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From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

Jewish adult learning programs have mushroomed during the past decade.  Look at any issue of a Jewish community bulletin or of a national Jewish magazine and the announcements of adult courses, retreats, meditation sessions, and on-line study opportunities are in full view. (p. 2)

What kinds of adult Jewish learning programs now exist in your community? 

What is  adult Jewish learning? Who defines it?

The proliferation of Jewish adult learning programs is a wonderful hallmark of an enlivened Jewish community, but this optimistic view has been tempered by the reality that a significant proportion - perhaps the majority - of contemporary Jews lack substantive Jewish knowledge and thus refrain from taking steps toward their own Jewish growth.  (p. 3)

In what ways do Jewish adults think of themselves as "under-developed" Jewishly? 

To what extent is "pediatric Judaism" a problem in your community?

Before adult educators (and, by proxy, adult learning committees) begin to plan programs for adults - even before they start worrying about recruiting people to these programs - they need to understand more about adult development and learning in general, and Jewish adult development and learning in particular.  (p. 6)

What are your assumptions about the developmental needs of contemporary Jewish adults?

What are your questions about adult development and learning?

The stories in Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning are presented as text documents appropriate for group analysis and discussion - for "text study."   Rabbis, cantors, educators, lay leaders, and Jewish adult learners themselves are invited to share these stories and use them to explore salient concerns in contemporary Jewish life.  The stories . . . are designed to prompt dialogue and to encourage personal meaning-making.  They are meant to be "triggers" for new insight and consciousness about the challenges and needs that confront Jewish adult learners and their teachers today. (p. 12)

What are some ways you can use the stories in this book to prompt discussion or reflection about Jewish lives and Jewish learning? 

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

When and why do Jewish adults show up, knock on the door, and say:  "Here I am.  I am ready to learn"?  What causes people to embark on the journey of adult Jewish growth, to take steps toward finding new meaning in Jewish life and Jewish learning?  How do adults describe what might be called "Hineni moments"? (p. 15)

How do you answer the questions posed on page 15?

What have you observed about adults who have had "Hineni" moments?

"First . . . put an 'A' at the place or places on your map or picture that indicate when you became an adult" . . . Next . . . "put a 'JA' for when you became a Jewish adult . . . Then . . . "Put 'JC' at all the places where you had a significant . . . interaction with a Jewish community and 'JL' . . . where you had good or bad encounters with Jewish learning." (p. 16)

When did you become an adult?  A Jewish adult?

In your life, what has been the relationship between your Jewish learning experiences and your involvement with a Jewish community?

As an adult, Ben Kleinman began to find that his avoidant/ambivalent relationship to Judaism and Jewish life didn't feel comfortable - that old ways of resisting "things Jewish" no longer felt right to him. He discovered that he wanted to come in closer to his Judaism - to renegotiate his relationship to his Jewish identity . . . (p. 29)

What helps poorly attached Jews like Ben Kleinman to become more secure about themselves as Jews and more consistently connected to the Jewish community?

Being in transition likely made Ben more open to reflection about his life and to thinking about his experiences from a Jewish point of view…At times of personal vulnerability Jewish adults are likely to be open to meaningful Jewish experiences.  (p. 32)

What kinds of transitions impact the lives of Jewish adults today? 

What adult learning opportunities are responsive to those transitions and to the people who are involved in them?

As Ben became more and more involved in Jewish study, he realized that his wife and children were not as enthusiastic about Jewish learning or observance as he was becoming.   As he faced a widening gap between himself and family members, he had to work through what it would mean to pursue a Jewish journey independent of those closest to him. (p. 33)

In what ways does Ben Kleinman's journey - and the conflicts he faces within his family - resonate with your own experience?

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

The Israelites, in the face of receiving the Ten Commandments, had to shift from a stance of "fear and trembling" to a more proactive, faith-filled attitude of "doing and listening" (na'aseh venishma) in order to confirm their covenant with God.  (p. 39)

What kinds of apprehensions do Jewish adults need to overcome in order to become more fully engaged with Judaism and more active in Jewish life?

Just as kids can feel incompetent when it comes to playing basketball or learning to do mathematical calculations, so do many kids feel incompetent in Jewish learning - and all the more so when they become adults. (p. 43)               

In what ways do Jewish adults feel incompetent as Jews?

What "baggage" do they bring to Jewish learning situations?

Thinking back on the teachers who had "made a difference," Danielle Salomon offered her personal "prescription" for the best kind of Jewish adult educator:

Who are the teachers who have made a difference in your learning, both Jewish and secular?

What is your prescription for a quality Jewish adult educator? 

