摘錄：美國(guó)人通常認(rèn)為上學(xué)是為了受教育。然而現(xiàn)在卻有人認(rèn)為孩子們上學(xué)打斷了他們受教育的過程。這種言論中所暗示的上學(xué)和受教育之間的區(qū)別非常重要。

　　It is commonly believed in United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.

　　Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows no bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or in the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning.

　　美國(guó)人通常認(rèn)為上學(xué)是為了受教育。然而現(xiàn)在卻有人認(rèn)為孩子們上學(xué)打斷了他們受教育的過程。這種言論中所暗示的上學(xué)和受教育之間的區(qū)別非常重要。

　　與上學(xué)相比，教育更開放，更廣泛。教育沒有任何限制。它可以在任何場(chǎng)合下進(jìn)行，不論是在淋浴時(shí)還是在工作時(shí)，不論是在廚房里還是在拖拉機(jī)上。它既包括在學(xué)校所受的正規(guī)教育，也包括一切非正規(guī)教育。

　　The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions.

　　傳授知識(shí)的人可以是德高望重的老者，也可以是收音機(jī)里進(jìn)行政治辯論的人們，可以是小孩子，也可以是著名的科學(xué)家。鑒于上學(xué)有一定的預(yù)見性，教育卻往往能帶來(lái)意外的發(fā)現(xiàn)。與陌生人的一次偶然談話可能會(huì)使人認(rèn)識(shí)到自己對(duì)其它宗教其實(shí)所知甚少。

　　People are engaged in education from infancy on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one’s entire life.

　　人們從幼時(shí)起就開始受教育。因此，教育是一個(gè)非常寬泛而內(nèi)涵豐富的詞。它是一個(gè)終生的過程，在上學(xué)之前就開始了，并且應(yīng)成為人一生中不可或缺的一部分。

　　Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately the same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on.

　　相反，上學(xué)卻是一個(gè)特定的確定的過程，在不同環(huán)境下它的基本形式大同小異。在全國(guó)各地，孩子們幾乎在同一時(shí)間到校，坐在指定座位上，由一位成年人講授課程，用相似的教材，做作業(yè)，考試等等。

　　The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the working of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject being taught. For example, high school students know that there not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.

　　他們所學(xué)的現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的一些片斷，無(wú)論是字母表還是對(duì)政府運(yùn)作的理解，往往受到科目范圍的限制。 例如，高中生們知道，在課堂上他們沒法弄清楚他們社區(qū)里政治問題的真相，也不會(huì)了解到最新潮的電影制片人在做哪些嘗試。上學(xué)這一確定的過程是有特定的限制的。