Alyssa Sonnenblick demurs to promises of guaranteed methods of turning out perfect offspring and students. I believe the Torah does give a specific guaranteed method of turning out perfect offspring and students. Let me briefly elaborate and give an article (Everything is specific; so it is something you can try, agree with, or disagree with rather than a general platitude).
The Rav (Rabbi Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchick) approached the commandment of teaching children about the Exodus (Haggadah) as embodying all principles of education. More specifically the Rav posited that the 4 sons were 4 typologies and all learners are composed of some mixture of these topologies. I elaborate on his views in my article, “The Educational Pedagogy of the Four Sons,†Shofar, 22(4), pp 94-106, 2004 (accessible at [
www.Rashiyomi.com] )
To use modern terminology, the four sons present a 2 dimensional learner personality profile (Similar to say Briggs Myers). The wise-simple axis deals with sophistication, how simple or rich the person’s vocabulary is in a certain subject matter area. The Rav translates the “he who cannot ask†as “he who doesn’t care to ask,†the apathetic son. Based on his methods I translate the “wicked†son as “cynical and give scriptural proof. Thus, the 2nd axis deals with attitude, and spans apathy to confrontational cynicism.
Thus the pedagogic method advocated by the commandment to teach the exodus is to analyze each child in terms of the two dimensions of i) sophistication (simple to rich) and ii) attitude (cynical to apathetic). Depending on where each person is, 4 specific methods can be used to deal with extremes of simplicity, sophistication, apathy or cynicism. These 4 methods are the methods indicated in the Torah for dealing with these children types. They are quoted (but not fully explained) in the Haggadah.
I am a mathematician. I have successfully implemented these methods. I have taken “simple†mathematical people and helped raise them to a sophisticated level where they can earn advanced certifications. In passing, a lot of recent literature on math education confronts apathy and cynicism, “Why should we learn this?â€
To return to my disagreement with Alyssa, while I do believe that *all* students can be made perfect, that belief is not necessary for our disagreement. My real point is that these Torah methods can alleviate many learning problems if they were properly applied.
Dr Russell Jay Hendel; www.Rashiyomi.com/
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2016 07:41PM by mlb.
