When I say I believe all children can learn， people sometimes misunderstand.

Because I have been working with poor， minority children in Harlem for the last twentyfive years， some people think I am talking about good kids in bad environments—that if you give a bright kid from a poor family a good educational support system， he or she can succeed. That’s absolutely true， but that’s not what I mean.

You see， I truly believe that all kids can learn. I believe it， I’ve seen it， I’ve even tasted it.

Back in 1975， when I was coming out of the Harvard Graduate School of Education， I worked in a summer camp in Ossipee， New Hampshire， for kids with the absolute toughest problems： emotionally disturbed kids， autistic kids， oppositional 1）ADHD kids， kids that everyone—even their parents—had given up on.

One of the things that I and the staff would do was cook with the kids. These children didn’t know baking powder from table salt， but once they had eaten a warm biscuit out of the oven， smeared with melted butter and a 2）drizzle of 3）maple syrup， they were very motivated to learn how to make some more.

Suddenly， kids who couldn’t sit still or focus were carefully eyeballing ingredients as we measured them out， learning the simple math and spelling lessons we could 4）slip in along the way. By the end of the summer， I remember parents breaking down and crying when they saw the progress their children had made.

The biscuits， by the way， were delicious， and I can still remember the taste of them today—and more importantly， I can still remember the lesson they taught me： that if we， the adults， can find the right motivation for a child， there’s hope for that child’s education.

Today I run two 5）charter schools and a series of educational programs， and we work with over ten thousand kids a year. I make sure that every single one of my staff understands that I don’t accept excuses about kids not learning. You can’t blame the kids. In my shop， if a child does not succeed， it means the adults around him or her have failed.

That’s because the kids with the really tough problems are not going to suddenly start teaching themselves. I believe that we adults have to help them， and that starts with looking hard at each child， finding out what excites them， and exploiting that excitement shamelessly.

When I was growing up poor in the south Bronx， one of four boys raised by a single mom， I probably looked like I was heading nowhere， hanging out on the street with my friends and getting into fights and trouble. And I would have ended up dead or in jail like many of my friends if it had not been for a couple of teachers and family members who saw something underneath my teenage tough-guy act. They spotted my fascination with reading， starting with 6）Green Eggs and Ham and later with 7）Manchild in the Promised Land， and they made sure I had great books to read.

My first taste of success came way back at that summer camp in Ossipee， New Hampshire. It came with a plate of steaming hot biscuits that tasted so good I believe they could have brought a tear to your eye.

當(dāng)我說我相信所有的孩子都有學(xué)習(xí)能力時(shí)，人們有時(shí)候會對這話產(chǎn)生誤解。

因?yàn)樵谶^去的25年，我一直與紐約哈林區(qū)的窮困少數(shù)族裔兒童打交道，一些人以為我說的是在惡劣環(huán)境下生活的優(yōu)秀兒童——如果你讓家境貧寒的聰明孩子接受優(yōu)質(zhì)的教育，他或者她就能成就一番事業(yè)。這話絕對正確，但我想說的不是這種情況。

你要知道，我真心地相信所有的孩子都有學(xué)習(xí)能力。這是我的信念，也是我見證過的情況，同時(shí)也是我經(jīng)歷過的事。

回想1975年，當(dāng)時(shí)我從哈佛教育研究生院畢業(yè)，在新罕布什爾州奧西皮的一個(gè)夏令營工作，那里的孩子有著最棘手的問題：有的是患情緒病，有的是患自閉癥，還有的患有對抗性多動(dòng)癥——所有人，甚至是這些孩子的父母都對他們不抱希望了。

我們工作人員要做的其中一件事就是與孩子們一起做飯。這些孩子平時(shí)連發(fā)酵粉和食鹽都分不清，但是當(dāng)他們一吃到新鮮出爐的溫?zé)嵝★灨伞獛в腥诨狞S油和絲絲楓糖漿，他們的學(xué)習(xí)沖動(dòng)就被激發(fā)出來了，迫切希望能做出更多的餅干。

忽然間，那些無法靜坐或是無法集中注意力的孩子都全神貫注地盯著我們調(diào)配食材，學(xué)習(xí)簡單的計(jì)算，我們一邊做餅干一邊教他們的拼寫內(nèi)容，他們也學(xué)會了。暑假結(jié)束的時(shí)候，我記得那些父母在看到自己的孩子所取得的進(jìn)步后感激流涕的樣子。

順道一提，那些餅干很美味，直到今天我還能記得那味道。更重要的是，我還銘記住了它們教給我的一課：如果我們成年人能夠?yàn)楹⒆诱业竭m當(dāng)?shù)募?lì)方法，那對孩子的教育就有希望了。

今天，我經(jīng)營著兩所特許學(xué)校，并且開展了一系列的教育計(jì)劃，我們一年要和一萬多個(gè)孩子相處。我確保我的每一位員工都清楚我不會接受“孩子不肯學(xué)”這樣的借口。你不能把責(zé)任推到孩子身上。在我學(xué)校里，如果一個(gè)孩子沒能成功，這意味著輔導(dǎo)他們的大人沒有盡責(zé)。

那是因?yàn)榇_實(shí)有嚴(yán)重問題的孩子是不會忽然間就開始自學(xué)的。我相信，我們大人必須得幫助他們，從著眼每個(gè)孩子開始，找出他們的興趣點(diǎn)，然后不畏艱難地利用他們的興趣幫助他們學(xué)習(xí)。

我成長在南布朗克斯的一個(gè)貧窮家庭，母親獨(dú)身一人撫養(yǎng)四個(gè)兒子。我的前途看似黯淡無光，和朋友流浪街頭，打架斗毆，惹是生非。要不是我的幾位老師和家人看到我“惡棍”的表象下善良的內(nèi)心，我真有可能像我的許多朋友那樣要不死于非命，要不身陷牢獄。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了我對閱讀的興趣，開始是讓我看《綠雞蛋和火腿》，后來是《應(yīng)許之地的兒子》，他們都確保我能看到好書。

我第一次嘗到成功的滋味是在新罕布什爾州奧西皮的那個(gè)夏令營里。這種滋味來自于一盤熱氣騰騰的餅干，那份美味，我相信會讓你熱淚盈眶。