A Conversation about Boredom in Jewish Education
Source: Lookjed Archive
Recently, a lively discussion about boredom in Jewish education took place on the Lookstein Center Lookjed listserve. Dr. Erica Brown, Director of Washington DC's Jewish Leadership Institute, opened the discussion with the observation that boredom's "growth and its intensification derive from the sense that students – and increasingly teachers, too – have that the, to some extent inevitable, tedium and grind of study and learning, and the prolonged subordination to authority, are no longer really worth it; or that, while they may be unavoidable en route to the desired goals, they are little more than hurdles that have to be jumped in order to satisfy the bureaucratic and largely meaningless requirements of absurd institutions."
Over a few weeks, about a dozen educators from around North America joined the discussion, analyzing the problem and making various suggestions to change the situation.