Section archive - Formal Education

According to British memory champion Ed Cooke, the closer learning feels to a game, the more quickly information is assimilated. No doubt he’d approve of Shalem College's recent Arabic immersion program, which used experiential games to teach basic proficiency in Arabic—in just three days. Alongside intensive language labs, hands-on activities reinforced the recognition and internalization of the Arabic alphabet, granting students basic reading and pronunciation skills, as well as a wealth of vocabulary words and the confidence to tackle one of the most notoriously difficult languages to learn.

Previously, I argued for the importance of Jewish literacy as providing a richer and more powerful framework for discussion of the mission of Jewish day schools, compared with the prevalent emphasis on Jewish. Here I’d like to expand upon that idea to explore ways that Jewish literacy can lead to new, creative forms of Jewish action, through embracing contemporary modes of learning. In a technological reality that literally puts virtually everything that can be known into the palm of your hand, the traditional memory-based learning model is becoming less relevant. What emerges instead is the great opportunity to emphasize the application of knowledge, ideally in ways that foster collaboration, draw on creativity, and bring about positive change and lasting good.

Practitioner research was conducted on Grade 10 students’ arts-based projects of Numbers Chapter 12 in order to assess the value of using the arts in Jewish secondary schools. Based on interview transcripts, projects, and written statements, three themes emerged that demonstrated why teachers should use the arts in their classes. The arts provided students the opportunity to act as commentators, form personal connections to the text, and meet educational and curricular goals like memory retention and enhanced group skills. The following article provides a case study of two projects that used the same storyline in order to provide evidence for the importance of using the arts in Jewish education.

We are currently in the second year of experimenting with a new approach to bringing innovative solutions to challenges and opportunities facing NY Jewish Day Schools. The Day School Collaboration Network is a network of educators who share the goal of developing more inspiring, relevant and creative solutions to challenges facing their schools and, by extension, to the broader field of Jewish day school education. This joint project of UpStart Bay Area and The Jewish Education Project made possible by a generous grant from UJA Federation of New York, enables day school educators working at the “grass roots” (including classroom teachers, curriculum heads, deans, counselors, and learning specialists) to identify and grapple with challenges that impact the field of Jewish day school education, regardless of religious, philosophical, and geographic differences