凱倫：洋帥哥寧波愛幼教

陸靈剛+邱明亮

位于寧波市郊的鄞州赫德實驗學(xué)校有一位很受孩子們喜愛的、來自遙遠的愛爾蘭帥哥——幼兒教師凱倫（Ciaran Sngleton）。初夏的一天，我們前去采訪凱倫。負責(zé)管理學(xué)校幼兒園的園長張麗熱情地接待了我們。

張麗把我們帶到了幼兒園一樓的103教室。這是一個孩子們的快樂天堂，教室外墻上貼滿了孩子們用英文寫的花花綠綠、大大小小的單詞和小畫作。教室里擺滿了各式各樣的小玩具，天花板上掛滿了五顏六色的氣球。一位年輕帥氣的老外坐在地上，周邊圍著20來個兩三歲大的孩子。他就是凱倫。一米八的個頭，棕黃色短發(fā)和胡子，一雙藍眼睛炯炯有神，穿著也十分隨和得體。墻壁上高高掛著的凱倫最心愛的伙伴——一把吉他。

張麗介紹，幼兒園有80多個小朋友，有4位外籍教師。兩年多前，我國一家人才招聘機構(gòu)在愛爾蘭聘請立志前來中國當外教的老師。正在愛爾蘭特拉利科技大學(xué)體育科技專業(yè)學(xué)習(xí)的凱倫前往應(yīng)聘并獲錄取。凱倫說，他喜歡這個古老而充滿活力的國家，到中國來工作對他來說就是一個挑戰(zhàn)。他說他曾經(jīng)去過美國及歐洲好幾個國家，第一次來到中國。他就是想來中國工作，中國對他來說是既陌生又喜歡，年輕就是他的財富。2015年下半年，他背起行裝和幾位伙伴一起來到了遙遠的東海之濱——寧波。

用音樂帶給大家歡樂

酷愛音樂的凱倫除了熱心教孩子學(xué)習(xí)英語外，還經(jīng)常彈起他那心愛的吉他教孩子們唱英語歌曲，給他們帶去很多歡樂。雙休日，他經(jīng)常約上幾位同鄉(xiāng)好友帶著吉他和其他樂器，去熟悉的音樂餐廳演出。有時還應(yīng)邀去寧波朋友的婚慶喜宴上給大家?guī)ギ悋囊魳泛透杪?。凱倫說，近兩年來他到過寧波的許多娛樂場所，發(fā)現(xiàn)很少有帶異國風(fēng)情的西洋樂隊和西方音樂。凱倫他們的小樂隊深受一部分年輕人的喜愛，已經(jīng)在寧波市區(qū)小有名氣了。甚至連慈溪的音樂愛好者也經(jīng)常邀請他們前去演出。

說起凱倫對音樂的執(zhí)著和愛好，他自己也深感自豪與快樂。1992年出生在愛爾蘭的凱倫，從小就有音樂的天賦。七八歲時他在當?shù)氐囊粋€教堂唱歌受到好評，牧師撫摸著他的頭說：你長大了肯定能成為一名好歌手。13歲時，凱倫就已經(jīng)應(yīng)邀在愛爾蘭的一家國家電視臺唱歌。15歲時，就在愛爾蘭舉辦的一次國家級的歌唱比賽中得了一等獎。這讓凱倫在音樂的道路上更加自信，他立志在歌唱的道路上堅定地走下去。他媽媽對凱倫的唱歌愛好也十分支持，經(jīng)常開車帶著他去參加大大小小的各種活動，一有機會就讓他一展歌喉。每到周末，凱倫媽媽總要開車帶他去參加當?shù)氐母鞣N歌唱比賽。有次比賽凱倫拿了一等獎，獎金8000歐元，全家都為他感到高興。

培養(yǎng)孩子活潑個性

在寧波鄞州赫德實驗學(xué)校幼兒園，凱倫對所有孩子的熱愛也是受到大家的齊聲點贊。凱倫說：“我加入赫德學(xué)校是因為我很喜歡孩子，喜歡這里溫馨的工作氛圍?！?/p>

