Permission to Fail
孰能無過
Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a necessary part of the learning process. But all too often as parents and teachers we deny this same right to our children. We tell them that failure is something to be ashamed of, that nothing but top performance will meet with our approval.
我們每個人都會不時出錯。聰明人承認自己的錯誤，並將其視為學習過程中的必不可少的一部分。但是我們作為老師和家長，卻又常常不能接受孩子們和我們一樣有犯錯的權利。我們告訴他們犯錯是件丟人的事，只有最好的表現才能得到我們的讚賞。
When I see a child subject to this kind of pressure, I think of Donnie, my youngest third-grader，he was a shy, nervous perfectionist. His fear of failure kept him from classroom games that other children played with joyous abandon. He seldom answered questions — he might be wrong. Written assignments, especially math, reduced him to nail-biting frustration. He seldom finished his work because he repeatedly checked with me to be sure he hadn't made a mistake.
我一看見有孩子遭受這種壓力，就會想起唐尼。他是我三年級班裡年齡最小的學生，他靦腆，惴惴不安，事事求全。他害怕出錯，從不參加班裡的遊戲，可別人都玩得不亦樂乎。他從不回答自己沒有把握的問題。寫作業，尤其是數學作業急得他抓頭搔耳，手足無措。他為了作業不出錯反反覆覆和我校對答案，所以他經常不能完成作業。
I tried my best to build his self-confidence. But nothing changed until midterm, when Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned to our classroom. She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included, adored her. But even enthusiastic, loving Mary was baffled by this little boy who feared of making mistake.
我想盡辦法讓他建立自信，都無濟於事。直到期中，有一個實習教師分配到了我們班。這位年輕又漂亮的老師叫瑪麗安妮。她愛孩子，我的學生們包括唐尼也都非常喜歡她。可是就連這位熱情，充滿愛心的瑪麗老師也覺得這個小傢伙害怕出錯的行為難以理解。
Then one morning we were working math problems at the blackboard. Donnie had copied the problems with painstaking neatness and filled in answers for the first row. Pleased with his progress, I left the children with Mary Anne and went for art materials. When I returned, Donnie was in tears. He'd missed the third problem.
後來有一天早晨，我們在黑板上做數學題。唐尼煞費苦心工工整整地在黑板上抄寫題目，並且把第一行的答案填了出來。看到他的進步我很高興，放心地把孩子們留給瑪麗照顧，我去拿了一趟美術用品。回來發現唐尼正在哭哭啼啼，原來他把第三題落了沒抄。
Mary looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face brightened. From the desk we shared, she got a canister of pencils.
瑪麗失望地看著我。這時她眼前突然一亮，從講臺的抽屜裡拿出一筒鉛筆。
"Look, Donnie," she said, kneeling beside him and gently lifting the tear-stained face from his arms. She placed the pencils on his desk.
“唐尼，你看，”瑪麗老師說。一面蹲下身子靠近唐尼，一面輕輕地把他沾滿淚水的小臉從他胳膊上抬起來。瑪麗老師把一支支的鉛筆擺在了唐尼的課桌上。
"See these pencils, Donnie?" she continued. "They belong to Mrs. Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are worn? That's because we make mistakes too, lots of them. But we erase the mistakes and try again. That' what you must learn to do, too."
瑪麗老師說道：“看到這些鉛筆了嗎？唐尼，這是我和林老師的鉛筆。你知道為什麼上面的橡皮磨下去許多嗎？那是因為我們也犯錯，也會犯很多錯誤。但是我們把錯誤擦掉再寫一次。這也正是你要學會的啊。”
She kissed him and stood up. "Here," she said, "I'll leave one pencil to you so you'll remember that everybody makes mistakes, even teachers." Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and just a glimmer of a smile.
瑪麗老師親了一下小傢伙站了起來。她說：“瞧，我給你留一支鉛筆，這樣你就會記住每個人都會犯錯了，就連老師也一樣。”唐尼抬頭微微笑了笑，眼中帶著感激，看了看老師。
The pencil became Donnie's prize. That, together with Mary Anne's frequent encouragement and unfailing praise for even Donnie's small successes, gradually persuaded him that it's all right to make mistakes — s long as you erase them and try again.
鉛筆成了唐尼的獎賞。那支鉛筆和瑪麗老師不斷的鼓勵，再加上無論多小的成績都能得到持久的表揚，漸漸地唐尼明白了犯錯很正常，只要知錯能改就是好孩子。
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