Chinuch Innovators: Finding The Missing Instruction
Manual by Mordechai
Schiller
Wouldn't it be
great if children came with instructions?
Shlomo Hamelech
said "Chanoch lanaar al pi darko--Educate
the child according to his way." But sometimes it seems you need the
wisdom of Shlomo to do that!
Like new
concepts in Torah Sheb'al Peh,
cryptic instructions for chinuch were
left for each generation to discover for itself. Dor ledor yeshabach maasecha. Every generation has its own chinuch innovators who rediscover the
message of "Chanoch lanaar al pi
darko" for the needs of the time.
Before the time
of the Mishna, there were no
"yeshivas" as we know them. Reb Yehoshua ben Gamla, "should be
blessed," says the Gemara (Baba Basra 21a), "for without him the Torah would have
been forgotten in Israel." Yehoshua ben Gamla initiated the first system
of public education for children. Before his time (a decade before the
destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash),
parents taught their own children. Orphans were left with no schooling.
A century
later, Reb Yehuda Hanasi broke new ground when he lifted the ban against
writing down the Oral Torah and transcribed the Mishna to prevent it from being forgotten. Three centuries later,
Ravina and Rav Ashi did the same for the Gemara.
No "Typical" Child
In
later generations, we saw such innovations as the Shulchan Aruch, the Yeshiva of Volozhin, Bais Yaakov schools, Daf
Yomi, Torah summer camps, day schools and the teshuva movement. Each generation
according to its needs.
As secular
education became more of a science, Torah leaders and educators learned to
adapt its findings to the concept of al
pi darko. We became more aware that there is no such thing as a
"typical" child.
All children
are unique, with their own strengths and weaknesses in learning. In the past
teachers gave children who were "different" labels like
"lazy," "dreamy," "ADD," or worse. But, says Dr.
Judah Weller, Educational Director of P'tach, such labels are not only
misleading, they are damaging. And they can be self-fulfilling prophecies, with
children living up to their labels, true or not.
They are
misleading because they oversimplify a complex range of behaviors. Labels like
"ADD" are also harmful because they focus on weaknesses, not
strengths. And they often doom children to a life of being classified as
"abnormal." Labelers fail to recognize the ability of the human mind to adapt and cope, using
"bypass strategies" or "accommodations."
Opening the Door to Learning
In
1978, a group of concerned parents and educators--pioneers and innovators for
discovering the potentials of a child's mind--joined together to create Parents
for Torah for All Children. "P'tach," as the name implies, opened the
door to learning for children who had once been closed out. And they insisted
that every child can succeed.
"Rochel"
(we'll call her) came from a P'tach elementary school program to a high school
where she was placed in a special education program--with
"mainstreaming" for several of her classes. During one class, Rochel
raised her hand and explained to the teacher that she has a language processing
and organization problem: "I need you to repeat some of the information
for me so I can understand it."
The teacher was
stunned by Rochel's grasp of her own weakness, and even more so by her ability
to break down and specify exactly what she needed in order to succeed. If another child had the
same difficulties--but not the same training--she might have just thrown up her
hands and said "I don't understand!" Today, the teacher uses Rochel's
well-organized notes to show other girls how to break down and organize the
information.
All Education Should Be Special
Rochel's
success was a delight--but no surprise--to Dr. Weller, who insists that there
is nothing "special" about special education. "It is simply
superior education!" And once you make a child aware of her strengths and
weaknesses, she has the tools to cope and succeed.
A
P'tach-trained student who is now married, took the adapting skills she learned
in school and applied them to her home life. Her mother recently called to
thank P'tach for turning her daughter into a "real balabusta!" Her secret? She plans out everything in her home
on index cards--a skill she was taught to help her accommodate a weakness in
organization!
Rochel and the balabusta are what Dr. Mel Levine would
call "self-attuned." Dr. Levine is professor of pediatrics at the
University of North Carolina Medical School and director of the university's
Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning. Levine, author of A Mind at a Time and The Myth of Laziness, is cofounder of
All Kinds of Minds, a movement to train educators to recognize and address
learning differences--and help every child succeed.
