Journal of Jewish Education Teaching Through Personal Stories: Congregational Rabbis and Teaching...

This article was downloaded by: [Sarah M. Tauber]On: 30 December 2013, At: 11:09Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Jewish EducationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujje20

Teaching Through Personal Stories:Congregational Rabbis and TeachingAdultsSarah M. TauberPublished online: 15 Nov 2013.

To cite this article: Sarah M. Tauber (2013) Teaching Through Personal Stories: Congregational Rabbisand Teaching Adults, Journal of Jewish Education, 79:4, 432-452, DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2013.844553

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2013.844553

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujje20

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/15244113.2013.844553

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15244113.2013.844553

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Journal of Jewish Education, 79:432–452, 2013Copyright © Network for Research in Jewish EducationISSN: 1524-4113 print / 1554-611X onlineDOI: 10.1080/15244113.2013.844553

Teaching Through Personal Stories:Congregational Rabbis and Teaching Adults

SARAH M. TAUBER

As educators, synagogue rabbis frequently devote a great deal oftime to teaching adults. Yet little empirical research exists aboutwhat they do. This study describes and analyzes the teachingof three congregational rabbis who have excellent reputations asteachers of adults. In particular, it focuses on how these rab-bis incorporate personal stories into their teaching and examinesthe ways that sharing such stories is integral to their teachingapproaches. Rabbis who use stories in their teaching potentiallyoccupy a crucial place in the Jewish identity development of theiradult learners. This study offers rabbinical seminaries recommen-dations for how to incorporate the results of the research into theircurriculum.

This article developed out of my dissertation on congregational rabbis asteachers of adults. A prominent theme that surfaced repeatedly in the inter-views and observations with the three rabbis portrayed here (who were thesubjects of my dissertation research) was how they wove the act of sharingpersonal stories into their work with adult learners. The value of telling andlistening to these stories, and of then reflecting upon them during and afterthe educational encounter, revealed itself to me over time. It was not ini-tially a focus of my research; nor did I anticipate that it would be before Ibegan my investigations. In retrospect, given the importance that scholars inthe field of adult education attach to the place of experience in adult learn-ing, perhaps it ought to have been. Yet in general, while the relationshipbetween experience and adult learning has been explored for some time(Lindeman, 1961; Knowles, 1984, 1989; Kolb, 1984), there has been littlescholarly attention given to the interaction specifically among story, experi-ence, and teaching adults. Only since the 1990s have a handful of scholars

Sarah M. Tauber is Assistant Professor of Jewish Education at the Davidson School of JewishEducation at the Jewish Theological Seminary. E-mail: [email protected]

432

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13

Teaching Through Personal Stories 433

in the field of adult learning started to focus on the place of story (Clark &Rossiter, 2008, pp. 63–64; Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007, p. 209).In this article, the use of the words story and storytelling will be defined bor-rowing language from Gudmundsdottir (1995). Although she provides thisdefinition in relation to the term narrative, and several authors cited in thisarticle use narrative rather than story, for the purposes of my research herdefinition applies equally well to the term story and its associated words.Gudmundsdottir wrote that researchers in education tend to conceive of nar-rative as “a series of verbal, symbolic, or behavioral acts sequenced for thepurpose of ‘telling someone else that something happened’” (p. 25).

Polkinghorne (1988, 1996) and McAdams (1993, 2005) have contributedsubstantial theoretical and empirical frameworks for linking story to adultdevelopment and adult learning, as have Randall (1996) and Birren, Kenyon,Ruth, Schroots, and Svensson (1996); while Rossiter (1999a, 1999b), Rossiterand Clark (2007), and Clark and Rossiter (2008) have been the most promi-nent theoreticians who have contributed to establishing a foundation forunderstanding the conceptual interaction between adult education and story.In adult Jewish learning scholarship, which has a small research base tobegin with, only Schuster (2003), Grant (2003), Schuster and Grant (2005),and Grant, Schuster, Woocher, and Cohen (2004) have made reference to theplace of stories in their research; they do so in the context of broader themespertaining to adult Jewish learning. It is evident, therefore, that this area isone ripe for extensive research.

The meaning, purpose, methods, and aims of incorporating personalstories by rabbis and their learners is a neglected area of research in adultJewish education. But due to the well-established connection between expe-rience and learning in adult education, it demands attention. The argumentin this article is that the process of sharing personal stories serves as anopportunity for reflection by the rabbi and the learners, and that valuablecognitive and affective aims are integrated into that process.

