Making their jobs even harder is the fact that many have limited Judaic knowledge and, as several educators have noted, “are one lesson ahead of the students.”
As communities around the country are talking about re-envisioning congregational schools, a number are focusing on the teachers.
“When people try to do reform, it’s very easy to go quickly for structural issues,” said Barry Holtz, a consultant to the Cleveland-based Mandel Foundation, which runs an institute that helps develop effective teacher-development programs. “But if you try to change structure without working with personnel, you just move deck chairs around on the Titanic.”
Since its founding four years ago, the Mandel Foundation’s Teacher Educator Institute has spawned new training and professional development programs around the country, including one that convinced Niekro to sign on for another year of teaching. Most focus on both strengthening knowledge of Jewish texts and helping teachers figure out effective ways of conveying that knowledge to children.
The institute grew out of a 1994 Mandel Foundation study of Jewish teachers that found not only relatively low levels of Jewish education, training and ongoing professional development, but also — perhaps more surprisingly — relatively low turnover rates.
The study disproved common perceptions that teachers were transient and not worth investing in, said Holtz.
The overwhelming majority of Hebrew school teachers work only a few hours per week while holding down other jobs. Some teach elsewhere, either in Jewish day schools or public schools. But many are college students, retirees or professionals in other fields.
A growing number of congregations are starting to recruit and train their congregants to become religious-school teachers. Reasons for teaching vary. Some teachers are looking for extra income, some want to work with children and others, such as Niekro, are looking for ways to be more involved in Jewish life.
According to the Mandel report, 29 percent of congregational-school teachers had received no Jewish education after age 13, and only 12 percent had earned a degree in Jewish studies.
“I would love to be able to say they’re all certified and degreed, but that’s just not so,” Wendy Sadler, director of school services at the Agency for Jewish Education of Metropolitan Detroit, said of the Hebrew-school teachers in her community.
In response to a need for more training in Jewish studies and basic pedagogy, her agency is stepping up its professional development programs, offering 60 workshops this year as well as an annual conference. Other central education agencies are also reviewing their professional development offerings and some — like those in Chicago and Los Angeles — have created master classes, in which highly esteemed teachers mentor their colleagues and give demonstration lectures.
The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School network, best known for its two-year adult education program, is also weighing in on the teacher enrichment front. Last spring it piloted an effort in four communities in which teachers study texts once a week through the mini-school and have monthly discussions about teaching practices. The program is what is keeping Niekro in the classroom.
Teachers read articles about educational theory, keep journals evaluating how their lesson plans actually worked in the classroom, observe experienced teachers and brainstorm lesson plans together. This year they were also paired with mentors.
“I don’t have a background in educational theory or curriculum development, and this gives me the opportunity to work with individuals who do have that knowledge and expertise,” said Niekro. “What comes out of this is inspiration and the motivation to try new ideas.”