Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Primary

Paradigm shifting – from slavery to freedom

On Monday evening, the Primary Staff attended a Leader in Me professional learning and development session, with a focus on the concept of paradigms.

According to Steven Covey, paradigms are the way we ‘see’ the world or circumstances, not in terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting. They create the lens through which we each see the world. Our particular paradigm at any given moment shapes what we do and how we act. 

I took the idea of paradigms to my Year 4 Jewish Studies class to explore with them how this concept might relate to our current learning. We have been tracing the journey of the Israelites after leaving Egypt, journeying through the midbar (wilderness) on the way to Mount Sinai. Through reading of passages in the book of Exodus, we learnt of various episodes of the Israelites complaining to Moshe and God about the lack of food and water. In one case (Exodus 16:1-3) the Israelites even wished they had died back in slavery in Egypt, rather than face their current challenges as free people! A statement we found surprising and sought to understand, through the concept of paradigms. 

The class shared some amazing ideas and insights, noting how the harsh conditions of wilderness may have led to a negative mindset amongst the Israelites. We discussed the lack of gratitude shown by the people, and that if they had adopted a positive, grateful mindset, the Israelites may have dealt with the challenges of the wilderness proactively, rather than complaining to Moshe. Then the connection was made to the idea of paradigms. Whilst the Israelites were now physically free from Egypt, they were still living in the paradigm of slavery. We realised the Israelites would only truly be free once they shifted their paradigm to that of a free people.