Learning & Resources Category: Jewish Education

Responding to the Fallout From October 7th: From Crisis to Opportunity

Since the events of October 7th, 2023, Jewish educators have found themselves at the center of an unprecedented challenge, guiding learners through a landscape shaped by intense emotions and complex questions. The research findings show that Jewish educators are experiencing considerable emotional strain, with many expressing anxiety and despair as they navigate teaching in the post-October 7th environment. Educators also report their learners experiencing similar negative emotions including confusion, anger, and isolation in response to the unfolding events. Many feel unprepared for addressing the crisis within their existing frameworks, revealing gaps in training and resources to navigate these challenging topics.

This moment, while difficult, offers a unique opportunity for rethinking how Jewish education responds to crisis and challenge whether involving Israel, or other areas of life that involve emotional challenge and/or the need to address diversity of opinion and behavior. In such moments, individuals must respond to the world around them, and Jewish educators should see themselves as a resource and guide for doing so. Our focus here is the post-October 7th crisis, and the way Jewish educators are responding.

The power of the events playing out is such that educators realize they need to respond. Events include the war in Israel, the ideological prism through which the war is covered in the media and accompanying public discourse amplified by the 2024 Presidential election, the increased diplomatic isolation of Israel, and the sharp rise of antisemitism. The post-October 7th events are existential in nature, causing many Jews to assess their relationship to the Jewish People, to the society around them and to Israel.

As with any crisis or challenge there are diverse Jewish reactions as to how to understand and respond. Drawing on the survey data we show there are currently three approaches among Jewish educators to Israel.

  1. Solidarity: A focus on nurturing a love for Israel, meaning positive emotional bonds.
  2. Criticism: A mirror image of the solidarity approach with the emphasis on enabling criticism of Israel as
    legitimate Jewish expression.
  3. Complexity: A third approach, which works to strike a balance arguing that to educate a love of Israel, requires learners not only to form positive emotional bonds but also to formulate their opinion and ability to discuss with others Israel in all its social and political complexity.

The tendency of most educators is to embrace one of the solidarity, complexity or criticism approaches, which we argue is not productive for forging a constructive response to the post October 7th crisis, or any other emotional crisis or challenge. Either solidarity or criticism when taken alone cannot enable education to strengthen emotional bonds between Jews who hold different opinions in the face of crisis. Alternatively, complexity cannot stand as a goal unto itself, as the creation of positive bonds between Jews and Israel is a core goal of Jewish education.

Currently the dominant approach to Israel in Jewish education only emphasizes “solidarity,” educating for love of Israel. The result is that many Jewish educators are unprepared for responding to intensely negative events that require consideration of a complex social, moral and political reality and divisive Jewish communal environment. Many Jewish educators are expressing feelings of anxiety and uncertainty, unsure of how to tackle the negative intensity of their personal emotions and those of their learners.

We call for an integrative approach that emphasizes forging positive emotional bonds between Jews while recognizing the need to enable learners to grapple with both complexity and criticism. Our call is for educators to lead the integration of Israel into Jewish life as a positive force for Jewish belonging and identification. In a moment of crisis, can Jewish educators bring learning and engagement with Israel to serve as a source of constructive bonding between Jews, rather than a catalyst for division?

For this purpose, we draw on the research data to advocate for an integrative model of Jewish education in which Israel in integrated into all areas of the discipline. In so doing educators facilitate (1) Jewish bonding and (2) complex thinking. Educators nurture their learners’ consciousness of belonging to the Jewish People and enable each to develop a robust self-understanding of their desired Jewish life in relationship to other Jews, Israel and the society in which they live.

The Fallout from October 7th: From Crisis to Opportunity, Ezra Kopelowitz Ph.D., Shlomi Ravid Ph.D., Iris Posklinsky Ph.D.,
Jonathan Golden Ph.D. and Jake Gillis M.A., The Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education & Research Success Technologies, November 2024

View a presentation on the report’s key findings. View A Call for Action: Jewish Education on Israel – Post-October 7th.