While the fields of literary theory, linguistics, textual analysis, and otherrelated disciplines in the humanities and social sciences tend to favor theword narrative in their diverse inquiries into what lay people generally callstory, some scholars have stuck with the latter term. Dan P. McAdams (1993,2005), for example, who is a prominent developmental and personality psy-chologist, has written numerous articles and books using the term story andits connection to development, and especially adult development. In the fieldof religious education, the Alban Institute continues to publish books andarticles related to the intersection of American religious communal life andstory; their authors also emphasize story rather than narrative as a descrip-tive term and as an investigative category (Hester & Walker-Jones, 2009;Goleman, 2010). This article follows the lead of McAdams and the AlbanInstitute. The reasons for doing so reflect the emphasis in the research onrabbis as teachers, how the personal experiences of both the rabbis and their

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13

434 Journal of Jewish Education

adult learners are expressed as stories, are reflected upon within the learningenvironment, and figure prominently in their teaching approaches. Digginginto the dense field of narrative theory does not contribute to enhancing ourunderstanding of this aspect of the rabbis’ methods, although there is cer-tainly the possibility of doing so in relation to how they teach texts of variousgenres. There may be other scholars who do find a focus on the intersec-tion of narrative theories and adult Jewish education worth investigating,especially in the arena of teaching Bible.

DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD

This article focuses on two Reform rabbis and one Conservative rabbi.Between 2007 and 2009 I conducted field-based qualitative research witheach of the rabbis, identified by pseudonyms as Jonathan Fisk (Reform), EricMiller (Conservative), and Rina Lewin (Reform); all possess reputations asexcellent teachers of adults in the geographic region where they live basedon my purposeful sampling of Jewish leadership and laity. Eric and Rina alsoare known nationally. At the time of the research, Jonathan had just turned40, while Eric and Rina were in their late 50s. The three rabbis worked in thesame suburban area with a large population of college-educated Jews. Theirmid-sized synagogues of between 500 and 650 households were located out-side a major metropolis with ample resources for Jewish life. The three werewilling to meet with me over an extended period of time. Although oneOrthodox rabbi’s name came up moderately in my search, when I met withhim he explained to me that due to time constraints he no longer spent abulk of his time on teaching. Rabbis who work in different Jewish milieusmay lead to additional or different findings.

The research employed portraiture to investigate the question.Field-based qualitative research was conducted over a period of 2 years.I collected data through three 90-minute semi-structured interviews of thethree rabbis, extensive observations of their teaching, email communica-tions with them, and interviews with their adult learners. The settings inwhich I observed them were the study groups that took place in the syn-agogues themselves or in the homes of the rabbis and their congregants;the rabbis teach anywhere from four to six different classes for adults ona weekly, bi-monthly, or quarterly basis. In these groups learning gener-ally happens over a continuous period of at least one year, but some ofthe classes have been ongoing for two decades. Participation ranged any-where from a dozen students to 50 attendees. The learners’ ages tendedto be in their mid-40s to the mid-80s with a somewhat equal distribution ofwomen and men, except in courses that were specifically targeted for women(for example, Rina taught a book group for women only). All of the rabbisused a range of texts as the basis of their teaching; the Bible in translation

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


was a frequent domain of focus. Mishnah, Talmud, Jewish philosophy, andcontemporary Jewish literature, nonfiction and fiction, also appeared promi-nently. Sometimes books from other areas, such as psychology or religion,were the focus. Even when the rabbis addressed a particular topic they oftenincluded a text as a way of studying the topic.

Data analysis included coding of transcribed interviews with the rabbis,extensive memo writing during the observation cycles, and artifact collection.All these contributed to the triangulation of the material. Jonathan and Rinareferred to retreats, trips, and counseling as additional settings for teaching,but I limited my observations to places within the synagogue itself or innearby off-site locations, such as in the rabbi’s home. These locations wereaccessible and feasible for me to attend over the 2-year time commitment.

My topic builds on and expands educational research in the fieldsof adult religious education, adult learning, adult development, and adultJewish education. The findings and the implications I deduce providedata and recommendations for congregational rabbis, rabbinical students,continuing rabbinic education program planners and leaders at rabbini-cal seminaries with recommendations. Based on publications by the AlbanInstitute, my research also may help Christian clergy and seminaries thatseek to understand the dynamics of clergy teacher identity in their religiouscommunities. Shared concerns among Christian and Jewish seminaries abouthow to best prepare their seminarians for clergy positions in a 21st centuryAmerica provide a reasonable rationale for the benefits of this study to theseChristian populations (Foster, Dahill, Golemon, & Tolentino, 2005).

