What does it mean to design a Beit Midrash?

Dr. Elie Holzer

Bar Ilan University and

Mandel Center @ Brandeis University

““Beit Midrash”: Beit Midrash”:

a neo-traditional phenomenona neo-traditional phenomenon

a.a. Adult EducationAdult Education

b.b. High Schools and Middle SchoolsHigh Schools and Middle Schools

c.c. Professional preparationProfessional preparation::

* Teacher education* Teacher education

* Rabbinical Training* Rabbinical Training

Is this a Beit Midrash?Is this a Beit Midrash?

Beit Midrash, Text Study, Hevruta learning

Buzzwords

Buzzwords

? ?

Learned by Learned by osmosis?osmosis?

Why Design?

• Teaching

• Teachers

• Need for justification

They are Practices: 1 .Purposeful, intentional and reflectively chosen

action Concepts of Good TS and HL.

2 .Theory and practice are twin moments in the same activity .

3 .Knowledge arises through engagement in a social situation and interaction .

4 .Require engagement, deliberate choices, interest and passion; full personality .

5 .Good text study and Good Hevruta are practices (incl. skills, dispositions). They require learning.

What is our view of Text Study and What is our view of Text Study and Hevruta LearningHevruta Learning??

Content areas for curriculumContent areas for curriculum::

1. The “subject matter”

2. The practice of Text Study

3. The practice of Hevruta Learning

4. (The practice of group discussion)

Design of Design of GoodGood Text Study Text StudyWHATWHATWHEREWHEREWHOWHOHOWHOW

What does good TS look like and

why? What are its core practices?

***What should

students know, be able to do and

cultivate?

What purposes should TS serve in this context, at

this point in time?

Who are the students in the Beit Midrash?

By what processes and

activities might students learn?

“Protocols” and skills for textual

analysis;

interpretations skills; dispositions ;

Acquisition of content knowledge; engagement with a topic; self understanding; preparing for classroom lesson

Prior beliefs, prior

knowledge; cultural norms;

personality

Learn in and from practice ;

Inquiry oriented reflection.

Design of Design of GoodGood Hevruta Learning Hevruta LearningWHATWHATWHEREWHEREWHOWHOHOWHOW

What does good HL look like and why? What are its core

practices?

***

What should students know, be able to do

and cultivate?

What purposes should HL serve in this context, at

this point in time?

Who are the students in the Beit Midrash?

By what processes and

activities might students learn?

skills; dispositions; learning about

oneself as a learner and about the

Hevruta partner as a learner

Acquisition of learning-social skills; cultivation of dispositions related to good

teaching ;

Prior beliefs; prior

knowledge; cultural norms;

personality

Learn in and from practice;

inquiry oriented reflection.

What is our understanding of the What is our understanding of the Beit Midrash as a learning Beit Midrash as a learning

environmentenvironment??1 .Purposeful, intentional and reflectively

designed learning environment .

2 .Reflects institution’s core values and ideas .

3 .Entails dialectic between individual and collective.

Design of a Beit MidrashDesign of a Beit Midrash

Physical Setting

a. What’s the setting like and why?

b. What access to relevant information is available ?

) printed, digital and human resources.(

Design of a Beit Midrash (cont.)Design of a Beit Midrash (cont.)Beit Midrash in Broader Context

a. What are the learning purposes of Beit Midrash sessions in relation to additional learning settings?

b. What and how can values, concepts and practices from other parts of the program be integrated in the Beit

Midrash ?

c. What are Beit Midrash students to produce? How, when and where in the program, are they to make visible what they have learned?

d. Differentiation: what is Beit Midrash, TS and HL good/not good for?

Design of a Beit Midrash (cont.)Design of a Beit Midrash (cont.)Ex. of additional issues

1. Rationales and criteria for pairing up Hevrutot2. Roles of leader(s) during Beit Midrash sessions3. Ways to help create authentic “presence” in Beit

Midrash learning. 4. Worksheets: form & content; guidelines VS. open

inquiry 5. The impact of the literary genre on design of text

study + Theoretical views of interpretation and learning.14 שקופית

6. Develop Beit Midrash’s Curriculum for learning of subject matter, text study and Hevruta learning.

7. Evaluation of Beit Midrash learning

MAT/ JDS DeLeT Beit Midrash for Teachers; DeLeT @ Brandeis 2007

Exploring Learning through Conversations with Texts, Study Partners and Oneself

Session no. 6

1. First (Naïve) Reading

[………]

Thesaurus:

[………]

2. Explanation

a. For a little background on Ilfa, ………

b. Explore and discuss what might be possible parts of the story.

3. Understanding

a. […..] Articulate and list the questions you have while figuring out “what is going on”[….] Pay attention to the characters’

motivations and perceptions, literary aspects like dialogues, ………

b. Explore and offer potential interpretations as to what you believe the story seems to be about.

c. When you feel like you have 1 or 2 compelling interpretations of what the text is about: articulate what is it that the text says on

that issue?

d. Take the time to think about what the text says/wants to teach us, as a point of view which is worthy of consideration even though

you may not agree with it. Discuss what might be good reasons for this point of view.

4. Self Understanding

a. What do you have to say about the text’s opinion and why?

b. Point to one thing you’ve learned about the text’s topic, from having

conducted this conversation with the text.

Beit Midrash, Text Study and Beit Midrash, Text Study and Hevruta learningHevruta learning

Reflects and cultivates the 2 great conversations that we “are” as Jews:

1. The Diachronic Conversation with the Past

2. The Synchronic Conversation with contemporary fellow Jews