如今的獨生子女，在家長的過分呵護下，大多都是溫室里的花朵。除了來自家庭的無限關(guān)愛，孩子從出生到小學(xué)畢業(yè)，都是在以女性為主的教育環(huán)境下成長起來的。造成了現(xiàn)在的孩子普遍缺少陽剛之氣，缺少自信、勇敢、果斷、大方等。于是，我國的一些幼兒園開始引進男教師。寧波鄞州赫德實驗學(xué)校從國外引進一批男老師就是一次有益的嘗試。學(xué)校的老師和教職員工，還有許多學(xué)生家長都把這些洋外教親切地稱為“洋爸爸”、“洋哥哥”、“帥哥哥”。凱倫愛孩子的一個心愿就是要培養(yǎng)孩子們活潑的個性和對英語及音樂的喜愛。赫德實驗學(xué)校幼兒園也是以“教育塑造人格”為基本原則、以蒙臺梭利教育、英才啟蒙為辦學(xué)定位，致力于培養(yǎng)雙語并重、全面發(fā)展的優(yōu)秀青少年，希望這里的孩子們能快樂、安全地成長。

寧波鄞州赫德實驗學(xué)校幼兒園一有機會就要舉辦一些孩子們喜歡的集體活動，像做游戲、舉辦音樂會等，凱倫當仁不讓自然就是一位積極的參與者和組織者。他經(jīng)常背起他的那把心愛的吉他教孩子們唱歌?？蓯鄣镊缏菇?，清脆的鈴鐺聲......音樂會一開場便讓孩子們沉浸在了愉快的海洋里，歡快的童聲唱出了滿滿的愛。小朋友們給大家?guī)淼陌爬傥璞硌荨短柰尥蕖?，粉嫩的芭蕾裙襯著孩子們可愛又不失優(yōu)雅的芭蕾動作，萌翻了現(xiàn)場的爸爸媽媽們。在赫德幼兒園每一個孩子都是一名主角，都有機會在舞臺上展現(xiàn)自己的才能和愛好。張麗園長告訴我們，赫德幼兒園的音樂課上他們還嘗試了許多樂器的學(xué)習(xí)課程，如吉他、大提琴、小提琴、長笛等。

凱倫十分在意教室墻壁上掛著的時鐘，孩子們幾點午休、幾點上課、幾點午餐，凱倫記得清清楚楚并十分守時。眼看下午二點半了，他必須上樓去把正在午休的孩子們叫醒。他十分抱歉地中止了我們的采訪，自己噌噌地上樓去把孩子們帶了下來。當孩子們準備吃熱飲料時凱倫十分細心的觀察著孩子們，生怕他們燙傷了嘴。不管是分內(nèi)還是分外，凱倫對工作的認真負責(zé)不但讓幼兒園的同事們贊許，也讓我們敬佩。凱倫對他班上的孩子十分體貼，哪個孩子身體稍有不舒服，他總是馬上告訴保育阿姨。在課外活動中，凱倫總是十分關(guān)心孩子們的身體和安全，至今從來沒出現(xiàn)過安全事故。

愛寧波想繼續(xù)留下

洋帥哥凱倫到寧波鄞州赫德實驗學(xué)校幼兒園工作轉(zhuǎn)眼已經(jīng)快兩年了。凱倫告訴我們：他和同伴們一來到寧波，就被安排住進了教師公寓樓，學(xué)校還提供了許多生活上的照顧和便利。他也已經(jīng)慢慢適應(yīng)和習(xí)慣了寧波這邊的生活，開始學(xué)會吃中國菜，吃寧波海鮮。他跑過了寧波許多地方，都留下了美好的印象。他還和寧波許多音樂愛好者交上了朋友建立了聯(lián)系。凱倫剛到寧波還不會說中文，現(xiàn)在他已經(jīng)學(xué)會了不少基本的交流語言，“您好”、“謝謝”、“再見”、“拜拜”。凱倫說原本他打算在寧波工作兩年就回愛爾蘭去，現(xiàn)在看來也許要逗留更長的時間了。

