<HTML>Many contributors to this list have pointed to financial factors as
an impediment to highly talented potential Jewish educators and
administrators, and a source for the fact they tend to choose to enter
field other than chinuch. Aharon Katz points to the factor of
personal inspiration as being a key characteristic of Jewish teachers
and the lack of this factor as contributing to the lack of educators.
I (Steve) have also traveled this past year, visiting many schools in the
Diaspora and, while I agree that successful teachers tend to be
inspirational, I believe the lack of professional educators may be
attributed less to financial issues and more to inevitable FRUSTRATION --
which squelches even the inspired! Some sources of frustration have been
observed by others, but here is a short list based on my observations in
most Day Schools which do NOT serve a homogeneous Orthodox community.
Sources of frustration:
--lack of support from parents who are more invested in college
preparatory classes than in "non-useful" Judaic courses;
--lack of motivation in students of who fail to see the personal value
in talmudic analysis, classical biblical commentaries, Jewish history
and halachik dynamics;
--lack of support from the mass media and culture which represent
values which are much more attractive to adolescents than "musar" or
stories of "righteous" personalities;
--and lack of support from fellow students who often mock those who
are serious seekers of Jewish knowledge;
--lack of respect for teachers of limudei kodesh in general (except
those who entertain or are naturally charismatic) as compared with
well-organized, sophisticated teachers and stimulating textbooks of
general studies.
These are existential realities in the Diaspora educational system and
are not easily overcome even by the most dedicated Judaic teachers.
Perhaps we need more discussion and brainstorming...
Steve Bailey, Ph.D.</HTML>
