車床轟隆，鋸條飛舞，來達(dá)特茅斯上一堂創(chuàng)意課

Gabrielle Emanuel （Byline）： When I think of really fantastic teachers in my own life， one person always leaps to mind.

Dudley P. Whitney： Theres a couple of adjustments that you always want to make with a band saw.

Emanuel： Dudley P. Whitney teaches woodworking at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. This afternoon， hes helping an undergrad cut a plank of wood into a circle. Dudleys been doing this for almost 30 years， right here in this huge basement room， with his workbenches just beckoning to students who walk past.

Whitney： Its well-lit. Its well-equipped. And down the middle of the shop are all the major power tools —the planers， the jointers， the bandsaws.

Emanuel： When I was a student at Dartmouth， I spent oodles of time in the shop. Its a place with no curriculum and no grades. Students and professors just swing by with an idea of something they want to make. And then， working one-on-one with Dudley or another instructor， they learn how to make it. I carved bowls and built desks， but mostly， I asked zillions of questions. I knew Dudley was a really good teacher， but I didnt actually think about why. Since then， Ive noticed that things I learned in that basement shop have popped up in other aspects of my life. To me， thats a mark of great teaching.

Whitney： I have no idea what kind of affect the teaching that we do in here really does affect people—how they carry it around with them， where they go with it， how they remember it. No idea.

Emanuel： Just how much he influenced me and many others became obvious four years ago. It was a hard time for Dartmouth.

Whitney： They were having financial difficulties.

Emanuel： He scaled back from full-time to part-time. And as word got around， Dudley started getting letters—dozens and dozens of them.

Whitney： It was pretty special.

Emanuel： One former student after another wrote about how he had changed their lives.

Whitney： Well， those arent the ones I remember. The ones I remember are the ones how I was curmudgeonly， sang incredibly dumb songs. （Laughter）

Emanuel： Now Dudleys quasi-retired and works only a few days a week. When I went back to talk with him for this story， I kept asking him what exactly it is he does. What makes his teaching so special？ And he says he genuinely doesnt know.

Whitney： I dont really think about how Im doing it. And I dont—I dont know. I dont know.

Emanuel： Jennifer Mueller does know. Shes a professor at the University of San Diego. For 15 years， she studied creativity. As she told me about the key ingredients necessary to teach creativity， I suddenly realized that theyre exactly what I remember from Dudleys workshop. Mueller says you have to get rid of the stereotype that creativity is unleashed.

Jennifer Mueller： Theres this impression that give students freedom， and theyll be creative. And what we know is that they need some structure up front.

Emanuel： They need a well-defined problem， like building a piece of furniture， and they needed to know the constraints and the range of possibilities. That echoes something Dudley said while standing next to those big machines.

Whitney： So you start with a stick， and theyve never started with a stick before. And the next thing you know， youre making decisions. You dont even know about the possibilities yet. So thats my job， in a lot of ways.

Its just to help people discover the possibilities—the potential of a stick of wood.

Emanuel： Think about it. Thats a recipe for creativity， one you can apply to all sorts of pursuits—a lump of clay， an unknown disease， a string of computer code. Dudley illuminates the possibilities， but he never picks among them. Thats the students job. Mueller says thats exactly what the research says is important. Another key ingredient for creativity is having fun， being intrinsically motivated.

Mueller： When people feel enjoyment of a task， theyre more likely to explore.

Emanuel： Its that way at the Dartmouth woodshop. No classes， no requirements—everyone is there because they want to be there.

Whitney： You feel good about yourself， and you feel good because you did it. You learn the skills necessary to do it.

Emanuel： Dudley is a New England native—played hockey dropped out of Yale， sold dictionaries. He says he kind of fell into woodworking.

Whitney： And the first thing I remember making was a couch. It was plywood. And we were young， we were foolish， and we needed a place to sit. （Laughter） I liked it just because I put it together in ways that I had sort of thought of by myself.

Emanuel： And that felt good. But creativity involves something we dont always feel good about—uncertainty.

Mueller： Theres no answer. Theres no clear answer. We dont like that type of uncertainty at all. We really hate it.

Emanuel： She says this is hard for students—that blank piece of paper. Its hard for businesses. Will people buy the product？ Uncertainty is hard for everyone， but research shows its key to thinking creatively. Dudley says most people who come into the shop have no experience.

Whitney： Theres big， bad machines in here. They can hurt you.

Emanuel： So he says the whole process starts with people taking a big risk. Whats kept Dudley coming back every year isnt the idea that hes teaching creativity. After all， hes never really thought about it in that way. Instead， its a look of wonder he sees in his students eyes. Then he tells me a story.

