Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education

Sharon Feiman-Nemser Celebration

In October 2020, people joined us from far and near to toast Sharon as she transitioned to emerita status. Friends, former students, colleagues and family members assembled on Zoom for a two-session symposium followed by a reception to celebrate her achievements and accomplishments as a scholar, mentor and role model for so many. While we were sorry that we could not be together in person, the gathering was nevertheless a fitting tribute to the Mandel Center's founding director.

In the first session, we invited five panelists to share an article that represents one of Sharon's key scholarly contributions:

• Deborah Ball, University of Michigan: "Learning to Teach" (pdf) (1983), "one of the earliest and most basic building blocks among Sharon's contributions to teacher education."
• Michael Zeldin, HUC-LA: "Pitfalls of Experience in Teacher Education" (pdf) (1985, with Margaret Buchmann), which argues that novice teachers can only learn effectively from their experience when guided by a mentor.
• Helen Featherstone, Brandeis: "When is Student Teaching Teacher Education?" (pdf) (1987, with Margaret Buchmann), which argues that student teachers often pay attention to the wrong things, such as student behavior, to the detriment of observing and understanding student learning.
• Susan Kardos, Heschel School: "From Preparation to Practice: Designing a Continuum to Strengthen and Sustain Teaching" (pdf) (2001), which, "building on a broad and deep base of existing research, walks us through the first ten years of a teacher's learning journey."
• Jenny Lewis, Wayne State University: "Helping Novices Learn to Teach: Lessons from an Exemplary Support Teacher" (pdf) (2001), "an exemplar that offers very ambitious ideas about teaching and learning with a profound respect for teachers and the work they do, all the while accessible to just about everyone."

Celebration Videos