Redesigning Jewish Education for the 21st Century: A Lippman Kanfer Institute Working Paper

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: Jewish Education Service of North America

Author(s): Meredith Woocher; Jonathan S. Woocher; Renee Rubin Ross

Research Area: Education

Keywords: Jewish Organizations; Future; Education; Jewish Continuity

Type: Report

Abstract:

For the last 25 years, the field of Jewish education has responded only partially and unsystematically to social and cultural changes affecting Jewish life, the authors assert. The 21st century demands a new set of design principles for Jewish education itself, they argue, and in this paper the authors develop three key concepts toward that end: (1) empowering the learner as an active agent in fashioning his/her own learning experience; (2) the centrality of relationships and the social experience; and (3) Jewish learning as "life-centered," addressing the totality of our aspirations, concerns, and experiences.