The Chronicle
Fall 2011
Page 11
O
ur goal is to develop educational leaders for
the Reform movement and greater Jewish
community who are prepared to face the
questions confronting the Jewish community today,
while also envisioning an ideal image of what might be
in the future. Students learn to apply a thorough
grounding in Jewish studies, Hebrew, and the theoreti-
cal literature of Jewish and general education to
innovative and inspired practice in a wide variety of
educational settings within the framework of life-long
Jewish learning and living. Through formal classroom
learning, supervised experiential learning, and clinical
mentoring, students learn the importance of collabora-
tive leadership, team
building, communication,
and reflective practice
when trying to facilitate
productive and meaning-
ful change in the contexts
in which they work.
In courses such as
“
Educational Leadership
and Organizational Dy-
namics,” “Professional
Learning” and the “MARE
Seminar,” students learn
about vision and culture
and change theory. They
learn that to inspire others
you need to integrate the head (ideas), the hand
(
action), and the heart (care and concern) to lead
a community forward. In “Teaching and Learning,”
students examine their successes and challenges.
They learn the importance of getting and giving feed-
back if they are to support each other’s growth as a
teacher and a leader.
Internship placements provide students with the
opportunity to work directly with an educational
leader, while also taking on some leadership responsi-
bilities themselves. Some internships enable students
to supervise other faculty (with the support of their
mentor, the school’s educational leader); others pro-
vide interns with the opportunity to lead faculty
meetings, conduct professional development, write
curricula, and become part of the leadership team.
They may attend board meetings and learn how to
navigate the culture of the congregation or organiza-
tion in which they are placed. Students have first-hand
opportunities to learn how leaders function in their
professional lives.
The New York School of Education’s Miller High
School Honors Program for 11th and 12th graders in the
greater New York area is a leadership training program
funded by Seymour and Claire Miller, a member
emerita of the Board of Governors and Eastern Region
Board of Overseers. Education and rabbinical students
serve as faculty for the
twice monthly classes at
HUC-JIR in which their
teenage students meet
with lay and professional
leaders, study texts, lead
services, and bring their
learning back into their
congregations. Thus, an
emerging generation of
Jewish lay
and
professional
leaders is nurtured.
Whether through our
course of study, academic
and clinical mentoring ex-
periences, internships with
leaders in the field, or networking with and learning
from alumni and other lay and professional leaders, it
is our hope that our Master of Arts in Religious Educa-
tion graduates become visionary leaders who are also
spiritual and moral exemplars for the Reform move-
ment and the greater Jewish community.
“
I learned that a good leader needs to have the same skill as a great educator –
to be able to see the end result or to have the vision before planning the process.
The farther you can see, the more ways you can find to get there, and the better
chance you have to lead congregants or students forward.”
—
Rabbi Yaron Kapitulnik, NYSOE ’10, N ’10;
Rabbi/Educator, Temple Judea, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
“
I explored texts on leadership models and found inspiration from my Jewish roots. I drew upon my teachers’ wealth of profes-
sional knowledge, experience, and guidance. I was encouraged to reflect on my own leadership style to understand how I work
best on my own and with others, and to articulate what kind of leadership I need from others in order to challenge myself and
put my best self forward.”
—
Jessica Ingram, SJNM ’09, NYSOE ’10; Project Manager, UJA/Federation of New York
Lessons in Leadership at the
New York School of Education
Professor Jo Kay,
Director, New York School of Education, HUC-JIR/New York
and their instructors for feedback. Over time, they learn that this “professional net-
work” of “critical friends” is absolutely essential to their success in the classroom. It
is also truly amazing when they inevitably find themselves, late in the year, serving
as “critical friends” to their mentors who value their views as colleagues!
A related skill/concept that Fellows practice daily in DeLeT is reflective practice.
On the very first day of the program, they are introduced to language that promotes
reflection and they practice it in classes, in
t’filah
,
when they teach “model” lessons
to their peers, everywhere. Their teachers at HUC-JIR model reflective behavior when
they teach them and their mentors do the same when they talk with the Fellows about
their observations. Typically, when students enter the program they understand reflec-
tion to mean “What should I have done differently?” We carefully help them begin to
think about it, instead, as “What did I learn from this experience?” based on the belief
that leaders look forward rather than backward.
DeLeT Fellow Orly Douek teaching at Pressman
Academy in Los Angeles.
Seymour and Claire Miller established and
sustain the Miller High School Honors Program
at HUC-JIR/New York.
DeLeT Fellow Jacob Hall teaching a 6th-grade
government class at Stephen S. Wise
Elementary School in Los Angeles.