在學(xué)校幼兒園老師們的共同努力下，赫德實驗學(xué)校幼兒園得到了許許多多家長的一致點贊。張麗特別在我們面前夸獎凱倫和其他幾位來自萬里之外的男幼教。她笑嘻嘻地告訴我們，凱倫也受到了幼兒園小朋友家長們的夸獎，有的家長還向她打聽這位洋帥哥有女朋友嗎？如果還沒有的話，他們可想做凱倫的月下老人呢！說得我們都開心地笑了起來。

（本文攝影：白陽杰）

HD Ningbo School is a private bilingual education institute with courses from kindergarten and primary school to secondary school. It is a sister school of Hurtwood House， one of the most respected schools in UK due to its vitality and vision. Ciaran Singleton， an Irishman， is one of the four foreign teachers at the schools kindergarten in Ningbo. He is extremely popular with kids.

The other day， we arrived at the kindergarten to have an interview with Ciaran. We were ushered into room 103 on the ground floor. The walls presented drawings by children and English words in various sizes and colors. On the floor were toys and on the ceiling were garish balloons. A handsome young foreigner sat on the floor， surrounded by 20 some two or three-year-olds. The teacher was Ciaran. He was tall， his light brown hair cut short and his eyes blue and bright. On the wall was a guitar， his favorite musical instrument.

We learned that the kindergarten had about 80 children and there were four foreign teachers. A Chinese talent agency went to Ireland two years ago in search of young people who were willing to work as teachers in China. Ciaran， a student at Institute of Technology Tralee， signed up and got employed. He told us in the interview that he considered it a huge challenge to teach in China， an old and dynamic country. He had visited USA and some European countries. He came to Ningbo with a few friends in the second half of 2015.

He teaches English at the kindergarten. Part of his work is to teach kids to sing English songs. During weekends， he and his friends perform at a local music restaurant. Occasionally， he and his friends sing at wedding banquets. He and his musician friends have established a reputation in Ningbo. Sometimes they are invited to perform in county-level cities around Ningbo.

Ciaran is a gifted vocalist. Born in 1992， he grew up singing in a church chorus. He was invited to sing at a national television studio at 13 and won a first award at a national singing competition at 15. The biggest award he won at a singing competition was 8，000 Euro.

Ciaran is loved and adored by the kids at the kindergarten. Ciaran said that he joined HD Ningbo School because of his love for children and that he liked the school.

Hiring male teachers is an experimental practice of HD Ningbo School. Most Chinese families have one child and many kindergartens and primary schools have no male teachers. Parents are worried that children may not grow up in a balanced way if they grow up under the care of women teachers. The school and parents love the male teachers.

At such a kindergarten， music plays a big part. Music events and games are a big part of the curriculum for the preschoolers. Ciaran is an experienced organizer. Kids have opportunities to learn how to play musical instruments such as the cello， the violin and the flute.

Ciaran watched the clock on the wall closely while chatting with us in the interview. It turned out that he needed to wake up the children at 2：30 in the afternoon. Presently， kids filed down the staircase into the room. While serving hot drinks， Ciaran watched very carefully lest some might get burned by the drink. No accidents had ever happened to kids while they were under his watch.

Ciaran and his colleagues have worked about two years at the school. They live in a dorm building for teachers and the school provides a full range of conveniences. He has long since got used to the life here in Ningbo. He is used to Chinese food and seafood in Ningbo in particular. He has visited quite a few places around Ningbo and learned some Chinese words. He said that he had planned to go back home when the 2-year contract expired. But now he has changed his mind.

Zhang Li， an administrator of the kindergarten who accompanied us during our visit， praised Ciaran and his fellow teachers a lot. She said Ciaran was popular with parents. Some even asked her if Ciaran didnt have a girlfriend. Some were eager to set Ciaran up for a date or two in Ningbo. We burst into laughing after hearing the approval in the eager matchmaking.