Learning at the Passover Seder

One more post related to Passover...

Every pre-service teacher educator learns that students tend to learn in one of three different ways: auditorily, visually, and kinesthetically.


I've always been amazed at the brilliance of the rabbis who wrote the Hagaddah, the booklet that is used for the Seder, or first (and second) night Passover dinner. The learning objective for the Passover seder is to be able to demonstrate an understanding that though Jewish people, Hebrews, were slaves in Egypt, we are now free. As free people we have certain responsibilities to help those in need.

In order to ensure that their students, Jewish people in coming generations, master these learning objectives, the rabbis who wrote the hagaddah incorporated all three learning modalities into the seder. Participants have the chance to read the information in the hagaddah, which includes both visual and auditory modalities. (Auditory since much of the hagaddah is also read aloud.) Participants also see a special "Seder Plate" that includes numerous objects symbolizing aspects of the seder. Finally, participants do things to better master the objective of the evening. We eat bitter herbs to remember the bitterness of slavery. We recline when we eat to feel the luxury of freedom.

Though the hagaddah and seder were developed thousands of years ago, the rabbis who wrote it apparently understood modern learning theories.