Section archive - Teacher Education

Over the past couple of years, I have taught second-year rabbinical students at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah the pedagogy of teaching Talmud and other rabbinic texts. This experience has prompted me to ask whether there is any difference between training rabbis and non-rabbis to teach rabbinic texts. What distinct dynamics are present, of which my students should be made aware, when a rabbi teaches a rabbinic text? In order to explore this question, and as part of a broader theoretical and empirical study of Talmud pedagogy, I recently conducted interviews with several American Talmud and rabbinics educators (of different denominational affiliations) who have taught in rabbinical schools. I asked, “What is different about teaching Talmud pedagogy to future rabbis, as opposed to non-rabbis?” Their responses, presented below, provide useful self-reporting of how they conceptualize their teaching practice in the context of rabbinical school.

Matan is pleased to inform you of an exciting opportunity for aspiring female Jewish educators who are eager to make a positive lasting impact upon the Jewish community: The Bellows Eshkolot Educators Institute for Tanakh and Jewish Studies. In August 2016, Matan opened The Eshkolot Institute to train a cadre of expert female teachers and leaders who are equipped to tackle the specific needs of Jewish schools and their students, and spark passion for Jewish learning, the State of Israel and Am Yisrael. Eshkolot offers current educators and recent college graduates pursuing a career in Jewish education the opportunity to study at Matan’s Jerusalem campus, and an option to earn an MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew University—all within one year.

Research literature often addresses the problems entailed in the integration of beginning teachers within the education system. Most studies emphasize the conflicts these teachers experience, especially between the personal and professional aspects of their profession. We conducted qualitative research among participants and graduates of the Program for Excellence in Teaching at a teachers’ college in Jerusalem, Israel, revealing another conflict. In determining their professional identity, beginning teachers face a dilemma between two sub-identities: the teacher as a subject matter and didactic expert and the teacher as a homeroom educator. We characterize these two sub-identities and analyze their implications for teacher training programs.

This article summarizes a study of the viewpoints of Bible lecturers in the Kindergarten Education Department while teaching content related to the biblical “other.” The study, by two researchers themselves part of the study population, was conducted according to the qualitative approach and included interviews with participants from a State Education and a State-Religious college. The findings highlight the different points of origin vis-à-vis Bible studies and the search for the connection between the “other” of the Bible, the students’ own world and later, that of the children while indicating discrepancies between declared objectives and the characteristics of the students.