Beit Midrash Research Project
Leaders: Orit Kent and Elie Holzer
What is the Beit Midrash Research Project?
The innovative Beit Midrash for Teachers component in the Master of Arts in Teaching: Jewish Day Schools engages students in close study of Jewish texts to develop their capacities for textual interpretation and collaborative learning. The Beit Midrash Research Project is studying the design and implementation of this opportunity for professional learning and specifically investigating two distinctive forms of Jewish learning: the interpretation of Jewish texts and hevruta (paired) learning. The project is building knowledge that can inform the deliberate use of these modes of study in teaching and professional education.
For five years, the project has been documenting the planning, teaching, and learning in the Beit Midrash for Teachers. Read current publications based on this research. Other works in progress include a book, Text Study and Hevruta Learning: Interpretive Practices for Educational Conversations and Orit Kent's dissertation, Interactive Text Study and the Co-Construction of Meaning: Hevruta in the DeLeT Beit Midrash.
Project leaders are also working with experienced teachers, drawing on tools and frameworks taht have been generated through the research conducted in this project.
For more information: Orit Kent (okent@brandeis.edu) or Elie Holzer (esholzer@netvision.net.il)