The Place Of Art Education Within Jewish Education

Sixty-four dynamic activities in four arts disciplines--music, drama, creative writing, and visual arts--weave the arts directly into the Jewish school curriculum and "open up" the big ideas of Jewish education. An extensive introduction examines the importance of the arts in Jewish life and Jewish education and explains the philosophy of this unique integrative approach. Includes four topic areas (Holidays, Torah, Mitzvot and Middot, and Jewish Life Cycle) with activities for four grade levels (K-1, 2-3, 4-6, and Family Education) and, within each grade level, one activity in each of the four arts disciplines. CONTENTS: Part I: Holidays Shabbat (Grades K-1) Chanukah (Grades 2-3) Sukkot (Grades 4-6) Pesach (Family Education) Part II: Torah Noah's Ark (Grades K-1) Three Righteous Women (Grades 2-3) Moses and the Burning Bush (Grades 4-6) Jacob and Esau (Family Education) Part III: Mitzvot and Middot Tza'ar Ba'alay Chayim: Kindness to Animals (Grades K-1) Hachnasat Orchim: Welcoming Guests (Grades 2-3) Derech Eretz: Proper Behavior (Grades 4-6) Bal Tashchit: Do Not Destroy (Family Education) Part IV: Jewish Life Cycle Baby Naming (Grades K-1) Growing Older (Grades 2-3) Bar/Bat Mitzvah (Grades 4-6) Death (Family Education) SPECIAL FEATURES: "Big Idea" and "Inspiration" sections provide the background and the rationale for each activity. Clearly stated objectives for each activity tie directly to the Big Ideas. Materials lists, step-by-step instructions, helpful hints, and suggested resources make activities easy to implement. Activities are adaptable to higher or lower grade levels, providing hundreds of creative opportunities. Ideal for average classroom teachers who think they are not artists, in addition to arts specialists

With so much information readily available today, the educators role must go beyond simply transferring knowledge to students. Drawing from the deep wisdom found in the classic teachings and stories of Kabbalah and Chassidut, The Art of Education focuses the educator on creating a lasting impression on students by opening their spirits to their own higher realms of consciousness and by helping them integrate newly found energy, will, and insights into everyday life. The Art of Education surveys the seven skills of the accomplished educator: communication, self-criticism, recognition, flexibility, attention to details, prioritization, and the correct use of reward and punishment. Together, these seven skills form a Kabbalistic structural model that when properly understood functions like a neurological key unlocking the inner educator in each of us.

The study is an exploration of both the practical and theoretical reasons for how and why we must continue to develop Jewish cultural arts experiential education.

The International Handbook of Jewish Education, a two volume publication, brings together scholars and practitioners engaged in the field of Jewish Education and its cognate fields world-wide. Their submissions make a significant contribution to our knowledge of the field of Jewish Education as we start the second decade of the 21st century. The Handbook is divided broadly into four main sections: Vision and Practice: focusing on issues of philosophy, identity and planning –the big issues of Jewish Education. Teaching and Learning: focusing on areas of curriculum and engagement Applications, focusing on the ways that Jewish Education is transmitted in particular contexts, both formal and informal, for children and adults. Geographical, focusing on historical, demographic, social and other issues that are specific to a region or where an issue or range of issues can be compared and contrasted between two or more locations. This comprehensive collection of articles providing high quality content, constitutes a difinitive statement on the state of Jewish Education world wide, as well as through a wide variety of lenses and contexts. It is written in a style that is accessible to a global community of academics and professionals.

This book is intended for anyone interested in knowing more about arts education. It makes a daring contribution to the subject in a clear, pragmatic, committed and ambitious way. The book discusses thoroughly the theory and practice of arts education and what it means to be a teacher of art. It is a powerful and inspiring account of the challenges of teaching in the arts that will appeal to anyone in the teaching profession.

This thesis examines the context, content, and pedagogy of visual art education in the reform Jewish supplemental religious school.