申論題

I. Precis
Instructions: For each of the following two articles:   (1)   Write a short title for each.   (2)  
Summarize each article in no more than 200 words.
Use your own words to express the main idea and relevant details, and keep the general writing
style of the original. Avoid using the same language and sentence structure. No points will be
given for sentences copied from the original text. Do not list points; your summary should read
like a coherent short article.

Article 1:
A few weeks ago, I participated in a webinar with K-12 students, parents and teachers about how
online learning is going. The students, in particular, had some good things to say about their
virtual experience: They liked that teachers were focusing more on everyone's mental health and
wellbeing, and less on grades. They liked that the standardized tests for the year had been
cancelled.
The gift of a crisis is that it reveals to us what really matters. And this particular crisis has revealed
what matters in education, and what doesn't. At a time when we are trying to do the best we can
with Iimited resources, the things that aren't critical have fallen away out of necessity. If the test
was really important, we'd be holding on to it.
This pandemic may be unprecedented in its nature and scale. But the problems it has exposed are
not. Here are the things we have learned are actually the most important.
First of all, children cannot learn without access to adequate food. For many students, school was
previously their only source of breakfast and lunch, and school districts around the country set up
food pickups for families who need it during remote learning. Access to technology, we have
learned, is also critical. Millions of children don't have reliable access to the internet on a
computer or tablet that can be used for schoolwork. Without these basic needs met, learning
cannot take place--and that was true before the pandemic.
A focus on social and emotional wellbeing, previously considered a nice add-on to the school day,
is now understood to be critical. When children are scared and gricving, when their lives are in a
state of upheaval, it's very difficult for them to learn what a simile is, or how to add fractions. And
if the adults are not doing well socially and emotionally, the children cannot do well either.
All of us can benefit from strengthening our skills to express what we are feeling and manage our
emotions in a healthy way. Effective social and emotional learning in the classroom, though,
cannot occur in a vacuum. It has to apply an equity lens to ensure the wellbeing of all
children--particularly Black, Latinx, Indigenous, low-income, and other historically marginalized
students, many of whom have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic.
We learned that educating our children requires a collective effort. Parents, teachers, school and
district administrators, community members, and local politicians and business owners have had
to depend on each other and work together. When we allowed and forgave mistakes, participated
in collective brainstorming, and pooled our resources, we could work as a team to create a tapestry
of support for them.
As it turns out, many of the things that educators and community members have spent years
advocating for are not just "nice to have."' They are essential to the health and wellbeing of all of
us, especially our children. We learned that we cannot pay lip service to centering equity and
anti-racism, because when a crisis hits, we are left with gaping holes that privilege some and
disadvantage others.
Above all, 2020 has taught us the wisdom in the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a
child, and in the Chinese proverb that a child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person
leaves a mark. We've realized just how much we need cach other. That's what truly matters.
(Condensed from an article by Kamilah Drummond-Forrester. EdSurge. Jan. 6, 2021)