 

Powerful Jewish Learning Experiences: Mixing the Personal and Collective to Make Powerful Jewish Learning Experiences

The Jim Joseph Foundation has prioritized investment in Powerful Jewish Learning Experiences (PJLE) in its effort to enable “all Jews, their families, and their friends to lead connected, meaningful, purpose-filled lives and to make positive contributions to their communities and the world.” This commitment is advanced by signature grantees—BBYO, Foundation for Jewish Camp, Hillel, Birthright Israel, and Moishe House—that provide powerful educational experiences to young people.

Over the last few years, the Foundation has partnered with the team at Rosov Consulting to bring a consistent research lens to the experiences provided by these various organizations. The goal of this partnership has been: (1) to identify both the distinct and common contributions made by each organization to participants at different stages of their young lives, and (2) to identify the components of the experiences they provide that make them so powerful. Researchers set out to learn what special ingredients animate powerful Jewish learning experiences within the context of Jewish youth-serving organizations, Jewish overnight camps, Jewish student organizations at college, Israel experiences, and self-directed settings for emergent Jewish adults. And researchers tried to identify what outcomes such experiences produce.

Powerful Jewish Learning Experiences: Mixing the Personal and Collective to Make Powerful Jewish Learning Experiences, Rosov Consulting, September 2024

Read more insights on this cross-portfolio evaluation by Stacie Cherner, the Foundation’s Director of Research and Learning.

Responding to this Historical Moment: Jewish Educators, Clergy, Engagement Professionals, and the War in Israel

This report delves into the experiences of Jewish professionals in the wake of October 7th, highlighting their feelings of isolation and confusion. Faced with events of historical magnitude, there is across the board recognition of the need to respond, coupled with uncertainty about the best course of action. Post-October 7th, during the survey period, these professionals were seeking clarity, facts, safety, and hope, while grappling with fundamental questions about the unfolding events and their implications.

The report underscores the inherent difficulties in facilitating conversations about challenging issues; including, but not limited to, those related to Israel. These challenges existed prior to October 7th and in the immediate aftermath were on full display. Issues fundamental to living life in contemporary society at this particular moment in time were raised. For example, in the age of social media as a primary source of information, “what should we believe?” The jarring experience of feeling oneself as part of a persecuted minority, “why do they hate us?”

These experiences and questions lead to a desire to speak and process. Some of the survey respondents provide purposeful responses to the war, which demonstrate how these large existential issues can integrate into a Jewish professional’s repertoire in a manner that overrides narrow disciplinary or context-specific approaches to Jewish education and community. The focus is on responding to this moment and
seeing one’s membership in the Jewish People as an asset for tackling life’s big issues.

“Responding to this Historical Moment: Jewish Educators, Clergy, Engagement Professionals, and the War in Israel,” Ezra Kopelowitz, Ph.D., Hadar Franco Gilron, Ph.D., Jake Gillis, M.ED, Research Success Technologies LTD. & The Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education, February 2024

Read the full piece in eJewish Philanthropy.

Let’s Stop Calling it “Hebrew School”: Rationales, Goals, and Practices of Hebrew Education in Part-time Jewish Schools

This CASJE-supported study investigated how Hebrew is taught and perceived at American part-time Jewish schools (also known as supplementary schools, religious schools, and Hebrew schools). Phase 1 consisted of a survey of 519 school directors around the United States, focusing on rationales, goals, teaching methods, curricula, and teacher selection. Phase 2 involved brief classroom observations at 12 schools and stakeholder surveys (376 total) at 8 schools with diverse approaches. These observations and stakeholder surveys were intended to determine how teachers teach, use, and discuss Hebrew; how students respond; how students, parents, clergy, and teachers perceive their program; and these constituencies’ rationales and goals for Hebrew education.