Whitney： Right there， standing between the planer and the wood rack， I saw a guy. He was a graduate student in biology. And he looked like he was really sort of upset. He had sort of tears in his eyes. I said， Jim， you OK？ And he looked at me. And he said， I just cant believe that you can take this， and he pointed to a rough piece of lumber. And in his hand， he had another piece， and he said， and send it through that machine， and come out with this. And it was perfectly smooth and flat. I mean， it changed his view of the world at that point. How could it not？

Emanuel： I remember where I was standing on the other side of the shop when I had that same moment—realizing the potential of a stick of wood and my own potential to shape it. Looking back through all those letters written about Dudley， many of his students had had that moment， too. And they say they now notice details they never saw before. They look at problems differently. They realize they are capable of creating.

加布里埃爾·伊曼紐爾（撰稿人）：每當(dāng)我想起生命中遇到的那些了不起的老師，有一個人總會浮現(xiàn)在我的腦海里。

達(dá)德利·P.·惠特尼：使用帶鋸的時候，你總會想對其進(jìn)行一些調(diào)整。

伊曼紐爾：達(dá)德利·P.·惠特尼在（美國）新罕布什爾州的達(dá)特茅斯學(xué)院教木工課。這天下午，他正在幫一名本科生將一塊厚木板條切割成圓環(huán)。達(dá)德利從事這一行已經(jīng)將近三十年了，就在這個寬敞的地下室里，一張張工作臺吸引著眾多過路學(xué)生走進(jìn)來。

惠特尼：這里光線很好、設(shè)備齊全，走到工作室中間就是各種大馬力的機(jī)器，比如刨機(jī)、接縫刨和帶鋸等等。

伊曼紐爾：在達(dá)特茅斯念書的時候，我會長時間地泡在工作室里。這里沒有課程表，也不評分。學(xué)生和教授們都是隨便進(jìn)來聊一下他們想搞點(diǎn)什么東西。然后他們就會和達(dá)德利或者另一位講師一對一地合作，學(xué)著如何將東西制作出來。我雕過木碗，也做過桌子，不過在大多數(shù)時候，我總是有問之不盡的問題。我知道達(dá)德利確實(shí)是位好老師，但我以前還真沒思考過其中的緣由。在那以后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)在那個地下工作間學(xué)到的東西在生活的其他方面同樣能派上用場。對我來說，那就是優(yōu)質(zhì)教育的標(biāo)志。

惠特尼：我并不知道我們在這里的教學(xué)會對人們真的產(chǎn)生怎樣的影響——他們?nèi)绾螌⑦@些知識帶到生活中，他們將這些知識運(yùn)用在什么地方，他們怎么記住這些知識，壓根不知道。

伊曼紐爾：他對我以及其他許多人的深遠(yuǎn)影響在四年前展現(xiàn)無遺。當(dāng)時達(dá)特茅斯的處境相當(dāng)不妙。

惠特尼：校方出現(xiàn)了財政困難。

伊曼紐爾：他的工作從全職縮減成兼職。消息傳開以后，達(dá)德利開始收到各種信件——有數(shù)十封來信。

惠特尼：這種感覺太特別了。

伊曼紐爾：以前的學(xué)生一個接一個地寫道他如何改變了他們的人生。

惠特尼：噢，給我深刻印象的并不是這些（說我改變他們的）信，而是那些說我多么乖戾小氣、老是在哼著傻傻的歌的信。（笑）

伊曼紐爾：現(xiàn)在達(dá)德利已經(jīng)半退休了，一周只上幾天課。我為了這篇報道回母校找他聊天，不停問他到底施了什么魔法，是什么東西讓他的教學(xué)如此與眾不同的呢？而他回答說，他真的不知道

惠特尼：我不大會去思考自己教得怎樣。我不……我也不知道，真的不知道。

伊曼紐爾：詹妮弗·米勒知道為什么，她是圣地亞哥大學(xué)的教授，15年來一直致力于研究創(chuàng)造力。當(dāng)她向我介紹創(chuàng)意教育必需的關(guān)鍵要素時，我突然意識到這正是達(dá)德利的工作間讓我難以忘懷的東西。米勒說，你必須擺脫固化模式，才能讓創(chuàng)意不受拘束。

詹妮弗·米勒：這種印象會賦予學(xué)生更大的自由，他們就能將創(chuàng)意發(fā)揮出來。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)學(xué)生需要在他們面前有那么一個榜樣。

伊曼紐爾：他們需要一個定義明確的問題，比如制作一件家具;他們還需要知道可能性的范圍有多大，會有哪些局限——這與達(dá)德利站在那些龐大的機(jī)器邊上所說的話不謀而合。

惠特尼：你們從一根木料開始（接觸這方面），而以前的人們可不是從木條開始作業(yè)的。接下來你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，在還不知道有其他可能性之前，你就已經(jīng)做出了決定。所以，從各種層面而言，那就是我的工作，也就是幫助人們?nèi)グl(fā)現(xiàn)這些可能性——去發(fā)掘一根木頭的潛力。

