Self-Paced, Point & Click: The Jewish Problem with Programmed Instruction

by Joel Lurie Grishaver

Programmed Instruction

There is a growing fantasy in Jewish education that everything will be better if we only take the teacher out of the equation. This is manifesting itself in the claim that low level computer exercises can replace a day a week of Jewish learning. And it is leading to tools like self-checking folders that students work their way through at their own pace. What all of these hold in common is a reliance on an old education technique, programmed instruction, which was used mainly for industrial training and has mainly shown itself to be a failure in general education.

Programmed instruction grew out of the work of B.F. Skinner, the behaviorist who believed that learning was conditioning. In rewarding students who get the right answer, students become conditioned to repeat that answer. Programmed instruction sends students through a series of frames where they (a) receive information, (b) are asked about that information, and (c) are shown the correct answer. In more sophisticated forms, there is now a “branching” opportunity. If the student got the answer right, they move on to the next frame. If they get it wrong, they are put into a review loop.

The good news seems to be (a) the ability of each student to move at his/her own pace, (b) a high rate of retention (at least in the short term), and (c) the freeing of the class from the imposition of a teaching doing bad “frontal” education. But most of the advocates of programmed instruction, whether in software or folders, seem to forget three things:

1. Levels of Learning

Benjamin Bloom, one of my teachers, wrote a big book with J. Thomas Hastings and George F. Madaus called Handbook on Formative and Summative Evaluation of Student Learning. In it is a taxonomy of educational objectives that describes a series of “levels” of learning. In the cognitive domain there are six: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The problem is simple. Jewish life and real Jewish learning is all about Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation, the higher levels. Programmed Instruction is best for Knowledge, Comprehension and Application, the lower three levels.

There is also a taxonomy of affective objectives: Receiving (or Awareness), Responding, Valuing, Organization, and Characterization by a value or value complex. These affective objectives (usually called “Krathwohl’s Taxonomy”) are all about a process called “internalization,” whereby a student’s affect towards something goes from being aware (that’s the “receiving” part) all the way to the point where their affect has been internalized and consistently guides or controls the person’s behavior. It’s the path between knowing that kavod is a Jewish value and going through life treating people with kavod. Programmed Instruction can get you to Awareness, but it is not great at getting to the rest of the domain. Jewish education should be all about valuing and the rest of that process.

The argument can be made that Programmed Instruction is mainly being used to teach Hebrew language. That Alef Bet is only Alef Bet is partially true. But Alef Bet leads to Ashrei and Ashrei is supposed to build a connection to God. While learning folders with self-checking and computer programs may have a role in mechanical learning, they are incapable of taking it any further. When do you feel close to God? What is the right thing to do in this case? What do you think of when you say the Shema? These are all moments of Jewish learning that are simply not part of a computer’s function.

2. Community

The purpose of Bar and Bat Mitzvah is to acknowledge that a child is now old enough to function as an adult in the ritual life of the Jewish people. Reading Torah is a symbol that a child can now function as a member of the community. A new adult can now be counted in a minyan. Most importantly, this means that a new adult is old enough to go to a shiva house and be counted among those whose responsibility it is to help heal the pain of death. If we are going to turn our schools into B’nai Mitzvah mills, we could do worse than if they included the skills of participating in Jewish communal life and learning compassion and empathy. Those are not things that come from the kind of computer programs we have and are likely to have in the foreseeable future. They are the inverse of things learned when each student is moving at his or her own pace.

Tolerance is one of the things that one learns from being part of a learning community. So is patience, leadership, and being a good listener. The best way to learn how to participate in community life is practice. It is not an accident that Jews pray in community and demand community for most Jewish events. Studying prayer at home on the computer is not the best way to learn about community. Working alone at your own folder, checking your own answers, doesn’t develop leadership skills.

