I met an entrepreneurial headmistress recently. A few years ago she was appointed to rescue a failing school, which suffered chronic problems with pupil discipline. On her first day she shut the doors and asked every teacher to identify the worst offenders. They provided 72 names. She excluded every disruptive teenager, saying they would not be readmitted until she had met them and their parents for individual sessions in her study. Over the coming days she saw each one and in time almost all returned to finish their education. Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the school improved radically.
我最近认识了一位颇具企业家精神的女校长。数年前，她受命“拯救”一所长期受学生纪律涣散问题困扰的失败学校。上任第一天，她关上门，要求老师们说出最捣蛋的学生。教师们列出了72人的姓名。她将所有的“捣乱分子”赶出课堂，称她会在自己的办公室分别与他们和家长单独谈话，然后才允许他们重返学校。接下来几天，她与每一名学生会面。最终，几乎所有人都返回学校，完成学业。同时，学校的风气也得到了根本的改善。