Learning starts in the home

RON FRIEDMAN

Jewish educators from across the community came together last week in a panel discussion that focused on the question of how to bring out the best of your children. While panelists were asked to speak from their perspective as teachers and principals, none of them failed to relate their own experiences as parents and to stress the crucial role that parents have in their children's education.

Around 30 people attended the event that was held in Vancouver's King David High School and was organized by Lubavitch B.C. as part of their Ethics and Torah Forum program. The evening's moderator was Rabbi Yosef Wosk and the panelists were Rebecca Coen, Russ Klein, Rabbi Don Pacht, Sol Pavony and Sandy Wohl.

Wosk introduced the speakers, each of whom spoke for 15 minutes, followed by a brief question and answer period.

First to present was Wohl, general studies principal at Pacific Torah Institute. He spoke about the vital importance of recognizing why we educate our children before addressing how to educate them. He also spoke of the specific importance of a Jewish education and the challenge of providing a cultural, religious and moral Jewish education while desiring that children take part and succeed within the wider society. "Public schools, in my opinion, do not offer moral education. They offer it for the general public, for all cultures and, therefore, for no cultures," said Wohl. He encouraged parents who want to ensure Jewish continuity to send their children to Jewish schools and follow up with a Jewish lifestyle at home. He concluded by quoting an African proverb that says, "It takes a village to raise a child," and reminded the audience that, "We have a village here in Vancouver, we Jews, and the village is waiting to help you."

Coen, head of school for Richmond Jewish Day School, talked about the importance of adapting children's education to their natural strengths and weaknesses. She gave the examples of Albert Einstein and Steven Spielberg, two successful Jews who failed to achieve within the formal education system. She urged parents to take the time to study their children and understand their uniqueness in an effort to provide them with the tools they need to do well. She also stressed the necessity of spending time with children and giving them the feeling that they belong and are cherished.

Klein, principal of KDHS, told participants how happy he was to be in a smaller school after spending most of his career in the larger schools of the public system. "There is a real sense of family here," said Klein, who added that he has a simple philosophy as an educator: "that both teachers and parents need to believe that children will choose to do well if they can." Klein advised parents that instead of trying to solve their children's problems for them, they should instead give them the confidence and the tools to solve them by themselves. "There is too much enabling in our community," he said.

Pavony shared his experiences as a longtime elementary school teacher at a public school. The school he teaches at, in Kitsalano, works according to an educational theory expounded by William Glasser, a model called control theory, which focuses on satisfying children's five different requirements for successful living: physical survival, fun, power, freedom and love and belonging.

The last speaker was Pacht, principal of Hebrew Torah Academy and an administrator at Shalhevet Girls High School. Pacht offered three components of the topic under discussion. Firstly, he said that it is vital to be consistent with children. "Children are inconsistency detectors," he said. Secondly, he stressed the importance of understanding children's perspective but, at the same time, not playing by their rules. Thirdly, he said, educators need to realize that every child is different and to alter their approach to the child's education accordingly. Pacht concluded by reminding parents that teachers might have the title of educators, but that it was the parents who had the ultimate control. He invited parents to take part in the process, "so you can take part in the challenge and privilege of educating your children."

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