In the following sections of the article I describe how the rabbis incor-porate personal stories in their teaching. I then analyze the value andimportance of doing so based on my observations and discussions withthem and their learners. Finally, I suggest implications for practice andrecommendations for further research.

FROM EXPERIENCE TO STORY: RABBINIC REFLECTIONAS ADULT-CENTERED CONSTRUCTIVIST PEDAGOGY

Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner (2007) dedicate a chapter in theirbook Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide to “Experience andLearning” (Chapter 7). Even as they acknowledge and explore the criticalplace of this subject in the theory and practice of adult education, theypreface their overview with questions that are appropriate to my research.Merriam and her colleagues (2007) ask the following questions (p. 161):

● “What leads to learning from experience?”● “Is the context in which the experience happens important?”

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


● “Are there ways we can design learning episodes to capture thisexperiential component best?”

Their chapter provides an overview of possible theoretical answers to thesesubjects that is grounded in past and present scholarship, including cur-rent critiques, without taking a particular stand on any one over any other.In the context of my research, their analysis of the constructivist orientationsto experience and adult learning is particularly valuable. Identifying learn-ing models proposed by Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner (2007) thatemphasize the capacity for processes such as reflection, challenge, analy-sis, problem solving and action they then survey the literature on why andhow certain adult educators incorporate these constructivist values into theirteaching and into the roles (pp. 164, 169–179). Using descriptors such as“facilitator,” “catalyst,” “coach,” “mentor,” and “assessor,” the authors high-light the way that adult educators who teach in a constructivist educationalmodel help adult learners reflect on experience and make linkages betweentheir current learning and previous experiences.

This constructivist framework is relevant to the rabbis’ approaches totheir use of story with adult learners for several reasons. Although they donot describe themselves as such, all three might be legitimately describedas constructivist educators. The first reason, and the one addressed in thissection of the article, concerns Jonathan, Eric, and Rina’s willingness to delveinto their own life-experiences, and to reflect upon what these experienceshave meant to them as rabbis, Jews, and human beings. These reflections, inturn, become stories that shape the way they approach certain topics withtheir learners. Moreover, because they have spent time figuring out how tomake their reflections part of their teaching in the form of stories, they arecomfortable modeling for their learners how to do so.

Rina and Eric were in their late-50s at the time of the research, andJonathan had just turned 40. During my interviews, each of the rabbis pre-sented a sophisticated and nuanced capacity for reflection about their owneducational and Jewish paths. This included sharing about specific incidentsin their lives as adults when they were faced with conflicts and decisions thataffected their perspectives, beliefs, and choices in relation to Judaism. Allthree rabbis connected their own experiences in this area to concerns theyfrequently heard articulated by their learners. For example, Rina describedher decision to become a rabbi in her early thirties. During the beginning ofher rabbinate she grappled with new information about misogyny in Judaism,information that disrupted her relationship to tradition. For several monthsshe experienced dislocation in regard to her own Jewish identity and realizedshe needed to figure out how to reconnect with Judaism in hitherto unfore-seen ways. Rina told me a story that illuminated why she chose to discussgendered images of God in a Torah study Shabbat class I had observed, and

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


she tied this story to her evolving understanding of the subtle yet powerfulinfluence of gender and language in Judaism:

Our youngest was two or two and a half and my husband was givingher a bath and out of the blue she turned to Jacob and she said, “Abba,God loves boys better than girls.” Had it been me, I certainly would havesaid, “Oh, no, that’s not true.” But Jacob was a much wiser parent. Hesaid, “What makes you say that?” And she said, “Well, God has a penisand boys have a penis so God likes boys better.” Now, I learned twothings from this, many things from this, but two of which were that thepronoun is not neutral and until then we said it was—you know, “It’s notreally He . . . we don’t really know.” But she got it, that it does matter.And the other is, the way we see ourselves through our religious lens hasa huge impact on how we value ourselves. And because she saw herselfas worth less in God’s eyes, in some cosmic way, she was worth less.So religion is really powerful, and finding ways to connect certainly withadult learners how religion has impacted them and how it continues to,and how it has the power to shape who we are and who we are in theworld, is at the core of sacred learning. . . . So I really do believe youknow, barukh she’amar v’haya ha’olam [line from the morning liturgythat translates as “Blessed is He who by speaking created the universe,translation, author ] that what we say creates universes, and particularlywhat we say in the name of our religious traditions. (January 17, 2008)

Rina’s insights have consequences for her teaching. She willingly pushesher learners to pose questions that move the study of any Jewish topic intotheir private beliefs and attitudes. These include how they view themselvesas individuals, and how religion can help or harm their development asflourishing human beings.