3. Teachers

Finally, the Jewish tradition believes in teachers. It sees teachers as rich (not mechanical) enablers of individualization and personalization. Teachers allow lessons to go off on tangents, listen to student needs, and take advantage of the moment. Teachers can appreciate and celebrate, understand and empathize. A teacher-free classroom can maybe transmit Jewish information, but it is not a Jewish classroom. The modeling of the Jewish classroom as Jewish learning community, the enabling of the community by a person manifesting and applying Jewish values – this is our goal. I know of no one who can claim that their best learning moment took place when completing a self-guided booklet. Not every teacher is ideal, but teachers are our ideal.

Every teaching tool that is effective has its time and purpose. Programmed instruction and computer-assisted instruction are tools that have their time and place. But ironically, as we have less time to spend together with our students, now is precisely the time for more student-teacher interaction, not less. As we are trying to teach the skills of communal worship, now is precisely not the time to invite our students to learn Hebrew from computer screens. When we are trying to instruct our students to maximize their humanity and use it to change the world, now is precisely the time to make human interaction a foundational value of Jewish education. The elimination of the human in education is a step backwards.

Steps Forward

At Torah Aura Productions, we are dedicated to producing curricular materials that realize a depth of understanding rather than focusing only on facts and feelings. That means that we also must be active partners with teachers and educators to maximize the Jewish educational impact on their students.

Programmed instruction is perfectly useful if the goal is to develop students who can perform at a one-time event. We’re encouraging a different goal: students who are lifelong Jews. Our mission is to make materials that help teachers and educators to enable their students to become empowered Jewish adults.

We believe in doing what it takes to develop good teachers who can actualize impactful Jewish learning. That may be more difficult than asking teachers to facilitate programmed instruction in booklets or on computer screens, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor. Human interaction is the key to the Jewish future. And because we believe in humanity, we believe that Jewish schools can succeed at doing something bigger, better and worthwhile.

News2Use: Bibi, Eurovision, Rabbis, Kings

by Adrian A. Durlester

When Will Israel Have A New Government? Just ten days after the elections which gave Tzipi Livni and the Kadima party 28 Knesset seats and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party 27 Knesset seats, Israeli President Shimon Peres broke with tradition and asked Netanyahu to form a government. Historically, the leader of the party with the most seats was asked to form the new government. However, after Prime Mister Olmert announced his intention to resign, Livni was unable to form a new government coalition, thus leading to the elections this February. Now, Netanyahu’s attempts to forge a broad coalition including the centrist Kadima and left-wing Labor parties have failed. Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu said that coalition talks are continuing and that discussing negotiations in public weaken the party’s standing. However, there is now widespread speculation that Netanyahu will announce the formation of a very narrow right-wing government next week. Some in Israel are very concerned about a right-wing government. The parents of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit are hoping that the outgoing Olmert government can secure his release before their time in office is up, and are fearful that a right-wing government will have a more difficult time negotiating for Gilad’s release. Lots of resources on this story on the web, most notably at www.jta.org, www.ynetnews.com, www.haaretz.com, www.jpost.com.

Controversial Arab-Jewish Duo to Sing for Peace at Eurovision – The Israeli public, at least those that were tuned in on Monday, March 2, picked the peace song “Your Eyes” to be sung by the Jewish-Arab duo selected to represent Israel in the Eurovision 2009 song contest in Moscow. Announced just one day after the Israeli incursion into Gaza started last December, the selection of the duo of Israeli artist Noa (Achinoam Nini) and Arab-Israeli artist Mira Awad (the first Arab-Israeli to be selected to represent Israel at the prestigious Eurovision contest) has stirred controversy and criticism from both Arab and Israeli quarters. That criticism has only increased with the selection of the peace song chosen on Monday by fellow Israelis. A group of Arab artists, some Israeli, some Palestinian, sent Awad an open letter calling on her to withdraw from the performance. Israelis have criticized Noa for her openly leftist views. Others claim the duo is watering down the realities and inappropriately trying to present a warm and fuzzy, feel good picture. However, the two artists, friends on and off stage, are determined. Awad says she wants people to realize that Jews and Arabs must find a way to live together. Nini said it was a chance to send a message of peace to the millions who would be watching the duo on stage. The chance to get viewers thinking is enhanced by the fact that, to many, Awad looks Jewish and Noa looks Arab. Israel has an interesting history, especially recently, of sending a very mixed variety of performers and songs to Eurovision. One might even examine Israeli politics through the lens of their Eurovision selections.
Official Israeli Eurovision Site: http://www.iba.org.il/eurovil/
Official History of Israeli Entries: http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-country/country?country=18
An interesting Jewcy blog commentary: http://tinyurl.com/cat3tv

