Search results for: Congregational schools

Afterschool Jewish educators are on the front lines of Jewish learning for hundreds of thousands of children making Jewish life and learning meaningful and joyful every day. They support our kids and families to build positive Jewish identities. Yet too often they are undervalued and left out of larger conversations about Jewish learning after school.

This case study is an investigation of the teaching and learning of a teacher in the congregational school of which the author was the director, whose classroom practice was strongly reflective of relational learning theory. It explores the pathways through which this teacher was in turn supported in learning and teaching by relationships with peers, supervisors, and teen madrichim in the Relational Learning Community in which the faculty participated. Most significantly, this study examines how such support provided a source of resilience during a period of intense stress and disconnect, and explores the wider implications for teacher growth and retention.

There is a change brewing in congregations across North America, one that is dramatically shifting the narrative of children’s experiences with Hebrew learning and Jewish education. Education directors have begun sharing stories of renewed energy in their buildings and of children who are excited to learn, especially Hebrew. This change is not about tweaking the traditional Hebrew learning model in part-time/synagogue settings. We have done that for years and it hasn’t worked. This is not about increasing Hebrew learning time. Over the years, “more of the same” has closed our students’ hearts to Hebrew as they spend four to six years on low-level prayer decoding/reading practice and review. This IS about changing foundational Hebrew learning assumptions that have shaped Hebrew education in synagogues for decades.

This article examines case studies of two part-time synagogue education programs, a conventional “Hebrew School” and an alternative program modeled after Jewish summer camp. Using the lens of teaching of Bible to children in Grades 3–5, the study provides insight into similarities and differences between the two types of programs and the impact of the program structure on the proliferation and/or staying power of one or the other.