abbots School(也是一个Church of England的school)。
Cameron夫妇都是名门之后,David上的是Eton College(The school rules Britain出过19个首相),Samantha上的是Marlborough College(剑桥公爵夫人Kate的母校)。
Samantha的朋友们说,Cameron想让孩子上个公立学校接受Normal Education。http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2577091/SamCam-PM-send-daughter-state-school-Friends-say-PMs-wife-keen-children-normal-education.html,这些是她的理由(不是她自己说的是朋友说的)
[ul]
- ‘very keen’ to give her children a ‘normal’ education
- wants her daughter to meet people outside their usual circle
- wants her children to be judged ‘for who they are’ rather than being defined by their rarefied social status or their father’s job
- very keen on a normal education for her children. Her children’s lives are abnormal enough. They have a strange existence as it is.
- ‘Being in a state school is a nice antidote to that. You get to meet normal children from normal houses whose fathers don’t go off and spend the weekend with Angela Merkel. The children can be socially fluid.’
[/ul]
点评1:上公校私校是很多父母都考虑的问题,每个父母都想让自己孩子接受最好的教育,但什么是最好的教育,不同的人不同的理解。抛开费用不说,有些人特别反对和反感私校,他们希望自己孩子到公校学会和不同阶层的人打交道,比如说不管怎么有钱装修房子得和builder打交道,打扫房子得和cleaner打交道,私校孩子的问题是他们只有和本阶层的人打交道的经验。支持私校的人从另外一个角度看问题,他们希望孩子生活在“上等”阶层,永远不需要和不想和working class打交道。
点评2:我觉得上私校的最大的不同就是social separation,就是让孩子和自己认同的社会阶层打交道,其实上好区的公校特别是教会学校也有这个social separation的作用,还省了钱何乐而不为。
点评3:Cameron夫妇对孩子学校的选择就算不是个政治问题也会被炒为政治问题,不管保守党工党自民党很多政客都把孩子送的私校,比如St Paul毕业的George Osborne就把两个孩子从公校撤出送入私校了,他就是不想让孩子被影响太多(good father:P )。Cameron的选择要被炒的关键词是Local State School,其它政客虽然也送孩子上state school但都是highly selective的学校,比如自民党的Nick Clegg儿子,公党的Tony Blair的儿子,公党的Harriet Harman的大儿子 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2004492/Atheist-Nick-Clegg-sends-sons-Catholic-school-Tony-Blair.html送的公校London Oratory School是个Highly Selective的Roman Catholic state school 而且都不是他们的local school,Harriet Harman的二儿子上的Bromley的一个highly selective的state grammar school。