Teaching & Learning Practices
At UnitEd-Herzog, we strive to provide powerful Jewish education through professional educators who integrate Jewish content with teaching strategies that promote high impact learning. The following four fundamental pillars of teaching and learning are essential for implementing our pedagogical mission.
We encourage educators to go beyond knowledge transfer to ensure meaningful learning, which leads to the personalization and internalization of the values, content, and processes conveyed during the lesson.
Educational Pillars
Active learning processes encourage your students to become engaged in the learning process, requiring learners to explore, research, present, and create. Active learning fosters a sense of student ownership and responsibility for their learning, boosting engagement and encouraging a classroom atmosphere in which students are active, rather than passive which helps students develop higher-order thinking skills.
A Values-based approach to learning seeks to engage students in explorative learning experiences which deepen and widen value-based attitudes through content and vocabulary. They also nurture moral development through analysis and value clarification. These practices seek to guide behavior and choices while focusing on character and spiritual/religious development, and the ability to interact with others through a values-based lens.
Collaborative learning views social learning experiences as a critical part of guiding students’ emotional and cognitive development, so that they can grow to work effectively as part of a team. When students work interdependently by pooling their knowledge, skills, and efforts, it creates opportunities for learners to capitalize on each other’s skills and resources. The teacher takes on a facilitative role that shifts away from direct instruction to scaffolding learning within the group.
When using self-directed learning practices we enable students take responsibility for their learning process and to develop their ability to channel thoughts, emotions, and actions towards pursuing academic, emotional or social goals. This approach aims to help students become lifelong learners, by guiding them to take initiative, solve problems and make informed choices independently, while developing a degree of autonomy.
United Practices
There are a rich array of teaching practices which you can use to successfully implement these pedagogical foundations (pillars). Here are some practical ways to integrate these pedagogical foundations into the learning process. practices can offer inspiration for creating high-impact, meaningful learning while engaging your students and inspiring them to be active learners.
students can turn taught concepts into a scripted story which the class can listen to, write, or present. Teachers can use digital storytelling through the use of videos, pictures, apps, and audio to help students retain…
The Jigsaw strategy is most effective when introducing new learning material or for cooperative review of material which had been previously learnt. Jigsaw can be especially effective when there is a lot of information to take in…
In the beginning of the session an idea or concept is taught followed by a question which is presented to the students. Students take a few minutes to think of their individual answers and express them in writing…
Havruta can be used to introduce new texts. It can also be used to further explore or review texts which have been introduced by the teacher before. Havruta can be used as a beginning activity for a lesson to raise students’…
Teachers can use the think-pair-share strategy at a number of learning junctions:
Before introducing a new topic to assess prior knowledge…
To flip teaching, provide students with meaningful learning materials before engaging in active learning in the classroom. This can be done by assigning readings with questions to answer…
Mind Mapping can be used during and after several concepts have been taught, for group brainstorming or assessing prior knowledge before teaching. Mind mapping can be used for generating…
A learning menu can take many forms and require students to complete any number of assignments on a variety of subjects. Teachers should provide clear individual instructions to students as to how many…
Choose a topic to which your students can relate to, perhaps one with practical application. Teachers can choose to create a setting for class debate, this might include an allocated presenting space…
This teaching practice can be used as an introduction to learning value base topics or texts. It can also be used when engaging the class in current affairs discussions…
The teacher leads by asking a thought-provoking question. Students actively engage by trying to reply or debate amongst themselves. The teacher then poses a…
