Abraham H. Friedland — Educator

A century ago a group of educators led an effort to transform American Jewish education to enable it to operate successfully in the 20th century. Today, with American Jews living under very different conditions, a similar effort is needed to reinvent Jewish education for the 21st century. Changes and new initiatives already taking place on the educational landscape point the way toward a set of paradigm shifts that will make Jewish education more learner-centered, relationship-infused, and life-relevant. These changes at the level of educational practice need to be accompanied by a redesign of the educational system itself to make it better able to accommodate learners as “prosumers,” helping to create their own educational experiences, and to guide them on lifelong learning journeys. By maximizing the impact of ongoing innovations, by employing “design thinking,” and by forging stronger networks and collective impact initiatives across domains and settings, the Jewish educational system can be reinvented to meet the needs and aspirations of 21st century Jewish learners.     

Definitions of Integration Can Be Misleading

The discussion in this paper departs from a fundamental premise: that in the foreseeable future local central agencies for Jewish education will not be receiving from their parent Federations the degree of increase in allocations which will enable them to significantly expand — let alone sustain at the current levels — the array of services which they deliver. This situation can be traced to a number of factors. To begin with, in many communities the ability of the Federation to raise funds through its annual campaign has leveled off. As a result, the total amount of money available for distribution to all Federation constituencies, including local bureaus of education, is no longer increasing in step-function fashion. Secondly, other Federation beneficiaries are staking claim with ever greater determination to their perceived share of the community dollar. Over the years most central agencies for Jewish education have become inured to this sort of competition for Federation funds from such sister agencies as the Jewish community center, the local Jewish home, and the like. But in recent years, allocations to local Jewish Day Schools have climbed to record levels, often making these institutions prime “competitors” with bureaus of Jewish education for community funds, more particularly with that portion of the total pie which has been allotted to education. This places bureaus in a difficult dilemma: On the one hand, they must support — indeed, encourage — increased funding for Jewish day school education. At the same time, bureaus are confronted with the uncomfortable fact that each community dollar allocated to day school education is a dollar which, potentially, might have been assigned to the central agency.     

Socialization into a Civilization: The Dewey–Kaplan Synthesis in American Jewish Schooling in the Early 20th Century

This historical study focuses on how John Dewey's theory of education as socialization and Mordecai Kaplan's theory of Judaism as a civilization together served as an ideological base and pedagogical framework for the creation of “progressive,” “reconstructed” American Jewish school programs in the early 20th century (1910s–1930s). In the main, progressive Jewish educators no longer conceived of Jewish education merely as a program of religious education designed to impart the ways and dictates of Judaism. Rather, Jewish education was conceptualized as a total program of socialization designed to prepare children for active and intelligent participation in American Jewish life.     

Learning From a Mussar-Based Initiative in a Community Day School

Mussar, an approach to character growth emerging as a movement in the 18th century, has increasingly been incorporated into contemporary Jewish education. The purpose of mussar—the cultivation of character—is consistent with the goals of Jewish day schools and other settings. This article examines the implementation of a mussar-based program in a Jewish community high school. Particular attention is given to questions raised by the introduction of this program into a pluralistic school setting. Implications are discussed in terms of the broader goals of Jewish education.     

A SMALL BUREAU'S POINT OF VIEW

In the North America of today regional distinctiveness has become more pronounced. Economically, socially, and politically, local uniqueness of individual communities shines through. The issues in the Northeast, the Midwest, or the Sunbelt often seem very different from one another. As the Jewish community approaches another turn of the century, the challenges facing bureaus, boards and central agencies will likely be special to each community.     

犹太民族教育思想浅谈

犹太民族始终把教育放在优先地位,尽管多年流离失所,历尽艰辛,但教育立国、科技立国的核心理念始终并未消失。犹太民族不怕失败,崇尚创新,顺应潮流,尊重知识和技能,“智慧的民族”培养出了无数出类拔萃的人才。勤奋、胆略、智慧是犹太民族的生存和富强之道,犹太人发愤图强,在半个多世纪中创造出全球罕见的教育和科技奇迹。     

JEWISH EDUCATORS VS. MIXED MARRIAGES

Mixed marriages are a hemorrhage in the body of American Jewry. In the average Hebrew school classroom 20–25 percent of the students will someday marry out. Even in day schools 5–10 percent will marry out, although most of them will influence their spouses to convert. (Jewish children who do not receive a Jewish education will marry out in even higher percentages, and rarely influence their partners to become Jewish.) This exogamy (outmarriage) results in a doubling of the divorce rate. In addition, the majority of the children of exogamous manages do not identify themselves as Jews. Can Jewish educators influence some of these children to consciously seek Jewish mates? only if they try.     

