石木说

Pro. Vin

生于二战，劳作一生，退休之后仍奔波于世界两端，为世界的教育革新不断努力，他就是本期的访谈嘉宾Vin Davis教授，岩石学家和教育家，下面的是英文采访原文，中文稍后会发布在GeoIdea网站上，由于是Email采访，因此不太能体现采访技巧。

石木： Can you briefly introduce yourself for us?

Vin：Hi, I was born in UK during World War 2, in an industrial town in northern England.  I trained in London to be a teacher, and followed a career in Education, which involved teaching in day and residential special schools; Museum Education (where I was responsible for Geology); and educational advisory work.  I spent several years as a Principal Lecturer training teachers at a University in UK.  Once, I was seconded to the Australian Commonwealth Schools Commission for three years.  My final career post was as one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools (HMI), where I had a responsibility for research and international development – including meetings with senior educators from China.  I represented Geology in the team of Science Specialist HMI.  I retired from the British Civil Service around 8 years ago, when my visits to the University of Saint Joseph in Macau began.

石木：As I know that you once were a teacher of petrology, we’d like to know more about that.

Vin：During my career, I have taught Geology at school, adult education and university levels.  I have a life-long interest in Geology.  In 1970, I was invited by the pioneer petrologist of the  Implement Petrology Committee of the Council for British Archaeology to succeed him.  I have been active in this research field for 40 years; I have been the Chief Petrologist, and Chairman, of the Implement Petrology Group for many years. I am involved with the petrological and geochemical identification of prehistoric stone implements.  Take a look at the Proceedings of our recent International Conference to get some idea about my research interests (http://interarch.ac.uk/journal/issue26/index.html).  I have good links with the key researchers in China, most of who have contributed to the eJournal.  I have visited Professor Zhang Chi in the Department of Archaeology at Peking University, and look forward to working more closely with him, when time allows.  I strongly believe that Implement Petrology can make a very valuable and important contribution to scientific archaeological studies in China.

石木：Now you’re a professor of education, what do you think about this work?

Vin：Currently, I hold a Personal Chair in Education at the University of St Joseph, which I highly value.  During the past few years I have: helped my university colleagues to design, teach and assess a Masters Degree  modular course in Education; contributed to the development of a school inspection system for the Macau Government (DSEJ); and inspected a number of schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau.  Most recently, during the last three years, I and colleagues, have set up the Pearl River Delta network of Science Learning Centres.  The network is affiliated to the National Science Learning Centre in UK.  This project, which is still very much in its infancy, has huge potential to contribute important innovations in Science Education in China.  Our links with your Geoidea website is an important development in our planned support to schools and across the wider community.

石木： Britain is your home, Macau and Mainland China are workplaces, and what do you think of the difference of education in schools between Britain and China?

Vin：Although my home is in Britain, I very much enjoy the challenges and rewards of working in Macau, and eventually, with more schools in Mainland China.  The difference between schooling in Britain, Macau and Mainland China are considerable and significant.  We should never forget the need to take account of inter-cultural differences when attempting to transfer educational ideas between our different cultures.  Of course, the British, Chinese and Macau education systems share some common features of  provision.  For example, all  three education systems recognise the importance of school improvement, school self-evaluation, curriculum development, the initial and in-service training of teachers, student assessment and school inspection.  We have much to learn from each other.  It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to be part of the educational provision in Macau.

石木：How long have you been in Macau? Do you like it?

Vin：I have visited Macau every year since 2003.  I normally visit Macau for around six months each year.  I like Macau because it is so different to my home town of York in UK – an ancient city surrounded by a stone wall, full of old buildings and churches, and a river which floods occasionally!  For me, one of the best features of Macau is its people.  I have had the good fortune to visit many schools, meet hundreds of teachers and educationalists through staff development programmes, and make some good friends from the local and Mainland Chinese communities.  I feel very much at home in Macau.

石木： Where have you been to on the Mainland? Which city do you like most? Why?

Vin：My wife and I have travelled around Chine quite extensively during the past 8 years.  For example, as well as the Pearl River Delta area, I have visited: Xian-Lanzhou-Jiayuguan-Dunhuan-Urumqi-Kaski; Chengdu-Chongqing-Wuhan (the 3 Gorges); Beijing; Shanghai-Suzhou-Nanjing; Kunming-Lijiang; and Guilin-Liuzhou.  It is hard for me to choose one city, I guess that my favourites include:  the remoteness and magic of the desert fortress at Jiayuguan Pass; the interesting and informative displays (but no radioactive minerals on display, alas!) in the Museum of Geology and Mineralogy in Urumqi; the hustle and bustle of the horse market in Kashi; and peace and tranquillity of the mountains around Lijiang.  But every place that my wife and I have visited in China has its own unique and special attraction.

石木：What’s your opinion about education in Geoscience?

Vin：Internationally, Geosciences are under-represented in school curricula.  They seem to fall through the gap between Geography and Physical Science.  For a Geoscientist, this is an unsatisfactory situation.  We have to find new ways to ensure that future generations have sufficient opportunities to enjoy life-long learning in the Geosciences.  I strongly believe that the Geoidea website has the potential to make a very valuable and important contribution to public awareness of Earth Science across China at both school and the wider community levels.  The need for people to know and understand more about the natural processes that affect their lives and livelihoods is very important.  Take for example, the  apparent lack of public awareness of  the causes of the recent earthquake disaster in China.  One way to address this weakness could be through the National School Curriculum.  I doubt that we can rely on the publishers of text books to provide a balanced and broad Earth Science curriculum, and curriculum planners are under increasing pressure to include a wide range of scientific and other content.  Obviously, a  revolution in learning is taking place as more students and members of the general public access the internet, and take greater responsibility for their own learning.  Schools will have to learn how to cope with this learning revolution. For example, will they change the traditional Chinese approach to learning by memorization by incorporating some learning by discovery and investigation?  This is where Geoidea can, is, and will increasingly make its valuable contribution.  If I didn’t believe this, we wouldn’t be hosting the Geoidea website on our University server, which we are very honoured to do.

石木：Thank you.