Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
copyright notice at the end. |
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GETTING
AN F IN JEWISH EDUCATION
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Dear
Gil:
My
son's grade school experience is much
richer and interesting than mine was.
Obviously much has been learned about
teaching and curriculum over the past
30-40 years. Why is it, then, that
when I go into my son's Hebrew school
class, I feel like I have entered a
time warp and am back in MY Hebrew
school?
I
don't think it is helpful to complain
about parents. Parents like me
continue to wonder whether Hebrew
school is any more enriching than it
was for us. It is up to Jewish
educators to bring Jewish education
out of the '50s.
R
Dear
R:
In
many cases I think you are right about
the time warp and I never cease to be
amazed that we continue generation
after generation to try to teach
material that is not applicable to day
to day life. I have written before
about the need to shift our
educational emphasis from how to be
Jewish...to WHY should a person be
Jewish.
Even
as I say that, I must differ with
you...it is up to the parents to make
sure that their children have a rich
Jewish education. School is only a
small part of this....Jewish home
life, youth groups, camp, Israel trips
all play huge roles. You as a dad are
pivotal in making those all happen and
happen positively!
As
for schools, parents must also play a
critical role, as the email below from
a teacher and high school director
says better than I could....
Dear
Gil:
Unfortunately
most parents are not willing to
strongly back the religious schools
and programs their children attend.
The
field of Jewish supplemental education
is growing and professionalizing. We
do work diligently to write creative
curricula, vary our methodologies, and
offer a variety of alternative
informal educational opportunities for
our students and families. Despite the
efforts that we are putting into these
things, in a great many cases the
attitudes at home undermine them:
-
When materials are sent home to inform
parents of what's being done in class
or to provide family activities that
reinforce or enhance what the students
are learning, they are not read or
used.
-
If homework is assigned it is viewed
as an infringement on students'
"too busy" lives. Yet,
parents complain that their kids are
not learning anything. In the few
contact hours we have with them each
week, It is impossible to go into any
depth without some preparation or
study at home.
-
If our students continually arrived at
their public schools without their
books, they would receive F's for the
day. Parents are very careful that
their children leave for school
everyday with all that they need. Yet
they arrive at Hebrew school or Sunday
school without their books, forget
their tzedakah, and don't bring in
other requested materials or
assignments.
-
Though the high school I direct meets
on Sunday night, I am constantly
getting calls that students won't be
there because they have too much
homework. What happened to the other
45 hours of the weekend?
-
What about those planned family
education days that do include parent
education, but which parents ignore or
are too busy to attend?
The
bottom line is that if the parents,
whose children we attempt to educate
gave even a fraction of the attention
and devotion to their kids' religious
education that they give to
dancing/swimming/tennis/gymnastics/singing/you-name-it
lessons/sleep overs at a friend, we
wouldn't be worrying so much about the
future of the Jewish people!!! AND -
if they even tried to practice a
little bit of what their kids are
learning about in religious school and
thus showed that it means something to
them as a family, we probably wouldn't
be having such a difficult time trying
to make the education stick!
L
Dear
R & L:
Most
parents do not expect their kids to be
professional athletes or
musicians...but they do want them to
be ethical and conscientious Jews. The
latter requires a partnership and
critical mass of many parents
committed to serious learning together
with many creative and innovative
teachers. The alternative is Jewish
education that will continue to
frustrate parents and teachers while
creating Jewish students who won't
make the grade.
Gil
A FRIENDLY COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
only do I give you permissions to copy these Jewish Email
columns...I HOPE YOU WILL and that you share them with others!
All I ask is that you never charge anyone for them and that you
also include this little copyright notice. Thank You!
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