Giving Compass' Take:

• Talia Graff at eJewish Philanthropy writes on the work of Pedagogy of Partnership (PoP), and how teachers are learning and collaborating on tools to encourage their students social, emotional and academic growth. 

• How can teachers of all religious backgrounds make use of these methods? 

• Here's an article on improving student teaching methods. 

Imagine a classroom where students not only help each other learn, but thank each other for their listening skills and identify strategies for working together. This classroom is more than just a fantasy. It exists at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital. As one fourth grader wrote to her partner: “I noticed you used a lot of attentive silence and the prompt, ‘do you understand what I am saying’ … you helped me realize that the text is really interesting, and you are a great partner to work with.” These students have absorbed the foundational skills for working in havruta, as partners in learning. And these students aren’t the only ones.

In August, teachers and school leaders from four schools across the United States arrived at Hadar. After a year of implementing new classroom techniques, they were meeting to reflect on the changes they saw in their students and their schools. “My students dove deeper … than I ever could have imagined.” One teacher reflected on her practice: “This has brought me to a completely different place in my teaching, and I’ve been teaching for a long time.” What was responsible for these dramatic shifts?

These educators are part of a special two-year long cohort facilitated by Allison Cook and Dr. Orit Kent, directors of the Pedagogy of Partnership (PoP), fueled by Hadar. The educators have devoted themselves to learning the building blocks of what makes for successful havruta partnership in their classrooms. They have reflected on what sorts of tools students should be offered to encourage their social and emotional growth alongside their academic performance. They’ve restructured lesson plans and transformed students into partners, responsible for digging deeper into their studies.

Read the full article about teaching for depth, gratitude and connection by Talia Graff at eJewish Philanthropy.