It Takes a Strong Field to Make a Stronger Field

One of the Jim Joseph Foundation’s three strategic funding priorities is to build the field of Jewish education. But what does this actually mean? What actions does the Foundation take to work towards this goal? With these questions in mind, I took stock recently of how the Foundation’s field building efforts have manifested themselves. What’s especially noteworthy is how a strong field has helped Jewish education continue to evolve; how offerings both for educators and learners continue to expand; and how a strong field increases the power and strength of networks.

The Foundation’s field building efforts take on various forms. In certain instances, we utilize the Foundation’s robust program of evaluation to share valuable learnings that we hope benefit the field. If a grantee identifies a new best practice, we want to share it. If an initiative achieves some goals but not others, we want to share why—both the successes and the challenges. We strive to leverage every grant to its fullest, and sharing lessons learned is an integral part of this work.

In other instances of field building, the Foundation partners with exceptional grantees dedicated to focused areas of Jewish education. For example, the iCenter builds the field of Israel education and the Foundation for Jewish Camp builds the field of Jewish camping. Hazon, Wildnerness Torah, Urban Adama, Pearlstone Center, and others work closely together to develop a field around Jewish Outdoor, Food, and Environmental Education (JOFEE). Other grantees such as JData and the Jewish Survey Question Bank assemble newly aggregated databases of information to support a range of Jewish education institutions, organizations, and initiatives.

We see the results of these investments in numerous ways. Evaluations show us that relatively new initiatives have achieved success or that vast opportunities still remain to engage individuals in Jewish learning experiences.

The Foundation also increasingly is aware that exciting collaborations occur behind the scenes, which only would be possible with a strong field of Jewish education. Organizations and individuals collaborate on new, creative endeavors that were not occurring ten years ago. They take risks because they have the infrastructure and support of a strong field. What they produce benefits the field as well. Here are a few examples that crystalize this point.

Last fall, at a convening of the Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education (CASJE), Michael Feuer, PhD, Dean of George Washington University’s (GWU) Graduate School of Education and Human Development, approached Hillel’s Director of Educational Research and Innovation Laura Tomes, PhD. GWU is home to the two-year old Experiential Education and Jewish Cultural Arts (EEJCA) Master’s program, funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation. Feuer asked Tomes to design a seminar in experiential Jewish education that would help to bridge the two principal faculties teaching within the program—museum education and Jewish culture—by locating the two as components within the broader framework of experiential Jewish education.

Soon, Tomes was collaborating with Professor Ben Jacobs of New York University’s (NYU) Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development to plan the seminar as a companion to the students’ internship placements, and to allow them to locate the experiences of their internships at different Jewish cultural arts institutions in the D.C area within a broader literature. Of note, both Hillel and NYU are significant beneficiaries of the Jim Joseph Foundation. Now, EEJCA students are exposed to the broad historical arc of research on American Jewish education, and survey contemporary literature on experiential education in Jewish settings. The seminar thus bridges both halves of the M.A. program—the worlds of Museum Education and Jewish Cultural Arts—as well as the theory and the practice of Jewish experiential education in America today.

Another example of the “strength-benefits” cycle is the dynamic Jewish Education Project (JEP) and its Chief Innovation Officer Dr. David Bryfman. The Foundation is fortunate to engage with JEP on a number of initiatives and grantees. JEP leads the Incubator for Community Based Jewish Teen Education Initiatives, which supports communities that are part of the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative with ongoing strategic guidance. On a local level, JEP teamed with UJA-Federation of New York to launch a cohort of 8 new summer programs to match specific interests and needs of Jewish teens in New York. The programs are a major part of the New York Teen Initiative for Immersive Summer Experiences for Jewish Teens. Additionally, JEP and Bryfman regularly share their expertise in Jewish education with field builders like the iCenter and FJC.

Finally, after ten years of working with grantees, the Foundation increasingly encounters individuals whose careers and continued professional development are positively and, in some cases, profoundly shaped by initiatives and offerings indicative of a strong field. Earlier this year, I met Shauna Waltman at the Taglit Fellows seminar hosted by the Birthright Israel Foundation and the iCenter. Currently, Shauna is Director of Community Connect at UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. But what brought her to that position and to Taglit Fellows? First, she went on Birthright in 2004. Then, in 2009, while at Spertus studying for her Master’s Degree in Jewish Professional Studies, Shauna enrolled in the iCenter’s Master’s Concentration in Israel Education. By 2013, she was in Yeshiva University’s Certificate in Experiential Jewish Education program, which she later said was “the most impactful professional development opportunity; it transformed me as an educator and as an individual because it is a holistic educational experience.” So when I met Shauna at Taglit Fellows, she wasn’t just there as a participant. She was facilitating sessions on “storytelling” and “debriefing.” She was both a beneficiary of a field that gave her opportunities for professional development, and was contributing to its continued growth.

We actually are aware of dozens of these examples of organizational collaborations and individual beneficiaries working together—all indicative of an evolving field. These scenarios of course could not have been predicted exactly as they developed. One of the many aspects of Foundation work that makes it so rewarding is knowing that this activity has now become commonplace in the world of Jewish education. As an increasing number of grantees achieve long-term viability, find creative ways to collaborate, and position themselves to take risks with new initiatives and offerings, Jewish education—its researchers, practitioners, and learners—all will benefit in measurable and meaningful ways.