伊曼紐爾：想想看，這正是創(chuàng)造力的秘訣，你可以將其運(yùn)用到各種各樣的工作當(dāng)中——無論是一塊黏土、一種未知的疾病，還是一連串計算機(jī)代碼。達(dá)德利闡明了各種各樣的可能性，但他從來不會從中做出選擇，這是學(xué)生們的任務(wù)。米勒認(rèn)為，研究表明這正是相當(dāng)重要的一點(diǎn)。創(chuàng)造力的另外一個關(guān)鍵要素就是要樂在其中，具備內(nèi)在動力。

米勒：一旦人們能感受到任務(wù)的樂趣，他們就更有可能鉆研下去。

伊曼紐爾：達(dá)特茅斯的工作間所采用的正是這種方式。沒有課程教學(xué)，也沒有課業(yè)要求，每個人都是因?yàn)樽约合氪粼谶@里才到這里來的。

惠特尼：你會很有成就感，這種成就感是因?yàn)槟愠晒ψ龀鰜砹?，你還學(xué)到了制作這件東西所需的多種技能。

伊曼紐爾：達(dá)德利是個土生土長的新英格蘭人，打過曲棍球，從耶魯大學(xué)退學(xué)，一度靠賣字典為生。他說自己一下子就被木工迷住了。

惠特尼：我記得我的第一個作品是一張長椅子，用膠合板做的。我們那時還年輕，特別傻氣，就想找個地方坐一下。（笑）我喜歡這張椅子，因?yàn)槲一旧鲜怯米约合氲姆ㄗ訉⑺谱鞒鰜淼摹?/p>

伊曼紐爾：那種感覺真不錯。不過，創(chuàng)意也包含了我們通常不太喜歡的東西——不確定性。

米勒：在這里沒有答案，沒有明確的答案。我們一點(diǎn)都不喜歡這種不確定性，我們太討厭它了。

伊曼紐爾：她說這對學(xué)生來說并不容易——那是一張空白的答題紙。這對商業(yè)來說也不好辦——人們會買這件商品嗎？不確定性對任何人來說都不是件容易的事兒，不過，研究表明這正是創(chuàng)意思維的關(guān)鍵。達(dá)德利說，大多數(shù)來工作間的人并不具備木工經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

惠特尼：這里的機(jī)器都是些危險的龐然大物，它們可能會讓你受傷。

伊曼紐爾：所以他說，在（木工）整個過程中，人們從一開始就冒著很大風(fēng)險。達(dá)德利之所以每年都回到這個工作崗位上來，并不是因?yàn)樗庾R到自己在搞的是創(chuàng)意教育，畢竟他從來沒往那個方面想過——而是因?yàn)樗趯W(xué)生眼中看到那種驚奇的眼神。他給我分享了一個故事。

惠特尼：就在那邊，我看見一個小伙子站在刨機(jī)與木架之間。他是生物系的研究生，看上去有點(diǎn)難過，眼睛里似乎還帶著淚光。我便說：“吉姆，你還好吧？”他看著我說：“我簡直無法相信你能將這玩意兒……”，他指著一塊很粗糙的木料，而他的手里正拿著另一塊，“讓它通過那臺機(jī)器，出來的竟然是這樣?！蹦菈K木料變得非常滑溜平整。我的意思是，在那一刻，這徹底改變了他的世界觀。確實(shí)，怎么可能不會呢？

伊曼紐爾：我還記得自己站在工作間的另一頭時也有同樣的體會——在那一刻，我發(fā)現(xiàn)一根木頭具有無限的潛力，同時意識到自己也具有塑造它的潛力。重新翻看所有這些描寫達(dá)德利的信件，他的許多學(xué)生都有這樣的觸動時刻。他們紛紛表示，如今能夠注意到以前從未留意的各種細(xì)節(jié)，看待問題的方式不一樣了——他們意識到自己具有了創(chuàng)造力。

Johnnys Prayer

Johnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room.

After a while emerged and informed his mother that he had thought over and then said a prayer.

“Fine”， said the pleased mother. “If you ask God to help you not misbehave， He will help you.”

“Oh， I didnt ask Him to help me not misbehave，” said Johnny. “I asked him to help you put up with me.”

強(qiáng)尼因?yàn)椴还跃捅悔s進(jìn)他的房間。

過了一會兒。他就出來跟他的媽媽說他已經(jīng)徹底反省，而且事后禱告了。

滿心歡喜的媽媽說：“很好，如果你求上帝幫助你不要不乖，她就會幫助你?！?/p>

強(qiáng)尼說：“哦，我沒有求她幫助我不要不乖，我求她幫助你來忍受我。”