ZIONIST EDUCATION IN THE DIASPORA: OVERVIEW AND PROGNOSIS

Zionist education on any meaningful scale is an impossibility within the context of American Jewish life. It is predicated on principles — and aims at objectives — incompatible with the American Jewish experience. Today it exists only at the fringe of the community's educational establishment. Its implementation is dependent on the organized Zionist movements (based primarily outside the United States), and local cultural and ideological factors mitigating against their efforts suggest that their successes will be minimal.     

Jewish Education,Past and Present: Israel Friedlaender Re-Visited

A century ago, Israel Friedlaender—scholar, communal activist, and educator—played a key role in such educational institutions as the Teachers Institute of JTS, the Bureau of Jewish Education, the Menorah Society, Young Israel, and Young Judea. A JTS professor and prolific writer, Friedlaender has been described as “the teacher of the Jewish youth of that generation.” Yet, scant attention has been devoted to exploring his educational thought and action agenda. This retrospective focuses on Friedlaender’s activities and impact in advancing Jewish education and considers the relationship of his legacy to current directions in the field.     

Meeting the Challenge: The Jewish schooling phenomenon in the UK

The development of a Jewish schooling system in the UK has reflected sociological, political and historical situations spanning four centuries. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the proportions of Jewish children receiving full time Jewish education. The causes of this change, and its impact on both the Jewish and wider community will be considered in this article, which seeks, within a historical framework, to understand the factors which have led to a resurgence of commitment to Jewish schooling in the past 25 years. The unique relationship of Jewish schooling to the State as it exists in the UK will also be explored as a means of contextualising the Jewish school system within a state denominational system.     

ON THE ROLE OF CENTRAL AGENCIES

Central agencies of Jewish education, like any organization or institution, can benefit from a review of new conditions. This will determine whether it should carry on with established approaches or institute alterations in goals and practices. A look at central agencies is especially apt at this time because of community ferment about Jewish education.     

THE BUREAU — VALUABLE TODAY AND EVEN MORE SO TOMORROW

In order to reflect on the present status and future challenge of the central agency for Jewish education as it confronts the last decade of the 20th century and enters into the 21st, it is important to define the role and activities of the central agency as they exist at present.     

成人高等教育的发展趋势

成人高等教育面对21世纪将有更加广阔的教育市场,同时存在着风险和挑战。成人高等教必须成为与地方经济密切相联系的特殊产业并逐步探索产业化的道路。未来成人高等教育结构要适应我国经济发展的需要。     

税费改革对农村基础教育的影响—基于税费改革试点区某镇的实证分析

世纪之交 ,以试点区先行推行的农村税费改革即将拉开中国农村新一轮改革的序幕 ,由于此次改革取消了原先乡镇统筹的教育费附加和教育集资 ,使业已处于困境的农村基础教育发展面临新的挑战。农村教育投入、教育质量、教师待遇、教师队伍的稳定性、地方政府和人们对待义务教育的态度均受到较大的影响。我们必须正确对待和处理这些影响 ,才能确保农村基础教育的持续发展。     

FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR CENTRAL AGENCIES OF JEWISH EDUCATION

There is an ancient Chinese saying: “May you live in interesting times.” While some would classify this as a blessing, others would perceive it as a curse. The topic for this morning's discussion arises from a comparable state of ambiguity in regard to Jewish education, for these are certainly the most interesting times for us. Some voices are heard decrying the sorry state of Jewish education in North America and projecting a weakening of Jewish life because of the failures of Jewish education. Others are pointing to the extraordinary potential of Jewish education in the service of Jewish continuity, if we are willing to think about Jewish education in new ways. For those of us who tend the vineyards of Jewish education and maintain the institutions which have served Jewish education, we see great opportunity and serious challenges to existing assumptions in these interesting times. It is in this context that I share some observations about the implications for the future of central agencies of Jewish education.     