10 R's That Foster Adult Jewish Growth

(p. 52)

Which of these "R's" matter most to you? 

Which of these "R's" have significantly enhanced your teaching or learning experiences? Which have posed the greatest challenges?

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

For most Jewish adults today, venturing into a journey of Jewish identity formation includes (1) investigating alternative paths . . . ; (2) utilizing various "way stations" or other checkpoints at which to "get directions"  and learn "the lay of the land"; (3) locating fellow travelers with whom to share the journey . . . ; and (4) creating time for rest, reflection, and other types of personal synthesis or integration. (p. 63)

What contributed to the formation of your Jewish identity? 

How did your Jewish journey resemble or differ from the journeys of the Jewish adults you serve?

In The Jew Within . . . Steven M. Cohen and Arnold Eisen . . . conclude that . . . many Jewish adults of the baby boom generation see themselves as continually engaged in Jewish journeys in which they "change Jewish direction, and change again, at many points in life."  They are "explorers in Judaism" who take it as a given that they will be in "perpetual quest of Jewish meaning." (p. 71)

Cohen and Eisen report that an individual's Jewish identity may "ebb and flow" in the adult life cycle.  How do these researchers' findings compare to your own experience with contemporary Jewish adults?

According to social psychologist Bethamie Horowitz, "Jewish identity can be powerfully influenced by significant relationships - with grandparents, rabbis, teachers, and other individuals to whom Jewishness is important. . . . These individuals . . . act like 'beacons' in that they . . . represent something authentic, and people look back on them (or toward them) in constructing their own Jewish lives." (pp. 74-75)

How influential have Jewish role models been in the shaping of your Jewish identity?

In what ways do you serve as a "beacon" to others who are constructing their identities as Jews?

For Fern Hoffman, the conscious construction of her Jewish narrative - and her increasing reflection about her Jewish identity - had begun before we met at the WRJ conference. . . . She said that she found that each time she told me her story, it helped her to see the outlines of her past and to appreciate why certain turning points had had such profound impact on her sense of self and of her Jewish self.  She acknowledged that although in many ways she felt she had "arrived" as a Jew, she also knew that she would continue to explore and reinvent her Jewish identity. (pp. 77-78)

How can Jewish adults be helped to construct new Jewish narratives - to "restory" their Jewish lives? 

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

[According to Mary] Belenky and her colleagues, [connected teachers (or midwife- teachers) are the opposite of banker-teachers who] "deposit knowledge in the learner's head."  [Connected teachers] "assist the students in giving birth to their own ideas, in making their own tacit knowledge explicit and elaborating it." . . .   [They] "assist in the emergence of consciousness [and] encourage . . . students to speak in their own active voices." (pp. 84-85)

What do you recall of "banker-teachers" in your own Jewish education?

Who helped you to give birth to your ideas and speak in your own voice as a Jew?  What do you remember about that person's approach to teaching?

Jewish silent knowers are adults who believe that their experience as Jews has rendered them Jewishly illiterate and thus has made them unwelcome in Jewish learning settings.

Jewish received knowers are found among the people who faithfully sit in a class or lecture and passively acquire information delivered by the teacher.

Jewish subjective knowers are found among adults who view what they have learned through the lens of their own experience [and may] become so immersed in one view that they cannot imagine "stepping back" to consider other interpretations or explanations.

Jewish procedural knowers are learners who enjoy the "procedures" involved in gathering and analyzing ideas and acquiring the skills for more sophisticated knowledge manipulation.

Jewish constructed knowers . . . have developed their critical thinking, analytic skills, and meaning making abilities. . . . These learners take intellectual risks, bring their insights and experiences to the creation of new knowledge, and yearn to integrate Jewish ideas into their own lives and way of thinking. (pp. 86-88)

Reviewing the descriptions of the types of knowers both here and in Exhibit 4-1 (p. 87), who do you know who resemble these different types?

Looking at Exhibit 4-2 (p. 89), what kinds of things do you do to respond to different types of knowers or to foster their adult Jewish growth?

When adults move from "silence to voice," they increase their sense of efficacy and improve their self esteem.  Correspondingly, when Jewish adults acquire a "Jewish voice," they become more confident and positive about themselves as Jews. (p. 96)

In your experience, what helps learners to "shift" their positions and become more confident or authoritative as Jewish knowers?

[Allison Benveniste-Henderson] recognized that, like generations of Jews before her, she could "enter into the conversation" about Jewish texts.  Rather than seeing "authority" as something vested only in others, she discovered that she too could speak with a measure of authority about Judaism and Jewish life. . . . She became more confident in her ability to be a Jewish educator and cultivated relationships with other knowers, both in her role as a teacher and as a colleague to other professionals in the Jewish community. (p. 98)

In what ways do Jewish adults become "generative" - passing on what they have learned to others? 

