Educator Development at the Jewish Enrichment Center
“Working and learning at the Jewish Enrichment Center as an educator was an indescribably powerful, challenging, rewarding experience. The tools and mindsets that we explore in Professional Development have completely transformed how I teach, and how I think about my role as an educator.”
– former Jewish Enrichment Center Educator
At the Jewish Enrichment Center, through deep observation and reflective practices, educators learn a tremendous amount from children, from each other, and from the act of teaching. This mindset of “we are all learners” and attention to multiple perspectives, with paid daily professional development, collaboration, and reflection time for educators, sets the stage for educators to deepen knowledge and capacities to partner with children.
Throughout the week, Jewish Enrichment Center educators learn together. Every day carries a different focus for our learning and reflection. We may: study Jewish text, review a transcript of children’s conversation, imagine and design exploration opportunities for children, create documentation, practice language for valuing multiple Jewish perspectives, outline a multi-week theme trajectory, make new Hebrew games out of natural materials, read an article together, or learn a new interactive learning structure to use in the classroom. Educators find that the more deeply we sit inside of the Enrichment Center educational framework, the more intentionally we use language, more fully we see children, and listen with greater patience and curiosity.
“I’ve spent the last two years running trainings…and now, I am coordinating a national training program. As I talk about what it means to educate, how to effectively facilitate, and how to use language, tone, and metaphor to teach, I am constantly drawing on learnings from the Jewish Enrichment Center….I know for sure that I would not be the educator that I am today without your support.”
– former Jewish Enrichment Center Educator
To apply to join the Education Team, click here.