Asking the Right Question

It’s that time of year when lists seem to abound: Best Music of 2011; Most Trending Topic of 2011; Person of the Year; Top Movies of 2011 and on and on and on. This prompted me to think about what were the past year’s most influential ideas in Jewish education. When I asked colleagues what they thought, all I got were blank stares and deafening silences. That’s when I realized that I was asking the wrong question. As I began to develop my own list, I came to understand that  probably the most important trend in the 2011 world of Jewish education is that the definition of Jewish education itself is in transition.

The year began with Jewish education conferences (North American Jewish Dayschool Conference as well as in the Reform NATE and Conservative JEA) focusing on the topic of  integrating technology into educational settings.  People were no longer asking, “Should edtech be incorporated into schools?” They were now asking, “How do we bring 21^st technology into our classrooms?” During the premier conference on education technology: ISTE 2011, a large organized group of  Jewish educators came together to reflect on the impact of edtech in Jewish education and community building.  In the past year we collectively embraced the possibilities offered  that can be found in the digital world.

Along with this transformation, networking as a tool for Jewish professional engagement became more widespread.  Live tweeting conferences and events (such as  #nateseattle, #jea2011, #jewishfutures, #judaism2030 and more) became de rigueur, empowering  those absent from program venues to be able to participate from afar.  #jed21  was augmented by #jedchat, a conversation of mostly dayschool educators,  discussing new modes of teaching and engaging students. Added to this networking mix, Google unveiled Google+ and the powerful video conferencing “Hangout” tool. A cadre of Jewish “professionals” (another term that is being redefined), dubbing itself “JewProNet”, has begun to regularly “hangout”, exploring  the art of networking as a tool to redefine the nature of Jewish education and professional life.   Along with the hangouts, the group interacts via a facebook group and twitter at #jewpronet. This conversation is taking place throughout the cloud, reflecting the reality of Jewish life:  Learning and teaching can take place on a myriad of platforms.

The process by which we adopt new digital tools informs how we reframe Jewish education within the context of 21^st century skills and literacies.  The concepts of collaboration, network awareness, and ownership of knowledge creation is being incorporated into Jewish milieus. Two trending topics in the Jewish twitterverse, for instance, have been “blended learning” and the “flipped classroom”.  These methods, borrowed from the world of secular education, exemplify the new convention that learning can take place in more than one place, not just in the classroom; and can be enhanced by a veritable mashup  of tools, encompassing all forms of technology.  The idea of prosumerism – of turning the traditional dynamic between teacher, student and community on its head – is forcing us to question what Jewish education really is.  This is why my original question was irrelevant. We no longer are talking about just teaching and learning.  We are talking about something much bigger and more significant.

This past year we came to terms with a new reality: Traditional educational structures and roles no longer are relevant to the many. We are witnessing and participating in the creation of new paradigms for Jewish engagement.  I’m beginning to think that in 2011 we stepped through a door. We are beginning to understand the necessity of transforming existing networks of the Jewishly disenfranchised  into deliberately conceived communities that create Jewish futures that they can call their own.  The role of the Jewish educator is evolving into that of guide, of connector, of network weaver.  Jewish education is not just about providing knowledge; it’s the process by which the learner  explores and enhances his or her own relationship with an ever expanding tradition.