Here are some of the study’s key findings:

  • Most schools emphasize decoding (sounding out letters to form words) and recitation of Liturgical and Biblical Hebrew without comprehension for the purpose of ritual participation. Many schools also incorporate some Modern Hebrew, but only a small percentage teach Modern Hebrew conversation through immersive teaching techniques.
  • In addition, most schools practice Hebrew infusion—the incorporation of Hebrew words, songs, and signs into the primarily English environment. The (unstated) goal of infusion is to foster a metalinguistic community of Jews who value Hebrew. This is reflected in the high importance of affective goals—such as associating Hebrew with Jewishness and feeling personally connected to Hebrew—for all constituencies, especially school directors.
  • A major challenge in Hebrew education is the small number of “contact hours” that most schools have with their students. On average, schools spend 3.9 hours per week with 6th graders, including 1.7 hours on Hebrew. Multiple stakeholders consider this limited time the most significant challenge. Even schools on the high end of contact hours wish they had more time.
  • School directors, clergy, teachers, parents, and students have diverse rationales and goals for Hebrew education, which at times can create tensions. School directors believe parents are only or primarily interested in bar/bat mitzvah preparation. This is true for many parents, but some parents also have other goals for their children, including gaining conversational Hebrew skills. Parents and students value Hebrew for reasons besides bar/bat mitzvah more than school directors and clergy expect them to.
  • School directors express less interest in some Modern Hebrew-related goals than do parents and other constituents. Perhaps this reflects school directors’ more realistic sense of what is possible with limited contact hours.
  • Students generally express positive feelings about their school and learning Hebrew. Their responses suggest that schools are generally succeeding in affective goals more than school directors believe.
  • School directors are more likely to feel they are accomplishing goals that are important to them when certain factors are present: when they have been in their positions longer, when they have realistic goals based on the contact hours they have, when their schools do much of their Hebrew learning in small groups, and when their schools assign a small amount of homework.
  • Many schools have trouble finding teachers with sufficient Hebrew knowledge, as well as teachers with adequate pedagogical skills for teaching Hebrew.
  • Schools are making changes in opposite directions. Some schools are adding more Modern Hebrew instruction; others are shifting their focus solely to Textual Hebrew.
  • Hebrew Through Movement and other elements of #OnwardHebrew have become popular. Many school directors consider these approaches successful.
  • Online Hebrew learning is gaining some traction. Online options include gamified activities and one-on-one Skype/FaceTime tutoring sessions (this study was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic). School directors generally feel that these individualized and technologically based approaches are effective.
  • Many school directors and teachers are not aware of the resources for Hebrew education in part-time Jewish schools.

Based on these findings, researchers recommend several actions for schools to take:

  • Initiate a comprehensive process of collaborative visioning regarding rationales, goals, and practices involving teachers, clergy, parents, and students.
  • Make explicit the primacy of affective goals and expand Hebrew infusion practices to accomplish those goals.
  • To teach decoding, spend less class time in large groups and more time in one-on-one and small-group configurations.
  • With parent buy-in, offer a small amount of gamified homework.
  • Offer multiple tracks or an enrichment option for families interested in conversational Hebrew.
  • Change the informal nomenclature to stop using the misnomer “Hebrew school,” except where Hebrew language proficiency is the primary focus.

View the full report, Let’s Stop Calling it “Hebrew School”: Rationales, Goals, and Practices of Hebrew Education in Part-time Jewish Schools and an infographic on the key findings.

The Future of Jewish Learning Is Here: How Digital Media Are Reshaping Jewish Education

Among the many ways in which the internet has irreversibly changed our lives is how it has enabled access to information with unprecedented speed and ease. By changing how we engage with information, it has also changed how people relate to information and how they negotiate its various meanings. Social media have accelerated this process by creating new ways to connect people through sharing information. These changes have influenced our communities, our politics, our consumption patterns, how we spend our leisure time, and even our definitions of “friend” and “like.”