In a related vein, Jonathan discussed the dissonance he experiencedwhen he learned new information about historical truth and its relation toTorah as a beginning rabbinical school student. He described the shock heexperienced when studying biblical scholarship for the first time. He facedthe following question, one that he learned his adult learners often grapplewith as well: If God could be imagined as simply another character in thebiblical narrative based on critical scholarship, then where was the place forbelief and faith in his life as a Jew? He also shared with me stories abouthis marriage, and the process of creating a Jewish home with his wife andchildren in which they attempted to balance their passionate commitmentto Jewish ritual with a Reform approach to practice. These aspects of hiseducational and personal experiences, and the messages he derived fromthem, have helped him communicate with his adult learners in unanticipatedways. In particular, they provide him with a context for a host of issues thatarise in Reform settings.

Eric, the Conservative rabbi, talked about reaching his early-40s andbecoming increasingly aware of having arrived at a mid-way point in his life.He attributed this age-sensitivity and its accompanying existential concerns

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


as a dominant motivation in his decision to apply for the position at BethShalom, rather than remaining as a rabbi-scholar in academia. As a syn-agogue rabbi he discovered that one of the most satisfying componentsinvolves shepherding congregants through the diverse developmental phasesof their lives, often, but not exclusively, expressed via ritual milestones.He also spoke candidly about his evolving ideas regarding homosexual-ity and its relationship to traditional beliefs and Jewish law. He sharedhow he began to feel it was imperative to raise a divisive topic with hiscongregants. He also emphasized his growing awareness that on a personallevel he sought a more spiritually centered Judaism, despite the intellectualand scholarly orientation that he was most comfortable with customarily;he found a resonant response among many of his congregants to effortsto incorporate this new orientation into his rabbinate.

Rabbis Share Their Stories with Learners

The rabbis’ capacity to reflect upon their own experiences translated itselfinto an ability to introduce these insights through stories rather than via lec-ture or didactic moral instruction. This preference for teaching through storywas for the most part a natural extension of their teaching styles. None ofthe rabbis spontaneously referred to stories as a carefully thought throughteaching method; only after I had asked them about it did they articulatea rationale for using them. Instead, their use suggests an implicit grasp ofthe particular cognitive and psychosocial developmental demands of theirlearners and of how story can be a potent educational approach for adultsjust as it is for children. For example, during one adult Bar and Bat Mitzvahclass held in her home, Rina told the story of the year she lived in Jerusalemas a college student. She had attended Shabbat services at a number ofOrthodox synagogues. She described a troubling dream that she experiencedduring this time, and linked to her visits to the Orthodox synagogues. Sheconnected the dream-as-story to problematic attitudes toward women in tra-ditional Judaism, despite the value she places on Jewish tradition and Jewishritual. As if triggered by Rina’s willingness to draw upon earlier memoriesof Shabbat, a woman in her late-70s or early-80s described her memoriesof Friday night Shabbat dinners in the context of the comfort of doing thesame thing week after week, exploring why that regularity was important toher during her childhood. Other learners added their voices, the result beinga variety of perspectives about the meaning of Shabbat analyzed throughmemories of past experiences.

Eric alluded to the importance of the rabbi’s ability to share frompersonal experience in the second interview when we focused on his ownbiography:

You know, it’s interesting that you have a whole section that’s devoted tobiography. I think autobiography is important. I’m always very conflicted

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


about this, by the way, I should tell you. People love, first and foremost,talking and thinking about themselves. But slightly lower than that isthe interest in their leaders, right? They love rabbis talking about theirlives. . . . I’m not inclined to do that. . . . But your biography is importantto them. . . . [Imagining what a congregant thinks]: You’re teaching methings. It’s important for them to know how I got to that point. Whatconvinced me? What doubts did I have along the way? Because if theycan see some of their own stuff in that, then they can say, maybe thisis a path I can walk as well . . . part of being and feeling like a rabbi isnot only teaching people things but also teaching them what it is to walka certain road [italics for emphasis]. (July 29, 2008)

For all three rabbis, the importance of including their own personalexperiences as integral to the learning they do showed a grasp of theway that adults benefit by deliberately incorporating their accumulatedexperiences—expressed in a story form—into the learning, regardless ofany particular content or text being studied. In addition, because thesecongregational rabbis get to know their learners in settings beyond formalclasses, such as in pastoral counseling and life-cycle events, they were fur-ther sensitized to how the individual biographical contexts frequently affectsresponse to subject matter.

