Teaching Jewish Studies: Pirkei Avot

Catalog description

This course has two main overlapping goals; How to teach Pirkei Avot and mefarshim to students, including important methodologies, and How to teach social and emotional learning (SEL) and positive psychology to students. This will be accomplished by using Pirkei Avot as a springboard to enhance this type of learning for a Jewish day school. After an introduction to core ideas in SEL and positive psychology and an overview of Pirkei Avot, we will learn methodology to give us language as to how to teach Pirkei Avot to enhance critical thinking and analysis. We will also collect ideas cutting across Mishnayot and the commentators as they relate to different psychological principles, such as grit, self-control, productivity, character, social intelligence, emotional intelligence, and educational psychology. In addition to weekly readings, discussions, and smaller assignments, students will create lesson plans that integrate the Pirkei Avos methodology and psychology, as well as a three-part lesson plan on the topic of student-s choice.