“…Seven times three is twenty-one. Eight times three is twenty-four. …”* Many of us recall how we learned our multiplication tables by rote, repeating the lines until they were embedded in our memory. “Five sixes?” In a flash we respond: “Thirty,” with not so much as...
?הֲכָזֶה, יִהְיֶה צוֹם אֶבְחָרֵהו Meeting the challenge of “spirituality” This yom ha-kippurim I had a meaningful spiritual experience. As I recited the haftarah for the morning, I encountered three relatively cryptic words: פַּתֵּחַ חַרְצֻבּוֹת רֶשַׁע (Yesha`ayahu...
Dear Editor: As a Jewish educator devoted to models of ethical education in Jewish schools, I applaud Jonathan Cohen’s focus on social-emotional education as integral to Jewish education and Chanah Zweiter’s practical application of those goals in the innovative...
It is clear that the Jewish community has accepted that we are, for better or for worse, tied to the text. While it appears that the first reference to Jews as “People of the Book” turns up in the Quran - an outsider’s description of the Jewish People - at least two...
My good friend and colleague Jonathan Cohen has just treated us to a warm and clear understanding of some of the principles upon which sound, effective social and emotional learning is founded. I have learned much from Jon, mostly from his being. He is a real model of...
What are the values that are most important to you: as a teacher and/or as a parent? When conferring with Jewish – as well as non-Jewish – educators around the world about these questions, in their own words and ways, adults always talk about wanting their students...
In this article we shall examine the relevance of Piaget’s developmental theories to the teaching of classical Jewish texts. In so doing, we shall consider not only Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory, but also theories derived from his work regarding the stages...
The research and theory of Jean Piaget is now the foundation for much of contemporary educational conceptualization and practice. Piaget, however, viewed himself as an epistemologist rather than as a psychologist or educator. With few exceptions he never addressed...
What shall we teach children in school? Answers from curriculum studies can be divided into four groups, the technological curriculum, the academic curriculum, the humanistic curriculum, and the radical curriculum. Each addresses an important dimension of human...
The Mishnah (Ta’anit 1, 4) observes that when the autumn rains are delayed, ‘singular individuals’ (yehidim) begin to fast. The Talmud (Ta’anit 10b) assumes that these ‘singular individuals’ come from among talmidei hakhamim and distinguishes between a ‘yahid’ and a...
