Section archive - Formal Education

In the fourth and final installment in his series on Jews north of the English border, Anshel Pfeffer writes about Calderwood Lodge, the only Jewish day school in Scotland and the focus of much communal pride - as well as concern and a growing measure of controversy.

The Problem Based Learning approach has only recently been developed in Jewish educational contexts, and the transition to Judaic subject matter has revealed some significant learning and motivational benefits, as well as some significant challenges. One of the largest and most central benefits of the PBL approach is student empowerment, as PBL curricula allow students to take charge of their own learning in powerful ways. This paper identifies the key features of problem and project based learning, and will use two case studies from Judaic studies classrooms that have successfully employed this approach to illustrate how students can be empowered through deep engagement in meaningful projects and problems.

Jane Slotin, Executive Director of PELIE, (Partnership for Effective Learning and Innovative Education), writes about what PELIE has learned from closely surveying and listening to the field of Jewish complementary education along with the corresponding strategies PELIE has adopted for impacting the field.

Do you know a child with special needs who would thrive in a Jewish education setting with innovative programming, small classes and plenty of individualized attention? Gateways: Access to Jewish Education of Boston is accepting applications for students in its Jewish Education Programs for the 2012-2013 school year!