ADULT LEARNERS SHARING THEIR STORIES

For each of the rabbis, teaching involves much more than telling or talkingabout themselves; rather, listening attentively to their adult learners consti-tuted a dominant arc in their teaching. They hope to help learners discoverin Judaism a relevance to the spiritual, religious, and existential issues adultsface; doing so is a complex activity for all the parties: The rabbis guidethe learners as they carry on a potentially transformative inner dialogue; thelearners participate in conversations with their peers and the rabbi as part oflearning in a community. In an email to me about his approach to teachingusing stories, Jonathan wrote,

I find that asking adults to draw from their own wells of knowledgeand experience can be very fruitful. It draws them into the conversa-tion. It makes what we are learning more relevant, and it says that theirexperiences are directly connected to Torah. (August 13, 2008)

It may not be a coincidence that Jonathan switched pronouns in this descrip-tion, from “they” to “we.” He includes himself in the learning process evenwhen he teaches. For this reason, the sharing of personal stories becomesessential to the back and forth of discussion in the groups that Jonathan aswell as Rina and Eric teach.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


Discussion as the Key Teaching Strategy for Sharing Stories

Teaching through discussion (in distinction to, for example, journaling, inter-viewing, role-playing, and simulations, which are other accessible mediumsfor conveying stories) is the most identifiable technique that the rabbis utilizefor sharing stories. Definitions of discussion abound in educational theory,and often overlap with terms such as conversation and dialogue (Brookfield& Preskill, 2005, p. 4). Researchers use similar terminology to refer to differ-ent aspects of “group talk” (Brookfield & Preskill, 2005, p. 4). After offeringan overview of philosophical analyses of group talk, Brookfield and Preskill(2005) use a definition that most closely corresponds to the results of myresearch. They state:

In general we define discussion as an alternately serious and playfuleffort by a group of two or more to share views and engage in mutualand reciprocal critique. The purposes of discussion are fourfold: (a) tohelp participants reach a more critically informed understanding aboutthe topic or topics under consideration, (b) to enhance participants’ self-awareness and their capacity for self-critique, (c) to foster an appreciationamong participants for the diversity of opinion that invariably emergeswhen viewpoints are exchanged openly and honestly, and (d) to act as acatalyst to helping people take informed action in the world. (p. 4)

Even if other means of teaching, such as lecture, are appropriate foradults in specific circumstances, such as when it is necessary to convey alarge amount of information in a short time period, research in adult Jewisheducation (Schuster, 2003) supports the claim that the kind of discussionBrookfield and Preskill describe is central to the adult learning process. It isthrough discussion that adults expose their questions, ideas, beliefs, andperspectives. They develop the ability to critique and reflect upon their ownthinking and upon that of their fellow learners. They are challenged to hearother points of view that may transform their own. As Belenky and her col-leagues (1986) discovered, discussion provides adults with the chance tohear their voice, or, we might say, hear their own story and others’ as well.Belenky et al. described such exchanges as “a conversation in which teacherand students collaborated in constructing a new interpretation” (p. 221).Grant et al. (2004) noted that adult learners at the Melton Mini-School “com-mented on the teachers’ facility in leading discussion groups and drawingpeople into the conversation, asking good questions, prompting reflectionabout Jewish identity and forms of expression” (p. 173).

Rina, Jonathan, and Eric use discussion as a centerpiece of theirteaching; telling, listening, and analyzing stories becomes a dominant threadin the discussion process. Discussion helps their learners get to know eachother, rather than hearing only the rabbi’s perspective. Discussion sustainsactive participation on the part of the learners and allows questions and

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


concerns to emerge organically, rather than as part of a “Question andAnswer” frame after a lecture. It also democratizes the learning setting.The learners discover that their opinions are valid, regardless of how muchthey know. There is also an expectation that the learners will engage witheach other and not only with the rabbi as the “expert” because of themanner in which the rabbis conduct the discussion. Most of the teachingtakes place in small groups where the dialogical exchange among learnerstakes precedence over any other kind of exchange. Even in larger groupswhen it would be easier, and perhaps more efficient as regards coverage ofmaterial to move to a lecture or question and answer format, all three makedetermined efforts to encourage discussion.

