A Paradigm Shift for Thinking About God in the Classroom
/Over the past 75 years, Jewish day schools in North America have experimented with ways of teaching Jewish identity. The methodologies ranged from heavy textual induction to deep discussion to Israeli dance to computer-based solutions to maker spaces to Project Based Learning. In that time a singular topic remains under-developed: how to teach about the Divine. Most approaches focus on either: trying to create an emotional connection with God through nature, meditation, or experiential learning; or sharing a significant amount of knowledge about the topic of God with the potential for some discussion from students.
What other methods could teachers employ to build a strong, lasting Jewish identity in their students?
Perhaps we should consider a paradigm shift for thinking about God in the classroom.
The idea of preparation plus opportunity equals success draws from the business world, but this wisdom points at a different way to think about educating children. Throughout a child’s life, many opportunities come up for the child to test, hone, seek out, and avoid a deep, individual understanding of God and how that understanding adds value to their life. Those pivotal moments can help a child actualize their beliefs instead of accepting someone else’s stock list, data points, or narratives about God. In this paradigm, the teacher shifts away from passing on the Mesorah to preparing the child for those non-classroom life moments when the student will examine the world independently and come to personal conclusions. In this paradigm preparation involves radical differences from other models.
Teachers can build their students’ spiritual development by nurturing specific traits. Spiritually healthy children...
Seek sacred text and Divine information: This can fuel students’ desires to seek out the same information or sources Jews have touched for thousands of years.
Actively choose mentors and friends: Students choose the voices in the environment with which they can speak freely and deeply about God and spiritual issues.
Develop a relationship with God: Students should learn to expect a lifelong journey of vision, hope, trust, mission, and understanding.
Behave as an active transmitter and a discerning receiver: Students need help finding ways to express consistent, strong Torah ideas in line with a set philosophy. They should practice constructing ways to evaluate Torah information’s relevance in their lives and how it fits, expands, or challenges a set philosophy.
See the Jewish system as useful and important: Children should be encouraged to apply Judaism’s brilliant arrangement of connected ideas as a powerful influence on decision-making.
This new paradigm for thinking about God in the classroom is framed around three key points:
Subjective people reach out to an infinite, objective God in multiple ways. The way one person frames God does not always match the way another envisions the Author of Humanity.
Textual elements forced onto students can create boundaries to creativity and innovation. People invent many possible images of the Divine and our sacred texts help us circumscribe that image with authenticity and reinforce it with a chain of people going back to the beginning believers.
Student should love God so much that they ultimately feel they could share that idea with willing recipients.
It is insufficient to teach a student only how to translate text, decode symbolism, and repeat substantive ideas. From an educational angle, the parts of the brain involved in information recall or rote interpretation of symbols do not engage the emotional or the limbic system of the brain at a high level. Preparation for pivotal life moments engages multiple areas of the brain and should become a greater part of students’ future decision making. From a spiritual angle, Jewish education is not a sprint, it is a marathon. We want each student to feel energized as the next link in the chain from Mount Sinai. Preparation for a test or project pales in comparison to the long-term preparation a student needs to confront a challenge or confirm belief in God. The gift of Judaism lies in the ability to ignite one’s soul and make a meaningful reality to share with one’s future family.
Rabbi Shmuel Feld is the founding director of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, a bold initiative catalyzing radical improvement in Jewish day schools.
This article was originally posted on the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge’s blog.