Section archive - Conferences & Events

Jewish educators and Jewish educational policy makers often use the language of transformation when describing the effects of programs. We aim for more than just cognitive achievement; we want our programs to make a meaningful, lasting difference in the lives of the participants. But the language of transformation needs to be explored more critically. What do we really mean, when we talk about transformative Jewish education? How do we think that transformation occurs? What does it look like when it happens? There are many pockets of excellence across the Jewish educational landscape – but for the most part, those examples remain isolated and hidden. The best and most creative educational work is neither visible nor documented, so no one outside these programs is learning from them. This conference was a step towards improving that situation by bringing together some of those programs, and creating an opportunity for leading educators to study them systematically.

Building upon the previous successes of the Institute for the Study of Modern Israel (ISMI), the Center for Israel Education (CIE )now offers the CIE/ISMI Educator Enrichment Workshop on Modern Israel: a week-long opportunity (June 26-30, 2016) for educators and educational leaders to deepen their understanding of Israel’s history, politics, economy and culture, while cultivating participants’ skills in classroom application and best practices. After collaborating with experts and peers, and honing their instructional practices, Educator Enrichment Workshop alumni are uniquely positioned to foster understanding of the significance of Zionism and the State of Israel in Jewish and world history for generations of students.

On February 28 - 29, 2016, Reshet (the newly established network for Jewish youth provision in the UK) is hosting its inaugural conference for the field of Jewish informal education, which we are delighted to be co-chairing. Research from the field indicates that the most pressing issue in informal education is figuring out how to work with young people in the 21st century. Consequently, the conference will explore four educational themes that impact upon how the newest generations of our community relate to Judaism and Jewish society: community, Israel, pressures on young people and technology.

Phil Liff-Grieff has just returned to LA from a brief visit to Baltimore after participating in the national Jewish Teen Summit, a 24-hour convening of practitioners, lay leaders, funders and teens to explore how we can think differently about Jewish teen education and engagement. Sponsored by the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Maimonides Fund, the Marcus Foundation, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Awards Committee, this intense gathering brought together 350 stakeholders to listen to a range of provocative speakers and think together about what this work might look like if we were to truly innovate how we reach teens.