Conservative Rabbis and Leaders to USCJ: Don’t Leave Us Out! – The Conservative movement, once the largest in the U.S., but now eclipsed by Reform Judaism, has been grappling with its future for a number of years. A confluence of changes in leadership has sparked new hope among the movements adherents for future possibilities. JTS has a new chancellor in Arnold Eisen, who is already bringing change and a fresh breeze to the Conservative seminary. Rabbi Julie Schonfeld will become the head of the Rabbinical Assembly this summer. United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) will be selecting a replacement for long-time Executive Vice-President Jerome Epstein. About 50 rabbis, cantors, and synagogue leaders are concerned that USCJ has kept their selection process entirely internal, without consulting with rabbis and other leaders. They formed a group Hayom: Coalition for the Transformation of Conservative Judaism, and wrote a joint letter to USCJ expressing their concerns. While JTS invited representatives of the movement’s other organizations to sit on the search committee that tapped Eisen, the United Synagogue kept the process closed-the search committee did not even include a pulpit rabbi. Ray Goldtsein, President of USCJ has now agreed to meet with the representatives of Hayom which includes clergy from some very large and successful congregations. He has conceded that keeping the process closed may have been an error, but said he had sought informal input from the movement’s other arms, including from Eisen. Complete article: http://tinyurl.com/dyayqv

The Tanakh Goes Sci-Fi?: A new tv show premieres this Sunday on NBC. Called “Kings,” the show is the brainchild of Michael Green, one of the writer/producers for “Heroes,” who models the new show’s characters on the biblical David, Saul, Goliath, et al. The show has some very overt religious and political symbolism. The show has had a lot of hype and expectation. Just try Googling it. Will it live up to the hype? Can the biblical stories survive such an updating? Watch a few episodes and send us your opinions. http://www.nbc.com/Kings/

Other Articles of Interest for Use in Your Classes:

Some thought-provoking comments about Purim and Anti-Semitism from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: http://tinyurl.com/d7reto

Jews and Food – Nothing New, Right? Wrong – Try “The Jew and the Carrot” site for a refreshing look at “Jews, food, and contemporary issues.” http://jcarrot.org

Secular Israelis forge new ways to connect with Judaism: http://tinyurl.com/bhgkw2

News2Use is a new feature written by Adrian A. Durlester. To comment or respond, send an email to Adrian at tapbb@yoeitzdrian.com or to the TAPBB at tapbb@torahaura.com.

Speeches at the National Jewish Book Awards

On March 6, the editors of What We Now Know About Jewish Education (Paul Flexner, Roberta Louis Goodman, and Linda Dale Bloomberg) received the National Jewish Book Award in Jewish Education and Identity. The awards ceremony was held at the Center for Jewish History in New York. We’re very pleased to present some of the words that Paul, Roberta, and Linda shared with the audience that night.

Paul’s remarks:
This is very exciting. To be recognized by our colleagues and our peers is very special to each of us. It gives us each time to pause and reflect on the endless hours of conversation, of editing and of the final product that resulted.

The comments that we have received over the last few months provide us with much food for thought. They suggest that we are entering (or have entered) a new age when a book is not just a book. Rather, a book serves as an inspiration for the reader to reflect and respond, to enter into a dialogue with others, to add to their knowledge and understanding, and to begin the preparation of the next sequel which may appear as an ongoing collection of digital bytes easily accessed from anywhere and at anytime by the truly curious.

