More Than a Number

バンクーバーで出会い、良き同志となったLong Island University-PostのArnold (Arnie) Dodge教授。その彼が、8月後半にコロンビア大学にて計画されているEdu4の学会に、現在の「教育改革」を我々と同じように危惧するアーティスト達を招かないかと提案してきた。彼が紹介してくれた一つの曲をここで分かち合いたいと思う。

米教育界の過剰なテスト教育を、「僕は数字なんかじゃない」と子どもの視点から歌うプロテストソングだ。詩が美しい。

冒頭にこんな説明が書かれている。

The minds and spirits of children will always rise above numbers. Let us hold this truth and use it to guide our policy and our decisions.

「子どもたちの考えと精神はいつの時も数字をしのぐ。この事実を抱きしめ、私たちの政策と決断を導かせよう。」



More Than a Number



Music by Barry Lane & Lyrics by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater (2012)
Cover art by Georgia VanDerwater (2005)

More Than a Number

I am quiet in the classroom.
I don’t always raise my hand.
I don’t always answer questions.
I don’t always understand.
But I always have ideas
when I stare up at the sky.
My sister likes to tease me
for always asking, “Why?”
I am more than a number.
I am more than a grade.
I know the constellations.
Here’s a painting that I made.
I read books in my closet.
I will not be a ‘2’.
I am more than a number.
I’m a person just like you.
I speak one language here
and another in my home.
I daydream in both languages
whenever I’m alone.
I’m good at climbing trees.
Mom’s teaching me to sew.
I am full of secrets
a test can never know.
I am more than a number.
Watch me fold this plane.
I snuggle with my beagle.
There’s music in my brain.
Someday I’ll go to Egypt.
I will never be a ‘2’.
I am more than a number.
I’m a person just like you.
If you think I can be measured
by numbers on a screen…
...if my whole school becomes a test
where will I learn to dream?
I love to do hard problems.
I write stories, and I laugh.
My gifts are so much greater
than the data on your graph.
I’m more than a number.
I invent things when I play.
I collect shells and fossils.
Please hear me when I say
I will not be a ‘1’--
a ‘2’, a ‘3’, or a ‘4’.
I am me. I’m a mystery.
I’m a child – not a score.