In his
introduction to A Mind at a Time, Levine
writes: "This could not have been written decades ago. It is only in
recent years that, fortified with a wealth of research into learning, brain
function and school failure, we have been able to develop approaches to the
understanding of children's minds"
One of the
building blocks of All Kinds of Minds is Levine's emphasis on what he calls "Demystification": getting rid
of the labels and gobbledygook that confuse children and make them feel bad
about themselves. Instead, Levine teaches teachers and parents how to explain
to children precisely what problems they are experiencing... and what
techniques they can use to overcome those problems.
The goal is to
make a child realize he isn't "bad" or defective. (How many of our
children were taught that they were "bad"... then wound up believing
it and became "children at risk"?!)
Everybody has
different strengths and weaknesses. And everybody can learn, al pi darko. Demystified students become
optimistic about their future instead of giving up. Like Rochel, who learned to
take break down information and take detailed notes, instead of getting labeled
"disorganized."
A teacher
attuned to a child's kind of mind might say specifically "Look right at me
while I explain this," instead of an ill-defined and unhelpful demand to
"pay attention."
Following
Levine's approach, Dr. Weller insists that there are "no learning
disabilities... only differences."
And he has made it P'tach's mission to
give all Jewish students the benefit of "a superior education."
According to
Dr. Weller, All Kinds of Minds is a program that puts Chanoch lanaar al pi darko into action. To that end, Dr. Weller
introduced the All Kinds of Minds "Schools Attuned"© to Jewish
educators from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The Schools Attuned
program teaches teachers, training them to meet the diverse needs of all
students in their schools. Classroom teachers are on the front line to observe
the different ways children learn. Schools Attuned training sensitizes teachers
and helps them help their students to learn. It also makes teachers tuned in to
who needs special help.
The day schools
program teaches the All Kinds of Minds philosophy through an intensive 35-hour
staff development program for Rabbeim and teachers. Since 2002 P'tach has been
instrumental in training over 500 Jewish educators from the New York area in a
custom tailored Jewish Schools Attuned program.
What are the
results?
Possibly the
main result is that teachers are trained never to give up on a child or let the
child give up on himself. Every child has strengths that can be harnessed for
learning. And they no longer expect children to all learn using the same
method. What's more, one of the key messages is "Help one... Help
many!" Contrary to popular belief, a teacher helping one child learn isn't
detracting from the class. Helping one child "get it" helps others
get it too.
Teachers report
back that Schools Attuned has changed their whole view of thinking. One rebbi
said "I used to think that teaching for 15 years, I knew it all...." Anticipating eventual
burnout, the teacher added frustration over "never getting to some kids...
I couldn't understand them. What a waste!"
But after the
Schools Attuned program, the same rebbi said "I've been rejuiced up. Now I
have new ammunition to get to everyone. Maybe I'm not stale after all. I will make a big difference! Even in my
personal life, I now evaluate my own children with deeper insight and
knowledge!... Thank you so much for the opportunity. I hope I have the time to
constantly use the skill and management to help for many years."
Another said
"There were students who were falling through the cracks, but I was
powerless to help them.... many of them would not be able to function in a
classroom. We just needed to keep them floating." But the program taught
him "There is a way to get to all of them. There is a way to convince
other teachers, the administration and the students themselves that they can be
successful! We can pinpoint their problems and help them overcome those
problems."
One rebbi
summed it up saying, now he felt "empowered to do so much more than just teach information. I have
a tremendous ability to help my students in so many ways... Chanoch lanaar al pi darko!"
Some educators
comment that there's nothing new under the sun, but Dr. Weller responds,
"Schools Attuned organizes and structures what we know in a user-friendly
way and helps teachers bring out the best in our children."
You might say
it's the missing instruction manual for chinuch.
