Reflective journaling is frequently employed to help preservice educators make sense of fieldwork experiences. Analyzing the weekly journals of eight preservice educators, I offer conceptual language to describe how journal writing provides a window into students' capacity for reflection. This capacity is described in terms of three continua:…

This article discusses an action research study of a week-long Summer Teachers Institute which immersed teachers in the study of Jewish historical and cultural texts. We investigate how this kind of cultural immersion created opportunities for transformative learning--the kind of learning that would not merely be the application of "new…

In this study we investigated the perceptions and interpretations of 14 various stakeholders in the field of teacher preparation and early childhood education regarding what and how Jewish education should be learned and taught, in general, and to preschool children in contemporary Israel, in particular. The present study, carried out in the…

This case study describes and analyzes a Jewish high school program that sought to integrate Judaic and general studies. The research focused on the question of how educators at the "Keshet" School understood curricular integration. Administrators and teachers ascribed a range of meanings to this topic. Administrators articulated a vision of…

While Woocher's vision for the future of Jewish education is ambitious, the ability to deliver any plan successfully depends upon the strengths of professionals and the guidance and support provided for them. This author contends that unless people create opportunities for teachers/educators to explore common issues, seek possible solutions, and…

Research typically has focused on the benefits of mentoring for those who are mentored by more experienced educators (Odell & Huling, 2000; Feiman-Nemser, 2001). Few studies examine the inherent benefits for the mentors. This study investigates the benefit of the mentoring experience for the veteran educator. It analyzes how the experience has…

In this study, twelve expert teachers of Jewish Thought in Israeli high schools were observed and interviewed, in order to examine their ideas regarding the proper way to approach and teach Jewish canonical texts. Using qualitative analysis, I identified a central component of these teachers' Pedagogic Content Knowledge and named it their…

This article focuses on the ways "hevruta" learning can contribute to teachers' capacity to be present to self, other, subject matter and the cultural context in which the learning occurred. "Hevruta" learning, when conceptualized for the purposes of teachers' professional development, brings to the fore both the interpretive and relational…

School systems in the United States have long been characterized as "loosely coupled systems," in which decisions and events occurring in one part of the system have little resonance elsewhere. Loose coupling has advantages in that classrooms are buffered from outside interference, but it also makes it difficult to bring about change. Current…

Members of the clergy provide a great deal of counseling. How did this come about? How are they prepared for this role? In what capacity is this role played by rabbis? Do rabbis feel their training is adequate for what they are called upon to do? What are the implications of this for both education and professional development of rabbis? This…

In this article, we report a study of professional culture and professional development in Jewish schools based on surveys of teachers and other staff and interviews with principals. We first introduce three key constructs: professional culture, professional development, and professional learning communities. We then describe research that has…

The study of Jewish traditional texts in a "hevruta" learning setting (two people studying a text together) represents past as well as contemporary modes of Jewish religious and devotional study. More recently, "hevruta" learning has made its way into several contexts of professional development in Jewish education, including inservice settings…