Studying Pluralism in Jewish Education
Leader: Susan Shevitz
Staff: Rahel Wasserfall (Senior Research Associate)
Pluralist settings are becoming places that prepare people to affirm and develop their own Jewish identities while respecting different approaches and engaging productively with people unlike themselves. This is a formidable challenge in schools, camps, and other Jewish educational venues where identity development is central to the agenda.
This project was one of the first field-based studies to focus on how a pluralistic education is enacted in a multi-denominational setting. It was designed to document the school's vision in action and to show how it has affected students and faculty in a multi-denominational Jewish high school.
In 2006, project leaders presented findings at the Network for Research in Jewish Education annual conference, and the "Reframing Jewish Education Worldwide" conference at the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University.
In March 2006, "Pluralist Education," by project leader Susan Shevitz, appeared in Sh'ma: An Online Journal of Jewish Responsibility.
Pluralism Project Working Papers
In 2006, the project produced drafts of two research papers on the enactment of pluralism, which are in the process of being developed for peer review and publication.
Click below to read the draft working papers (PDF):
Building Community in a Pluralist Jewish High School: Balancing Risk and Safety, Group and Individual in the Life of a School, Susan L. Shevitz, Ed.D. and Rahel Wasserfall, Ph.D.
The Language of Pluralism in a Jewish Day School, Rahel Wasserfall, Ph.D. and Susan L. Shevitz, Ed.D.
For more information: Susan Shevitz (shevitz@brandeis.edu)