Jewish LearningWorks offers a variety of cohort learning experiences designed to share best practices, and deepen your professional knowledge by learning with and from colleagues.
Community is the heart of all Jewish learning. As Jewish educators know, when we engage in Jewish learning, we become part of a rich conversation, taking place over millennia. We know this intuitively, but we also know from research that both adults and children often learn best in groups. Studies show that effective professional development:
- Takes place within educators’ regular workday or work week
- Continues over time with sessions building on each other
- Models active learning
- Fosters a collegial, collaborative environment
- Focuses on building educators’ pedagogical content knowledge
- Includes learning in and from practice
This year, opportunities include:
Voices for Good Fellowship
For women leaders in Jewish communal organizations in the Bay Area, Pacific Northwest and Mountain States
This two-year fellowship creates an affinity space for women leaders in Jewish communal organizations to build collegial relationships, explore of Jewish values in leadership, and address challenges unique to women in Jewish professional life. Fellows learn together in monthly seminars with core and guest faculty through the duration of the experience.
The third cohort of the Voices for Good Fellowship launches in February 2024. Applications will be received until Friday, November 3, 2023.
Communities of Practice
Day School Jewish Studies Heads’ Community of Practice
The Bay Area boasts 14 excellent and unique Jewish Day Schools, each with committed administrators and talented teachers. We convene the Judaic Studies heads to connect and learn from each other every 6-8 weeks. This network gathers online to share resources and collaborate on shared projects.
For more information about this opportunity, please contact Kathy Schwartz at kathy@jewishearning.works, or fill out the form below.
Mentors’ Community of Practice
Jewish LearningWorks has offered mentorship experiences to educators in our community since 2018. This year, we will convene mentors enrolled in our Mentorship Program in four annual gatherings – expert-led circles designed to support their mentorship process, including identifying mentee goals and progress; the qualities of good mentorship; how to redirect mentorship gone awry; and mentorship reflection strategies.
This opportunity is only open to mentors participating in Jewish LearningWorks’ Mentorship Program.
Congregational School Directors’ Community of Practice
This year, the Bay Area will welcome fifteen new congregational school directors! We are delighted to see this renewal in our schools, and have created a variety of programs to support their work. Beginning in August 2023, we will offer a five-month community of practice for new school directors to connect, share best practices and get to know the resources available to them through Jewish LearningWorks.
This community of practice is invitation only. For more information about this opportunity, please contact Dana Sheanin at dana@jewishearning.works.
Early Childhood Directors’ Community of Practice
The Bay Area is home to 40 Jewish Early Childhood centers in a range of settings across the religious and communal spaces in our community. We convene the Directors of these schools to connect and learn from each other on a monthly basis. This network gathers online to study best practices in areas such as curriculum, family engagement ideas, professional development planning, and supervision to name a few. Jewish LearningWorks also provides an annual day of learning for the educators as well as a day long retreat for the directors.
For more information about this opportunity, please contact Ellen Lefkowitz at ellen@jewishearning.works, or fill out the form below.
“As a new educator in the congregational world, [Jewish LearningWorks] has really helped me create a network of colleagues and co-learners – we’re all asking similar questions and thinking through similar issues and this group, and the relationships I’m building through it, have been really fantastic.”
– Congregational school educator
