Source: eJewish Philanthropy
As the newest cohort of Birthright Israel Fellows convenes this week in San Diego, the program continues to evolve as it seeks to raise the overall level and quality of the Birthright Israel trip experience. To help affect this change, Birthright Israel has hired a full-time Director of the Birthright Israel Fellows program to engage with the nearly 400 current fellows, as well as the continually growing cadre of specially-trained Birthright Israel staff that will participate in the program in the coming years. During the four-day seminar in San Diego, run in partnership with the iCenter for Israel Education, the latest cohort will learn from experts in Jewish, Israel, and experiential education. The participants will begin staffing trips this summer.
The seminar includes a session on “Creating a Birthright Israel Culture,” along with skill development workshops in areas such as storytelling, building educational experiences, and facilitating meaningful conversations with participants. All sessions are designed to help fellows gain a deeper understanding of the core educational principles and goals of Birthright Israel. In addition, through engagement with the iCenter’s recently released Aleph Bet of Israel Education – 2nd Edition – which represents a set of 12 core principles, approaches to content, and essential pedagogies that together constitute the building blocks of the field – fellows view and understand their work within a broader context as part of a larger field of Israel education.
Birthright Israel Fellows accepts up to one hundred participants, aged 22 and above, into the program every six months. Along with the in-person seminar, Birthright Israel Fellows incorporates an online learning component and additional resources in experiential Jewish education.
Read more at eJewish Philanthropy.