Our exploration of Jewish education over the last 20 years raised significant and critical questions for all of us engaged in the educational process. With each new development, with each new technology, teachers are challenged to incorporate the ‘new’ into their practice; they have to make adjustments; and, they need to constantly reflect on how to connect the ‘new’ with the traditions and history of a 3000+ year old community that is now faced with rapid change. As teachers, and all educators are teachers, we are the ones who build the connections between the tools and the text, between the lives of the students and the traditions of a people.

To accomplish this transition, we chose to dig deeply into every aspect of Jewish education. We could not ignore a critical component simply to save space or to be more concise. And, this is the result of our efforts. For this, we simply say, THANK YOU!

Roberta’s remarks:
My husband always jokes that What We Know about Jewish Education is 350 blank pages, and NOW, the sequel, is 450 of even larger blank pages.

So what is the book about? It should be obvious, it is a love story. It is about the encounter between faith as represented by passion, commitment, and vision and science with its tools of rationality, statistics, predictability, and outcomes. All of this happens among the main characters–researchers, evaluators, practitioners, lay leaders, funders, and learners too-all who put their hope and trust in Torah and God to assure that the Jewish people thrive in a just and caring world.

So why the first volume? Those engaging in Jewish educational research were already organizing as a network, presenting papers prior to the annual CAJE Conference, in 1982 or thereabouts. With the 1990 Jewish population study and the interest in Jewish education as a response to the continuity agenda, Torah Aura Productions, Inc. published the first volume in 1992, to get the voices of academics and practitioners and their knowledge and perspectives from the then “thin” amount of research into the conversation about the future of Jewish education with policy makers and funders.

Why NOW? This sequel reflects the ways in which decisions about Jewish education, in terms of policy making, funding, and programming have come to both initiate and rely upon research and evaluation. The expanded number of chapters in this volume reflects that Jewish education is a topic of import to a broad range of Jewish and non-Jewish academics and others too. Finally, it represents, the ways in which those preparing to or already tarrying in the field, the college/graduate students and practitioners, can turn to research and writings in their own field, rather than always having to apply what the secular world has to say to Jewish education. We accomplish this by exposing the reader to the perspectives of the well established and the upcoming researchers, the latter, who will sooner than later be editing book #3.

Linda’s remarks:
The past decade has seen the emergence of a growing interest in evaluation and research by Jewish educators, policymakers, and philanthropists seeking to ascertain the extent to which various kinds of Jewish educational experiences can serve to impact learning and engender more meaningful engagement in Jewish life. The field of Jewish education has certainly worked hard to address the new realities of contemporary society. While we have much reason to celebrate our achievements, however, multiple challenges continue to confront Jewish education. Not least among these, as pointed out by Steven M. Cohen, is the significant decline in Jewish ethnicity and collective Jewish identity.

As such, Jewish education as a field of practice as well as an object of academic study must remain a matter of critical significance. Research must continue to address issues regarding the learners, the educators, the pedagogy, the educational contexts, as well as the more philosophical questions regarding the very purposes of Jewish education. Moreover, we need to create channels and opportunities to share what we know across contexts and practice areas, and in so doing make what we have learned educative, relevant, and meaningful to others.

This volume offers a forum for expanding the rich emerging conversation regarding an ideal Jewish education for our times and beyond. And the sequel will hopefully contribute to the ongoing discourse by capturing and further expanding upon the fruits of the research and evaluation efforts of the years that lie ahead. It is an honor that What we Now Know about Jewish Education: Perspectives on Research for Practice has received a National Jewish Book Award, particularly in the category “Education and Jewish Identity”. Indeed, a thread that runs through all of the chapters of this extensive volume is the significant impact that Jewish learning has on Jewish identity, and consequently on Jewish engagement, commitment, and continuity. Kol Hakavod to all those who continue to research the possibilities and opportunities that Jewish learning, in all its varied facets, has, in shaping and impacting our future, our Jewish heritage.