How important is it to the adults you know to become "Jewishly generative"?

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

Contemporary Jewish adult learning stories are replete with examples of how learners "wrestle to find meaning" - to engage in what Rabbi Daniel Gordis describes as "the enterprise of asking life's hardest questions, of searching for life's most elusive answers, and of building relationships with each other, with a Force Jews commonly call God, and with our

tradition as we commonly go through that process." (p. 102)

In what ways are Jewish adults wrestling to find meaning?

When grappling with questions of meaning, do Jewish adults believe that Judaism can help them on their quest?

Informational learning focuses on how people acquire and store knowledge; the information they receive is from outside themselves and is obtained through memorizing or reproducing.  While this kind of learning is crucial as a starting point, it tends to be fairly concrete and may not be long lasting; the learner doesn't have to "do" anything with the knowledge. . . . Alternatively, transformative learning "centers on the learner's abstraction of meaning; [it]  is a deep approach to learning" that is interpretive and helps the learner to better understand reality and cope with change. (p. 106)

Under what circumstances do you prefer informational learning or transformative learning?  

In what ways are adult Jewish learning programs in your community characterized by informational or transformative learning approaches or some mix of the two?

As Jewish adults mature and grapple with pressing questions and ambiguities, they discover paradoxes in their thinking about Judaism and their lives as Jews. . . . [At such times] they find it beneficial to engage in learning and discourse with other learners. The opportunity to actively dialogue with other Jews contributes significantly to Jewish meaning-making and adult Jewish growth. (p. 115)

In what ways can Mezirow's ten steps of perspective transformation (p. 107) help Jewish adults who encounter paradoxes in their thinking about Judaism and their lives as Jews? 

For Jewish adults, internal (and sometimes interpersonal) dialectical debates about Jewish values and way of life tend to surface at times of personal change.  Contemporary Jews typically live in "several worlds," and thus grapple with the challenges of having more than one cultural identity . . . many long for the comforts of being part of "a tribe," . . . their advanced learning has given them a healthy skepticism that they bring to "religious" or spiritual questions. . . . Yet they yearn for spiritual wholeness and a sense of connection with something larger than themselves; they are curious about how the wisdom of Judaism can contribute to their quest for well-being during the stressful adult years.  (p. 117)

Looking at Exhibit 5-2 (p. 118), what are some additional paradoxes that Jewish adults wrestle with as they try to "make meaning" and find spiritual wholeness?

[Phil Sapphire's] Jewish dialogue experiences - in the Torah study group, with his father, in online discussions, and at the study retreat - had a significant impact on his relationship to Judaism, Jewish tradition, and the Jewish community. (p. 120)

In what ways can dialogue among learners positively impact how the learners think about the Jewish community and their responsibilities to that community? 

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

Adult learners bring diverse orientations to their learning:  goal oriented individuals look to learning as a means to obtain a specific objective; activity oriented learners participate in learning primarily for the sake of the activity itself and like the interactive dimensions of education;  learning oriented individuals pursue learning for its own sake; and spiritually oriented  learners use learning to deepen their self-understanding and to acquire a sense of meaning or coherence in their lives. (see pp. 133-136)

How well did Rabbi Ariel Jordan respond to the diverse learning orientations of the people in her class?

In adult Jewish learning settings, are some learning orientations more likely to be served than others?

According to [Jerold] Apps, sequential learners prefer carefully planned and structured learning activities; practical learners prefer fast-paced instruction that leads to immediate application; intuitive learners prefer learning that involves reflection and personal meaning-making.  These differing learning styles cause learners to respond to some teaching strategies more favorably than others.  (pp. 136-138)

What is your preferred learning style? 

Which type of learner is it easiest for you to teach? Which is the most challenging?

Jewish adults bring to the learning situation frames of reference heavily influenced by when they were born, what their families experienced, and how Judaism and Jewish life were expressed during their formative years.  Jewish professionals must show sensitivity to cohort factors and to the different attitudes of adults who grew up at different times, in different places, knowing different Judaisms or Jewish communities. (see pp. 139-141)

As the number of adult Jewish learners increases, their diversity will also increase. What are some ways to respond to learners who represent a range of ages, backgrounds, levels of Jewish education, and learning expectations?

When planning learning programs for Jewish adults, Jewish professionals should expect a plurality of women (but, correspondingly, should also think about ways to reach out and be responsive to men). (p. 142)

Do women outnumber men in adult Jewish learning programs in your community?  What do you think accounts for this imbalance?