Facilitating a discussion, however, is different from participating inan informal conversation. Facilitation requires preparation, even thoughBrookfield and Preskill (2005) pointed out the paradox in attempting to pre-plan a discussion. In this regard, Rina, Eric, and Jonathan reveal the needfor facilitators to manifest a willingness to allow the learners’ concerns andqueries to shape the discussion. Concomitantly, they must demonstrate acapacity to sensitively redirect the discussion when necessary toward topicsthat the rabbis may see as critical to the topic at hand. Observations revealedthat finding the proper balance requires advance preparation by the rabbis.When that preparation appeared to be absent, discussion appeared to driftaimlessly. At other times, even when the rabbis had clearly prepared thediscussion topic, the direction it subsequently took was not always in accor-dance with the rabbis’ original intentions. In interviews or email exchangesthat followed observations, however, none of the rabbis found the potentiallyunpredictable or unwieldy climate threatening to their teaching. Rather, theyaccepted open-ended discussion as part of the broader learning process thattakes place over time when they teach as facilitators. Their overall embraceof discussion as part of facilitation reflects Brookfield’s (1991) observationthat discussion:

requires that the distinction between learners and leaders be forgotten asmuch as is humanly possible, though in formal educational settings it cannever be completely erased. . . . But it is possible for discussion leadersto demonstrate through their actions—in particular their willingness toadmit their faults and to undertake the same critical scrutiny of theirown ideas and contributions as they do of others—that an atmosphere ofopenness, trust, and confidentiality prevails. (p. 202)

Discussions that moved between personal stories and the subject at handso that coherence rather than disjointed anecdotes result requires skillfulfacilitation; most of the times Eric, Jonathan, and Rina succeeded in thisregard.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


A particularly evocative example of the ability to hear and link expe-rience in a story form occurred during an observation of a women’s bookgroup taught by Rina. For over a decade she has taught (often in collabo-ration with another colleague or a lay leader) a women’s book group thatmeets four times a year, and that culminates in a weekend retreat led byRina in a more remote setting. This group draws old-timers and newermembers who find their way to it through word of mouth or via noticesin the synagogue’s newsletter and website. Each class tends to attract around35 participants. These meetings take place in the home of one of the partic-ipants and include time for informal discussion, eating and drinking beforeand after the learning. During the year that I observed Rina, the grouphad begun to read My Grandfather’s Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen,a memoir that does not exclusively address Jewish topics, but that linksits themes with Jewish ones, in particular the issue of spirituality. As anexcerpt from my field notes indicates, Rina welcomed the personal storiesthey shared:

She encourages the participants to speak freely and to jump in sponta-neously. “Interrupting is what this is about so don’t apologize,” she addswhen one woman seems to cut off someone. Rina listens to their remarks,interjecting a comment or an observation at carefully selected moments.Further on she directs them to an excerpt about a woman who had breastcancer, and how the illness affected her love relationships. People jumpin, responding to the reading and to Rina’s remarks. One of the learn-ers seems to have more to say than the others, but Rina does not stopher. The group seems to self-regulate itself with regard to participation.(October 12, 2008)

During this session, Rina’s willingness to listen to her learners’ stories abouthighly personal topics—such as sexuality, family relationships, illness, andtheir connections to a subject of study—may be help to explain why someof her learners spoke with me about Rina’s ability to connect to congregantsoutside of a purely religious context. As one of the book group participantsexplained to me, “She is not like the rabbis I grew up with. She talks abouttopics that are close to my heart” (October 27, 2008).

In a different context Eric referred to the “interesting back and forth”that accompanies teaching adults as one of the highlights of working withthem. New insights and ideas frequently surface unexpectedly. He describedone such experience at length because it impressed upon him the absolutenecessity of valuing the contributions of all adult learners, regardless of theirbackgrounds. Eric included himself as a learner who benefits from thesediscussions:

You know the celebrated story of Hillel [the famous Jewish scholar ofantiquity] being asked to teach while standing on one foot. He says,

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


“What’s hateful to you, do not do to others.” How many times havewe taught this? Early on [in his rabbinate at Beth Shalom], it’s probably10 or 12 years ago, I was teaching. There was a woman who didn’tknow much Hebrew, didn’t know much about Judaism really. She wasthere—you know I had great respect that she would come and reallywanted to learn. She hears this story and she says to me, to the wholegroup [italics for his emphasis] . . . she says, “Did you ever think thatwhat Hillel was saying was actually a rebuke?” I said, “What do youmean? He was telling the essence of Torah.” She said, “No, I don’t thinkso. How would you feel if someone said to you, ‘Teach me everythingabout what you devote your life to while I’m standing on one foot?’ Howwould a physician feel if someone came to him and said, ‘Teach me allof medicine while I stand on one foot.’ I think that’s what Hillel wassaying to him. This guy came to him and said, ‘Teach me everythingabout Torah while standing on one foot.’ It was a terrible denigration ofwhat Hillel does. Hillel shot back at him, ‘You know, what’s hateful toyou, you shouldn’t do to other people. You wouldn’t like it if someonedid that to you.’”

