Professional Development Workshops
Creating a Healthy Culture
for Teaching and Learning about Israel
Professional Development Workshop
For Early Childhood – Grade 12 Educators
Why has talking about Israel in Jewish educational institutions become so difficult? How might we learn to talk better with our colleagues, students, parents, and other key stakeholders? In this workshop, we will explore common challenges that educators face in conversations about Israel and we will learn strategies for engaging in conversations that are both educationally richer and more respectful.
Understanding Israel’s Role
in Jewish Education
Professional Development Workshop
For Early Childhood – Grade 12 Educators
Israel functions as both a unifying and a divisive force in the American Jewish community. As such, it requires educators to make tricky decisions about how to frame teaching and learning about Israel for parents, students, and other key stakeholders. This interactive workshop is designed to help educators better understand and navigate Israel as both a core and contested subject in Jewish education.
Orientations to
Teaching and Learning about Israel
Professional Development Workshop
For Early Childhood – Grade 12 Educators
Why should American Jewish students learn about Israel? Given limited time, what’s most important to learn? In this workshop, we’ll look at several prominent orientations to better understand both the underlying logic of the orientation and how it manifests in textbooks and curriculum designed for Jewish learners. We’ll also consider which orientation is most appropriate for your educational institution and why.
Learning about Israel
from Preschool to High School
Professional Development Workshop
For Early Childhood – Grade 12 Educators
How do children and teens think, feel, and learn about Israel? How does their understanding of Israel develop over time? What constitutes developmentally appropriate Israel education at different ages and stages? In this workshop, we will learn about how understanding of Israel develops from preschool through high school and consider ways to adjust our own practice to be more attuned to children’s and teens’ developmental capacities.
How Children Think about the
Israeli-Arab/Palestinian Conflict
Professional Development Workshop
For K-6 Educators
How do children think, feel, and learn about the Israeli-Arab conflict? How does children’s understanding of the conflict evolve as they grow? In this workshop, we will learn about how children’s understanding of the conflict develops over the course of childhood. Throughout this workshop, we’ll consider: what is developmentally appropriate to teach children about the conflict?
Examining Student Thinking about
October 7th and its Aftermath
Professional Development Workshop
For K-8 Educators
How do Jewish children think about the events of October 7th, the Israel-Hamas war, the ongoing hostage situation, and the rise of antisemitism in the US? In this session, we will examine transcripts of Jewish children thinking about this question. We’ll consider: what do children say? What do children’s words reveal about their thoughts, questions, and concerns about world events? And what do children’s ideas mean for our own practice as educators?
More Like Mexico or Arendelle?:
How Early Childhood Learners
Make Sense of Israel
Professional Development Workshop
For Early Childhood Educators
This workshop, designed for educators who work with early childhood learners, focuses on the ways that young children think, feel, and learn about Israel. We’ll investigate the ways that early childhood learners understand Israel as both a country and as a Jewish place. Throughout this workshop, we’ll consider: how do we create classrooms that include opportunities for early childhood learners to encounter Israel in developmentally appropriate ways?
Elementary but not Juvenile: Developmentally Attuned Israel
Education for Elementary School
Professional Development Workshop
For K-6 Educators
This workshop, designed for educators who work with primary school learners, focuses on the ways that elementary-age children think, feel, and learn about Israel. We’ll investigate the evolution of children’s conceptual understanding of Israel’s geography, history, culture, and politics. Throughout this workshop, we’ll consider: how do we tune our curricular and pedagogical choices to be attuned to the unique developmental needs of elementary-age learners?
Stuck in the Middle:
The Challenges and Opportunities of
Middle School Israel Education
Professional Development Workshop
For 5-8 Educators
This workshop, designed for educators who work with middle years learners, focuses on the ways that middle school education offers both significant challenges and meaningful opportunities for learners and the educators who guide them. We will explore how middle years learners think about Israel politics, Israel-related antisemitism, Israel-related social media, and other key issues that situate middle years learners as distinct from both elementary- and high-school-age learners.
Sivan Zakai 