How Teachers Perceive Problems of Bible Teaching in Israeli Religious Elementary Schools

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1 How Teachers Perceive Problems of Bible Teaching in Israeli Religious Elementary Schools Ruth Walfish and David Brody Efrata College of Education Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 1

2 The Importance of Bible Teaching Centrality of the Bible in Jewish life Centrality of the Bible in the Israeli curriculum Tension between the ideal of Bible study and its implementation in the classroom Why this research? Understanding the problems inherent in Bible teaching can generate new approaches both in pre-service and in-service training of Bible instructors. Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 2

Research Methods Population: 5 teachers recommended by their principals, grades 2-6, in religious schools Semi-structured interview (one and a half hours) Interviews were

3 Research Methods Population: 5 teachers recommended by their principals, grades 2-6, in religious schools Semi-structured interview (one and a half hours) Interviews were recorded and transcribed Coding according to themes found in the interviews using grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 2008) Efrata College of Education Jerusalem, Israel 3

4 Findings Problems Solutions Reading comprehension Reading comprehension Content Content Heterogeneous grouping Lack of teaching materials and teacher guidance Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 4

5 Problems in Reading Comprehension Biblical Hebrew differs from modern Hebrew Unfamiliar words Differences in morphology Differences in meaning Laconic style Tedious lists and repetitions אלקים שפי, שפחה חרופה וו ההיפוך מולדת יראה לו השה לעולה בני Almost a foreign language. חניית השבטים Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 5

6 Content Issues The Bible is not a children`s book. Moral problems Deception Favoritism Harsh and unfair punishments Social inequality Sensitive Issues Sexual content Divine providence Topics that are irrelevant to students Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 6

7 Solutions to Problems of Morality Faith Principle: We cannot understand God s ways. Distancing: We cannot judge biblical heroes. Confronting: We need to understand the behavior of the biblical heroes. Historical Perspective: Changes in defining moral behavior Midrash as Mediator: Cushioning the characters Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 7

8 Solutions to Sensitive Issues: sexual content, divine providence, irrelevancies Midrash: modification of p shat Selectivity: skipping over topic, filtering, focusing on certain details Justification: the righteous are judged by a more stringent standard Application: using modern analogies for biblical situations Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 8

9 Solutions to Language Difficulties Strategies of Hebrew Teachers: Analyzing passages, attention to morphology Reading aloud, student preparation at home. Strategies specific to Bible: Reading according to taamim Translating from biblical to modern Hebrew Skipping over poetry Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 9

Conclusions Teaching Bible is a daily challenge. The isolation of teachers compounds the problems. Teachers seek support from their colleagues in an informal setting, as well as from experts.

10 Conclusions Teaching Bible is a daily challenge. The isolation of teachers compounds the problems. Teachers seek support from their colleagues in an informal setting, as well as from experts. Teachers generate their own solutions, some routine, others original. Operative suggestion: creating a community of practice in which teachers exchange ideas and reflect on each others` knowledge and experience. This will generate new pedagogic strategies and empower teachers. Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 10

11 Thank you for your attention! Ruti Walfish David Brody Efrata College of Education Jerusalem Israel 11

USF MASTERS OF SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM ASSESSMENT OF FOUNDATION STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES LAST COMPLETED ON 4/30/17

USF MASTERS OF SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM ASSESSMENT OF FOUNDATION STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES LAST COMPLETED ON 4/30/17 This form is used to assist the COA in the evaluation of the program s compliance with the