In the year 1825 Sir William Curtis, a longstanding Member of Parliament of the City of London, made a toast at the local Board of Education dinner. He listed the educational achievements to date and highlighted the challenges. Within his remarks he coined a phrase that would be repeated thousands of times in educational institutions all over the world. He said: “We must build our educational system around the three essential R’s of education: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic”.
Sir William’s phrase stood as the paradigm of successful education for close to 200 years.
Until today!
As we gather our school supplies, and agonize over the class in which each of our children really belongs…
As we load our cars with cartons and load our toddler’s knapsacks…There is a new/old paradigm we need to consider about education. One that is as modern as many of the theories we attempt to embrace in our schools – and as old as time; as old as Torah.
This September, I celebrate 36 years of involvement in formal and informal education in the Jewish community and beyond. As I reflect on the lessons of those experiences – teaching men and women from the ages of sixteen to seventy six, in institutions ranging from day schools to local colleges, I have no doubt that in fact there are three “R’s – a true three R’s – that will ensure a successful educational experience.
These three R’s describe concepts that are essential for our children as they begin the challenging experience of sitting at a desk for many hours a day hearing ideas that he/she has never heard before, being presented with models and formulae that are not always clear or logically reasonable.
These three R’s are relevant for teachers as well as parents!
In order to enable a child to thrive academically these R’s must be practiced on a consistent, ongoing basis – in both school and home.
The First R: Recognize
Establish and maintain the perspective in your mind that each of your children/students is:
1. Unique
2. Great
The terms unique and great are irrefutable, inherent terms. They denote attributes of each child that are not subjective; never tied to an action or level of success. Great means great, not good.
Begin by working on your thought processes to train yourself to recognize your children as they truly are: Unconditionally great and unquestionably unique – exactly as the Almighty endowed them to be. Don’t be afraid! Use these words and become comfortable with thinking about your children in these terms.
Reveal: Become a student of your child. Get to know her again. Meet him and learn about him as if he were entering your life for the first time. Observe your child – doing significant and mundane things. Spend time with the child in experiences you haven’t previously shared. Ask questions to get a greater understanding of his thoughts, fears and expectations. Study each child with the enthusiasm and rigorousness you would study important new subject matter. Reveal to yourself all of the specific strengths, and unique capabilities and needs of your child.
Re-enforce: Use words, body and facial expressions to pointedly express to your child your belief in his unconditional greatness, uniqueness, and each of the specific strengths and skills he possesses. But go further – express those perspectives in your actions.
Remember, in Judaism: Belief is an action, love is an action, appreciation is an action… Building a child is an action as well. Therefore you must establish practical ways for your child’s strengths and natural skills to find expression. For example, rather than simply choosing the offered after school program, seek out a program that speaks to your child’s musical inclination or artistic ability. Work with administrators and lay leaders to incorporate practices within your children’s schools that will speak to your child’s interests related to dance, film or technology.
Re-enforce your child’s specialness by affirming it in words, tone and expression – and by affirming it in practical experiences that you support with your activism, attendance and your interest.
Sir William was undoubtedly correct in that a child will have little success without mastering reading, writing and arithmetic. But each child will thrive in those three R’s when he’s benefited from ours:
Recognize, Reveal and Re-enforce.
