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The study of classical Jewish texts is flourishing in day schools and adult education, synagogues and summer camps, universities and yeshivot. But serious inquiry into the practices and purposes of such study is far rarer. In this book, a diverse collection of empirical and conceptual studies illuminates particular aspects of the teaching of Bible and rabbinic literature to, and the learning of, children and adults. In addition to providing specific insights into the pedagogy of Jewish texts, these studies serve as models of what the disciplined study of pedagogy can look like. The book will be of interest to teachers of Jewish texts in all contexts, and will be particularly valuable for the professional development of Jewish educators.
About the author
Jon A. Levisohn is Associate Professor of Jewish Education in the Department of Near Eastern & Judaic Studies at Brandeis University, as well as the Assistant Academic Director of the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education. He holds a doctorate from Stanford University and is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship program. He is the author of
The Interpretive Virtues: A Philosophical Enquiry into the Teaching and Learning of Historical Narratives (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013).
Susan P. Fendrick received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship program. Her writing has appeared in
The Women's Torah Commentary and T
he Women's Haftarah Commentary, The Women's Seder Sourcebook, the haggadah
A Night of Questions, the journals
Sh'ma and Living Text, as well as numerous online publications. She previously served as Senior Research Associate at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University.
Summary
This diverse collection of empirical and conceptual studies illuminates particular aspects of the teaching of Bible and rabbinic literature to children and adults. In addition to providing specific insights into the pedagogy of Jewish texts, these studies serve as models of what the disciplined study of pedagogy can look like.
Additional text
“As I read the pedagogical reflections of the teachers in this book, I was afforded an opportunity to cogitate on the pedagogical strengths and weaknesses of my own teachers as well as my own teaching and discover several innovations. . . . To some degree, every essay illustrates the benefits and instructor gains when she or he slows down enough while teaching a classical Jewish texts course (easily adaptable to any course reading and interpreting sacred texts) to observe carefully and reflect critically how learning outcomes are achieved in the students. . . . Every essay invites readers to explore or ‘turn’ pedagogy from various instructive angles and learn from these reflective teachers about how one’s own orientation to teaching similar sacred texts courses may be strengthened.”