Learning online does not look exactly like learning in classrooms or schools, summer camps or seminaries. Nor should we expect it to. And yet, people are learning online, and this report makes the case for understanding online engagements as educational. The question it answers is, “How are people learning online?” Combining leading research about secular online learning and new data about Jewish online learning, The Future of Jewish Learning Is Here offers a substantive, richly illustrative, and intimately informed account of Jewish learning online. It accounts for when, where, and how it happens, what people are learning, and how they are engaging with information alone and in relation with others. Jewish educational online media enable learners to:

Jewish educational online media enable learners to:

  1. Connect with others around Jewish learning
  2. Access Jewish knowledge beyond Jewish institutions
  3. Learn in sync with the rhythms of the Jewish calendar
  4. Utilize different platforms for different ends
  5. Integrate online learning and offline practice

Together, these key findings represent a portrait of Jewish learning online, with the understanding that learning online is more diffuse, less coordinated, more generally self-directed than learning in schools and other formal settings. The Future of Jewish Learning Is Here: How Digital Media Are Reshaping Jewish Education offers insights into how and what people learn online, as part of a larger conversation about what Jewish education looks like in the 21st century.

The Future of Jewish Learning Is Here: How Digital Media Are Reshaping Jewish Education, March 2019
(view as single pages)

Read a series of blogs in eJewishPhilanthropy on insights from the report:

Add comments and feedback on the report here:

Smart Money: Recommendations for an Educational Technology and Digital Engagement Investment Strategy

The Jim Joseph and William Davidson Foundations have been working diligently over many years on the demanding and pressing issues of Jewish engagement and learning. It is universally accepted that digital media engage youth and adults and can deliver educational outcomes. Yet the Jewish community can do much more to harness these powerful, ubiquitous, engaging Ed Tech tools efficiently in the service of Jewish engagement and learning. Lewis J. Bernstein and Associates present the following report advising the Foundations on making strategic Investments in Ed Tech and Digital Engagement in service of their missions.

Educational technology (Ed Tech) is broadly defined to include: digital technology, internet connectivity, and digital content in the service of a full range of educational and learning objectives. It is designed for use by teacher/instructors, educational institutions, and student/learners.

This report is a result of months of Ed Tech audits, over fifty interviews, and the Principles’ collective experience in the field. Smart Money is presented in two sections: 1) set of Recommendations for the foundations to consider and 2) a Landscape Report of the trends and tools used in Ed Tech.

Smart Money: Recommendations for an Educational Technology and Digital Engagement Investment Strategy, March 2017

Introductory Blog to Smart Money, by Kari Alterman, William Davidson Foundation, and Josh Miller, Jim Joseph Foundation

Evaluation of the B’Yadenu Demonstration Project: Executive Summary of Final Report of Phase 1

The B’Yadenu (“In our Hands”) Demonstration Project was created because, historically, students with special learning needs (SLNs) have had difficulty succeeding in Jewish day schools (JDSs). Under-enrollment has been due to a variety of school conditions such as lack of skills, strategies, and resources to serve these students, resistance to change, insufficient professional development (PD), and limited experience addressing SLNs. The five-year model demonstration project (Phase 1), funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation and the Ruderman Family Foundation, was designed and implemented by a team from Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), Gateways Access to Jewish Education, and Yeshiva University. Five Boston area JDSs participated in two cohorts: two schools in Cohort 1 (a third dropped out) and three schools in Cohort 2.

The two primary goals articulated in the B’Yadenu Logic Model were to: 1) Create and deliver an effective, sustainable, and adaptable model for JDS education to serve an increased number and range of students with SLNs in the Boston area and 2) Document and disseminate the model for adaptation in other communities. To address those goals, the primary “intervention” of B’Yadenu was professional development (PD) at each school, tailored to each school’s plans and overseen by the school leadership team.

From 2012 through 2016, Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted an external evaluation of the project, funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation.

Evaluation of the B’Yadenu Demonstration Project: Executive Summary of Final Report of Phase 1, November 2016