The Pedagogy of Jewish Community: Reflections on the Work of Jonathan Woocher

A leader in Jewish education policy for over 30 years, Jonathan Woocher influenced countless practitioners and policy makers. This article examines Woocher’s body of written work by investigating three of his pieces published over a span of 20 years. The article exposes four themes: Jewish education is a project of building infrastructure, Jewish education is a project of America, Jewish education needs to emphasize not program but person, and Jewish education needs to be restimulated by Jewish wisdom. The themes woven together amount to a pedagogy of community, a way to understand the purpose, structure, and tools of Jewish education.     

地方新建本科院校发展转型的战略选择

进入21世纪,中国的高等教育进入快速发展时期。伴随高等教育的不断扩张,一大批新建地方本科院校应运而生。经过近几年的发展,这批院校在办学上都取得了一定的成绩,但也普遍存在着一些不容回避的矛盾和问题,严重影响着新建地方本科院校的生存和发展。推进地方新建本科院校的科学发展,既是促进新建本科院校迅速实现战略转型的需要,也是事关新建本科院校生存和发展的需要,更是直接影响我国高等教育强国建设进程的迫切需要。地方新建本科院校的战略转型与科学发展,必须切实遵循转型的基本原则,准确把握转型的总体要素,科学选择转型的战略策略。     

Introduction to the Hebrew Edition of Visions of Jewish Education—Medabrim Chazon (Talking Vision) 1

The following is a translation of the introduction to Medabrim Chazon (Jerusalem: Keter, 2006), the Hebrew translation of Visions of Jewish Education, edited by Seymour Fox, Israel Scheffler, and Daniel Marom (Cambridge, 2003).(See the Journal, volume 71, number 1, Levisohn and responses in volume 71, number 2.) Visions of Jewish Education is an effort by leading scholars to improve the quality of Jewish education through attention to its purposes and aims. We, the editors of Medabrim Chazon wrote this introduction for Israeli readers, who encounter in Medabrim Chazon not just a translation of Visions of Jewish Education, but the world of North American Jewish education. While Visions of Jewish Education assumes familiarity with this framework, it is likely to be foreign to the Israeli audience. Indeed, in order to convey some of the problems in translating Visions of Jewish Education for Israeli readers, we have decided to present a literal rendering of the introduction here. North American readers may be surprised to notice, for example, the need to explain the role of synagogues in Jewish education.

This special introduction to the Hebrew translation may also be valuable for North American readers of Visions of Jewish Education. First, it may be illuminating to see how issues of Jewish educational vision unfold in Israel; the introduction brings to light questions of language, identity, and institutional structure that are unique to Jewish education in Israel. At the same time, while Jewish education plays itself out differently in various parts of the Jewish world, the issue of vision is fundamental in each context, and we hope to identify some shared concerns across Jewish communities. Having identified these concerns, we hope it will be possible for the book's audiences from around the world to engage in a conversation. Finally, we believe that we can benefit from looking at our own communities from the vantage point of how we are perceived by different communities within the Jewish world. This can not only enhance the awareness of our very diverse Jewish world but also foster exchange within it.     

From Integration of Curricula to the Pedagogy of Integrity

The literature on curricular integration in Jewish education has tended to focus on two basic paradigms. In the first paradigm, the integration of Jewish and general studies curricula represents the aspiration that the graduates of the institution will likewise integrate Jewish and general studies (or “Americanism” or “modernity”) in their lives. In the second paradigm, the integration of Jewish and general studies is conceptualized as a specific form of the more general educational desire for connection making. In this article, I critique specific articulations of these paradigms and argue instead for attention to the pedagogy of integrity.     

TEACHING THE GOD IDEA TO YOUNG CHILDREN

The typical Jewish child's Jewish education ends with his or her Bar or Bat Mitzvah which, more than likely, focused on the acquisition of practical synagogue skills. As they grow older, these young Jewish adults will more than likely learn far more about Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and other religious traditions in the course of their college and university educations whereas they will still only have a simplistic, child's understanding of their own religious tradition. As a result, most young Jews today possess only a superficial understanding of Judaism which cannot possibly compete for their spiritual loyalty or serve as a focus for future study.