Jewish Portal of
Teacher Education
The online resource of pedagogical and academic content on teaching and Jewish education
Section archive - Trends in Jewish Education
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491 items
371
The renewal of Jewish life in Hungary and Poland comes under scrutiny in two reports published by JPR this week. The research, conducted by local experts on behalf of JPR and funded by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe, was designed to assess the development of Jewish communities in East-Central Europe since the collapse of communism, as well as the challenges they face going forward.
Published: 2011
Updated: Sep. 27, 2011
372
The Summer, 2011 issue of the Lookstein Center's Jewish Educational Leadership is dedicated to the arts in Jewish education. It addresses questions such as: What is Jewish art? What should be the focus of arts education in a school in general, and in a Jewish school in particular? What is the role of 'beauty' in developing meaningful, authentic Jewish practice or community? In what ways does art impact on individual development and learning? Should arts education focus on personal expression or appreciation of classic art? Should the arts be integrated into regular coursework or treated as its own discipline?
Published: 2011
Updated: Sep. 19, 2011
373
Susan M. Kardos, announces the establishment of a Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education on the AVI CHAI Foundation Blog. 'Motivated by AVI CHAI’s desire to invest in this needed aspect of a strong Jewish education field, and inspired by the Jim Joseph Foundation’s commitment to and investment in research and scholarship in Jewish education, the two foundations joined forces to imagine and fund the first phase of what we are calling the Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education (CASJE).'
Published: 2011
Updated: Sep. 06, 2011
374
In June 2005, the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel was approached by the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) of the UK to design a Scoping Paper outlining the Jewish studies curriculum expectations of graduates from central orthodox day schools in the UK. This work was to provide the foundations for intensive curriculum work in Jewish studies in these schools. The paper focuses on the process by which these curriculum expectations were reached.
Published: 2011
Updated: Aug. 31, 2011
375
In a blog post on the URJ blog, Dr. Jonathan Woocher, Chief Ideas Officer and Director of the Lippman Kanfer Institute at JESNA, calls for a reinventing of Jewish education. That isn't because Jewish education today is bad; it's because it can be much, much better than it is. In order to have Jewish education serve the needs of the 21st century North American Jewish people, it is necessary to accelerate a few paradigm shifts that are already under way.
Published: 2011
Updated: Aug. 30, 2011
376
This article examines 10 textbooks used in Jewish religion classes in Russian high schools in the final decades of the 19th century. The textbooks reveal an expectation of a low level of Hebrew background, an interest in promoting the practice of prayer, and two distinct approaches to teaching Judaism. While some of the books introduce students to their religion through Biblical or later Jewish history, others present the religion as a systematic set of beliefs and practices. Although it is difficult to ascertain exactly how the books were utilized in classrooms, they certainly provide a sense of the priorities of a group of educators, as well as of the relative freedom they had in defining Judaism for the next generation.
Published: 2011
Updated: Aug. 03, 2011
377
In light of recent developments in the Modern Orthodox community's approach to homosexuality, this article presents a classroom discussion on homosexuality that took place at a Modern Orthodox high school. An examination of the discussion's heteroglossia, or multiplicity of languages existing in tension, along with attention to the discussion's turn-taking structures, reveals the teacher's high degree of control over what students could express. This controlling pedagogy consistently suppresses expressions of empathy in favor of legalistic assertions. This article questions whether the specific issue of homosexuality demands a different approach.
Published: 2011
Updated: Aug. 02, 2011
378
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles recently announced that the winner of its Next Big Jewish Idea contest is local high school teacher Batsheva Frankel -- for her 'Launchbox' concept. Frankel’s winning idea is to create kits filled with thematic and holiday-based activities, educational materials and links to online content on Judaism, which will be mailed to area households. Frankel will receive $100,000 in funding to develop her idea with the help of federation staff.
Published: 2011
Updated: Aug. 02, 2011
379
Yoav Friedman writes in Ynet about US families making Aliya to Israel in order to provide affordable Jewish education for their children. ' With Jewish school tuition fees per child reaching $20,000 a year, many families prefer to make aliyah and get free education. We met some of them onboard Nefesh B'Nefesh flight carrying 250 new olim to Israel.'
Published: 2011
Updated: Jul. 26, 2011
380
Is Jewish education predictable? The authors contributing to this issue of Sh'ma attempt to answer that question. Although prophecy is dangerous, some anticipate the continued growth of day schools unless the economic burdens become too heavy to bear and needed subsidies are unavailable. Supplementary education remains problematic. Will it slowly be augmented or will it be replaced by more emphasis on summer camps, intensive retreats and technology that creates virtual day schools, educative social networks and distributed Jewish education faculties? Will we see increasing emphasis on education later in life, when Jewish learning becomes voluntary rather than mandatory? Will we see the flourishing of Jewish studies programs in universities and colleges, the spread of Birthright programs and their follow-ups, and a dramatic growth in adult education programs?
Published: 2011
Updated: Jun. 19, 2011