Educational Theory

I am, as I have mentioned, an amateur educator. An idea occured to me a few weeks ago that I want to air out.

My fiancee is an educator, and a strong believer in Montessori. On the face of it, Montessori appears to be inconsistent with Judaism, especially because Maria Montessori was a Catholic, and thus, many Jews associate Montessori with Christianity. As a believer in learning from all people, I think that attitude is narrow minded.

Montessori is, at its essence, an acknowledgement of "chanoch la'na'ar al pi darko," a self-paced self-correcting method of teaching children. Therefore, Montessori is largely consistent with a Torah hashkafa. Theoretically, at least, it ought to be possible to integrate a secular and religious education under the aegis of a Montessori school, inasmuch as Montessori is an environment that is integrative in that it subsumes even secular subjects under a Torah-consistent educational model. Montessori also models the attitude of learning as its own reward, which is essentially a restatement of learning lishma.

I believe that all people learn things one at a time, and when learning a new concept, they reach a point where they "get it" and then move on to another lesson. Most subjects build upon previous material, so ensuring that someone "gets" a lesson before moving on to the next one is important. The trick is to get a student to a point where they are receptive to learning things, and usually that is because they have asked a question and are genuinely interested in finding out the answer.

The Pesach seder is an embodiment of what I have described above. As a matter of fact, embedded in the seder are the four sons, yet another restatement of "chanoch la'na'ar." Note that the first three sons are receptive to learning, because they have asked a question. The fourth, sh'aino yodaya lish'ol, who doesn't even know how to ask a question, needs us to start out for him. And I think that it's important the the "you" who needs to start out is phrased in the feminine, because it takes a certain, "motherly" mindset to get a child who hasn't started out asking question to ask that very first question on start out on a life of learning. (In other words, when you "kick someone in the pants" to get them started, you need to do so in a kind, loving manner.)

The four sons can also be viewed as four developmental stages in an educational process, starting at the bottom and working toward mastery of a particular subject.

One important aspect of the things that people learn is what I'll call "granularity." Take, for example, learning the times tables, which is a struggle for apparently a large number of children. Children either "get" that the multiplication facts never change, and decide to memorize them to save counting on fingers or what have you, or they don't. There is also the rote memorization of learning the times tables. Is the granularity the entire times table, a single row thereof, or a single cell (one fact)?

I think that granularity is important because one aspect of "chanoch la'na'ar" recognizes that not only do people learn at different paces - they also learn their fundamental factoids in different "bite sizes." Thus, one child may need to have the attitude of feeling satisfied with themselves only after having learned the entire times table, another may need some reinforcement after each row, and a third may need us to make a big deal as they learn each fact, one by one.

An associated question is whether there is a minimal level of granularity - for example, can you learn half a math fact? My tentative answer to the first question is "yes" and to the second is "no." I find support for this in the parshiyot that we read about the design and construction of the mishkan.

The mishkan was the ultimate do-it-yourself (DIY in Home Depot parlance) project. G-d gave Moshe a brief description of each component, and it was up to Bezalel and Oholiav to figure out the detailed construction plans and techniques based on a general overall plan. Each component of the mishkan was built of multiple materials and components, save one, and one alone.

The menorah was constructed from one gold ingot, and needed to be constructed in such a way that the ingot remained indivisible throughout the process. Additionally, according to the gemara, when G-d told Moshe about the menorah, Moshe was stumped, and G-d tried over and over again to tell Moshe (see Rashi on Shemot 25:40). Finally, G-d had to show Moshe what it looked like. The menorah seems to be emblematic of a minimal level of granularity in an educational process, and also an example of "at ptach lo," what to do when a student is at an impasse and seems to be non-receptive to learning.

As an aside, I note that the word used in Shemot 25:40, "tavnitam," (construction) has a root of B-N-H, which may be a cognate of the B-N-H used in the sense of understanding. Thus, construction and understanding might very well be synonmous.

Finally, I will note that when we "get" something, we often say that we have "seen the light," so it is more than coincidence that the menorah is emblematic of the start of an educartional process - a loving "kick in the pants," if you will, that everyone needs from time to time to start on the road to real understanding.

Theory is one thing; practice is another. I welcome your comments on kind and loving ways to get children of all ages started out on a life of learning.