Source: Jewish Educational Leadership. Spring, 2019
It is easy to get the sense that in today’s public sphere so much of our discourse happens at each other as opposed to with each other. Sound bites and 140-character messages do little to help others understand our positions, and the louder we shout the less we are heard.
Education, however, is about communicating, and that requires the ability to listen, often to multiple voices. We want our students to be able to process that, but for them to hear their teachers, their teachers need to be able to hear them. The same is true for all the other communications which take place in our schools – between parents and teachers, between the principal and the board, between administrators and teachers, and more. When everyone is on the same team, or at least is able to have a respectful dialogue about how to move forward, then education can happen.
This current edition of Jewish Educational Leadership, the first in our new format as an online-only journal, is dedicated to opening up the conversations. The articles included touch upon all the key players in schools – students, teachers, administration, parents, board members, and funders. There is much more to be said than what appears in the articles, and we invite you to join the conversation and share your thoughts as well.