Dear Shalom,
A number of years ago, Gemara Berura and the Menachem Foundation convened a group of leading educators and scholars in Jerusalem with the specific purpose of developing a set of Core Standards for the teaching of Mishna and Gemara. Over a six-month period, the document was edited and a wide range of appendixes were added.
Over the period of a further year, the senior staff of Gemara Berura and the Office of the Chief Inspectorate for TOSHBâ€A at the Agaf Hadati of the Israel Ministry of Education (מפמ"ר תושב"×¢) adapted this document to become the official set of Core Standards for teaching Mishna and Gemara for all 750+ schools within the Agaf Hadati system.
Over the last couple of years the Inspectorate has been making serious inroads in changing the teaching approach from that of syllabus-based (a list of approved texts that need to be taught) to that of curriculum-based (standards-aligned and skills-driven). This means that all the new Mishna and Gemara textbooks are only approved if they are aligned to the Core Standards, and all the national tests and even the latest Bagrut examinations reflect this new approach.
The Mishna Standards can be accessed here - [
cms.education.gov.il]
The Gemara Standards can be accessed here - [
cms.education.gov.il]
While change is always a slow process - especially in large educational networks, the new teaching approach and language of instruction are now common-place in an increasing number of schools. In Mishna, this is largely due to the introduction of Mishnayot Behirot, a 4-year series of textbooks for the teaching of Mishna that was jointly developed by Sulamot (the Halacha Education Center) and Gemara Berura, and is being used in hundreds of elementary schools across Israel. These textbooks have been supplemented by a series of short videos called mishnarun - [
mishnarun.org] . In addition, the Gemara Berura Online Learning Environment has recently been adopted by over 90 schools in Israel for teaching Mishna and Gemara. These developments mean that schools are being encouraged to teach Mishna and Gemara systematically, via a solid standard-driven approach, in a way that places the student center-stage.
Our experience shows that when it comes to teaching Mishna and in particular Gemara, a high percentage of students fall into the category of “weak†students. This standards-aligned and student-centered approach, because it is systematic, allows for effective adaptation for weaker students. Standard-aligned assessments can pinpoint specific areas that particular students have difficulty with and can suggest suitable remedies and interventions. Because the overall approach places greater emphasis on structure-related skills as well as focusing on what the text is doing rather than saying, it empowers many more students to feel comfortable with the Mishna and Gemara texts.
In North America, many schools continue to use Gemara Berura to teach Mishna and Gemara in a standards-aligned and computer-assisted approach. Gemara Berura and Sulamot will be introducing this year an online Mishna curriculum which can be supplemented by the Gemara Berura online learning environment to provide schools with a solid curriculum and toolset for teaching Mishna readiness.
Over the last few years, the senior staff of Gemara Berura has been running workshops and consultancy sessions in a number of schools in North America to assist them in developing their own school-wide standards-aligned scope-and-sequence curriculum for teaching Mishna and Gemara. These workshops and sessions show why the introduction of such a school-wide scope-and-sequence is so critical and assist the school in developing the necessary lists and teaching approaches that will serve to fulfill the school wide vision.
Our feedback is that these sessions have made a significant impact on the quality of the provision of Mishna and Gemara education at these schools, both with the mainstream and “weaker†students. Schools that are interested in bringing these workshops and consultancy sessions to their Torah She Be’al Peh faculty are invited to contact me at
meir@gemaraberura.com or call me on 347 761 3355
Sincerely
Meir
Rabbi Meir Fachler
Director
Phone (US and Israel) (347) 761 3355
Israel cell ++ (972) 52 385 8455
meir@jet-start.com
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2018 11:50AM by mlb.