In your experience, do women and men learn differently?  What can be done to accommodate those differences?

According to Malcolm Knowles, adult learning is marked by the learners' self-direction, accumulated experience, developmental tasks, preference for immediacy of application, and learning activities that stem more from adults' internal needs and values than from the demands or expectations of others. (see pp. 142-145)

Assuming that Malcolm Knowles is correct, what should the priorities of Jewish professionals be  in planning learning activities specifically for the adult population? 

According to Raymond Wlodkowski, to create educational environments that attract and retain learners, educators should establish an inclusive and respectful learning environment; help people see learning as a relevant, personal choice; enlarge learners' appreciation of alternative perspectives; and help learners to feel that what they have learned is valuable and authentic in their lives. (see p. 146)

Which of  Raymond Wlodkowski's recommendations in Appendix 1 (pp. 220-226) are useful to you as you strive to motivate Jewish adults to become more involved in Jewish learning?

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

Stephen Brookfield differentiates between the pedagogic stance of the "teacher-as-expert" and the "teacher-as-facilitator."  By no means diminishing the value of the expertise the teacher brings to the learning situation, Brookfield focuses more on how an adult educator can create a learning environment that fosters the growth of the learner. (p. 150)

Stephen Brookfield encourages adult educators to serve less as a "sage on the stage" and more as a "guide on the side."  What is your reaction to Brookfield's emphasis on faciliataiton?

In Rabbi David Nelson's view, the  teacher should take special care to:

• Make connections for people
• Personalize from experience
• Lecture minimally to provide a context
• Encourage questioning and non-judgmentalism
• Attend to the vulnerability of the learner
• Assess the Hebrew abilities of the group
• Help people to experience Judaism 
• Empower the learner

(see pp. 155-160)

How do you respond to Rabbi Nelson's recommendations?

Which elements of Rabbi Nelson's philosophy are most consistent with your approach to teaching or learning?

Which elements are hardest to achieve?

Rabbi David Nelson's reflections on his practice point to three elements of tzimtzum that Jewish professionals should keep in mind in their work with Jewish adult learners:  to "come in close" with learners; to acknowledge the learners' needs for validation and respect; and to reflect on their teaching and learn from feedback from their students. (see pp. 160-167)

Like Rabbi Nelson, the other teachers quoted in this chapter advocate a teaching stance that involves self-disclosure and accessibility on the part of the adult educator.  In your experience, does such self-disclosure enhance or detract from the teaching/ learning experience?

To what extent do you engage in critically reflective practice in which you confront problems that arise in the classrom, ask for feedback, use input, and take action (even if choosing not to change)?

What other ways do you or the teachers you admire practice tzimtzum?

Ultimately, when working with adult Jewish learners, professionals need to ask themselves such questions as:  What is my goal for my learners? What will help my learners to learn - and to want to continue to learn? How will I know what has been learned and whether it is of benefit to the people I serve? What do I need to learn in order to feel alive in my teaching?  In what ways might I modify my practice or my material to more effectively impact the growth of my students? (p. 167)

Exhibit 7-2 (p. 168) lists sixteen elements of learner-centered teaching that enable adult educators to be responsive to the developmental needs of their learners.  Which of these elements resonate with your experience in teaching and learning?

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

The fictional story of synagogue scholar-in-residence Professor August Fonferberg reveals how a well-prepared Jewish adult educator can unintentionally "miss the mark" with learners. (see pp. 172-178)

What stands out for you about Dr. Fonferberg's scholar-in-residence program and his approach to adult education?

Ten factors contribute to the success of quality adult learning programs:

1. Attunement between the teacher's and learners' goals and expectations
2. The teacher's credibility and authenticity
3. The setting of the learning "climate"
4. Attention to the physical conditions
5. The scope of content and materials
6. Lectures
7. Discussions
8. Questions
9. The use of diverse teaching strategies
10. Evaluation

(see pp. 179-213)

Reflecting on adult Jewish learning programs with which you are associated, which of these factors are well met? Which need improvement?  

From Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning

Questions for Discussion and Reflection

There are five "arenas" in which Jewish professionals who work with adults need to learn and grow. 

1. Learning about adult development and Jewish adult life. 
2. Learning about adults as learners and adult Jewish learners. 
3. Learning about teaching adults and teaching Jewish adults.
4. Learning about oneself as a teacher.
5. Learning about one's own needs as a learner.

(see pp. 216-218) 

What steps is your Jewish community taking to support the growth and learning of Jewish professionals who work with adults?