A whole new world opened up on this exchange. A whole new windowof possibility on what Hillel’s personality was like, because there is thiswhole thing about Hillel—you can never get him angry, he’s always right.He may have been boiling over with anger at that moment, and this wassort of his lashing out. You know, it would be very easy when you’reteaching an adult to say, “Yeah, you’re an adult, but you’re a kid when itcomes to this stuff. So, yeah, that’s cute, let’s move on.” But you got tobe open to this. I find that everywhere. (August 28, 2008)

This example reflects Eric’s openness toward all of his learners’ experiences,views, and questions. This approach characterizes Rina’s and Jonathan’sinteractions as well; it validates that the adults have something to give byvirtue of their personal experiences, not only to take from their rabbis’ wellof Jewish knowledge.

Drawing out their learners’ stories through discussion, helping themfind ways to relate life experiences to the learning is an especially significantexpression of what Rina and Eric described as being midwives as teachersof adults. Both of them independently cited this image when I asked themto come up with a metaphor for themselves as teachers of adults. As Ericcommented:

Your job is not to create something but to enable something to comeforth safely. . . . You don’t know what’s going to come forth from yourprodding people in that way. If something whole and viable comes out,it’s a success . . . even if it doesn’t look like you. (July 29, 2008)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


STORIES, ADULT JEWISH LEARNING, AND ADULT IDENTITYDEVELOPMENT

Because of the value placed on life experience in adult education, the useof stories in relationship to adult development and adult learning has beenattracting attention as a new area for research. Clark and Rossiter (2008), forexample, underscored the interpretive nature of storytelling, or:

how people make sense of their experiences over the life course. In thisview, construction of an acceptable life narrative is the central pro-cess of adult development. The life narrative is repeatedly revised andenlarged throughout one’s life to accommodate new insights, events, andperspectives. (p. 62)

Scholarship in both adult education and adult Jewish education under-scores the centrality of adult development to adult learning. According toMerriam et al. (2007), “Research has shown that adults are often motivatedto participate in learning activities by developmental issues and changes intheir lives” (p. 272), and Schuster (2003) observed,

For many Jewish adults, “feeling grown up” as a Jew involves renego-tiating one’s concept of whose “agenda” is at the fore. It also involvesrecognizing that one can make an independent choice about whether tosustain (or develop) a Jewish identity or not. (p. 19)

Developmental concerns affect learning; learning can influence devel-opment. These assertions hold true for adults as much as they do for childrenand adolescents. In the field of adult Jewish learning, Schuster (2003) andSchuster and Grant (2005) maintained that adult Jews commonly contemplateadult learning with trepidation because of their lack of Jewish knowledge.In addition, Schuster and Grant observed that these adults often decide tolearn because of some substantive change in their lives—such as loss of ajob, a divorce, or death of a loved one—that prompts them to seek newconnections or contact with Judaism. McAdams (1985) has documented thepreeminent significance of how the stories we tell to ourselves and to eachother about our lives effectively constitute our identity:

It is an individual’s life story which has the power to tie together past,present, and future in his or her life. It is a story which is able to provideunity and purpose. It is a story which specifies a personalized “niche” inthe adult world and a sense of continuity and sameness across situationsand over time. . . . Identity is a life story. (p. 18, emphasis in original)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


While the three rabbis never explicitly identified adult developmenttheories as part of their own knowledge base, it became evident over theinterview process that all three considered developmental concerns centralto how they taught. This lacuna in their knowledge confirms research bySchuster (2003) on the lag-time with regard to developmental understandingsin adult Jewish education overall. For example, although rigidly segregatedbirth cohorts were not evident in any of the rabbis’ classes, in some of thema majority of the learners were in their 60s and older, such as in the weekdaymorning classes offered by Eric and Jonathan. Rina also expressed concernthat the Shabbat morning group was, after 20 years, predominantly attendedby people in their 50s and older; she was trying to figure out ways to draw inyounger adults. Of note, however, was that the rabbis did not approach theirteaching in these settings any differently from those with younger adults orwith a mixed group. In fact, one member of the adult education commit-tee at Jonathan’s synagogue mentioned that the younger adults who rangedfrom their 30s to their 50s seemed more interested in adult learning thatincorporated family issues into the themes and topics (personal communica-tion, October 2008). She observed that older adults were more interested inphilosophical, historical, and theological subjects. In the interviews with me,however, Jonathan did not point out this distinction. Schuster (2003) advisedadult Jewish educators to pay careful attention to the potential influence oftheir learners’ birth cohorts:

Jewish professionals must pay attention to the cohort factors that influ-ence the experience and outlook of their learners. Different groups willrespond to the Jewish study experience based on how they were social-ized earlier in life. Jewish adults bring to the learning situation framesof reference heavily influenced by when they were born, what theirfamilies experienced, and how Judaism and Jewish life were expressedduring their formative years. Jewish professionals must show sensitivityto cohort factors and to the differential attitudes of adults who grew up atdifferent times, in different places, knowing different Judaisms or Jewishcommunities. (p. 141)

The contrast between the importance of adult development and theirlack of knowledge about the subject stood out as an area for furtherinvestigation especially in light of their emphasis placed on personal sto-ries. Rossiter (1999b) emphasized that a storied approach in the context ofteaching adults means that educators must become aware of the “relation-ship between the learners’ self-narratives and their experiences of learning”(p. 68). Both change and transformation, closely linked but not identicalterms, and key concepts in adult learning, are influenced by the storiesadults tell about themselves. As such, adult Jewish educators potentiallyoccupy a crucial place in the identity development of their adult learners.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


Randall (1996) has called this process among adults “restorying.” He pro-posed a four-step process undertaken by the adult educator. These stepsinclude:

1. Providing a secure environment in which learners share2. Listening attentively3. Posing questions that help the learners see what kind of stories they are

telling and the beliefs that undergird the stories4. Participating with the learners as a “co-author” as all consider how to

shape their self-narratives in ways that incorporate their new knowledgeinto their lives

Randall’s ideas highlight the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of anadult educational process that integrates storytelling and identity. It is alsoan approach embraced by Rina, Jonathan, and Eric, despite the fact that theywere not familiar with Randall’s theory. Their position as congregationalrabbis gives them access to their learners’ lives in a way that other adult edu-cators may not possess. In their capacity as life-cycle officiants and pastoralfigures, all three have the chance to encounter their learners (and often otherfamily members) in different situations and settings. As a consequence, theyhave a richer contextual background when interacting with their learners.This privileged rabbinic knowledge about their learners needs to be seen aspart of the educational landscape in these settings.

FROM PERSONAL TO COMMUNAL STORIES

According to Merriam et al. (2007), “Stories can be used to understandcontent, ourselves, and the world in which we live. Narratives are also win-dows into development and transformational learning. They enable us tomake sense of our experience, which is what adult learning is all about”(p. 215). My research reveals that incorporating stories into the educationalprocess holds out the promise of linking individual and group Jewish identitydevelopment. My study buttresses those claims in the field of adult Jewisheducation. Schuster (2003), for example, suggested that teaching and learn-ing through stories contributes to Jewish identity construction on a personallevel. Jonathan Woocher (1995) identified “story-telling” as part of “per-sonal meaning making in a Jewish key” that is fundamental to creating andgenerating attachment to Jewish community. He wrote:

The Jewish community must, in effect, become one in which largernumbers of stories—traditional, historical, and personal—are exchanged.We hope that gradually the configurations of shared stories (and shared

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


meanings) will emerge and out of these stories, which are likely to con-tain many traditional elements, mutual commitments to live in accordancewith the stories will likely emerge as well. (p. 27)

According to these arguments, storytelling becomes part of the processof enabling Jews to “see that their personal stories are connected to tradi-tional and historical Jewish narratives (‘foundational stories’) and to a livingcommunity that tells and enacts these stories . . .” (p. 27). In their practiceRina, Jonathan, and Eric showed how individual stories have the potential tobecome part of communal stories; helping adults discover or deepen a rela-tionship between their lives and the Jewish story past and present becomesa crucial aim of their teaching. Their approach echoes arguments made byRossiter (1999b) regarding the interplay between “individual and culturalnarratives” (p. 65). Rossiter (1999b) wrote:

Individual life narratives are situated within a myriad of overlappingfamilial, religious, socioeconomic and cultural contexts. The narrative ofany individual life is an expression of, an embodiment of, these con-texts and systems of meaning within which it is lives. . . . Every culturehas a pool of acceptable narratives, a set of stories and story forms,through which human action and intent are interpreted, explained, andunderstood. Developmental processes involve the individual’s recogni-tion, selection, rejection, and/or adaptation of these available narrativeforms as she or he constructs her or his own meaning. The intelligibilityand followability of individual life narratives are assessed according toculturally shared understandings. (pp. 65–66)

Through weaving personal stories with stories from the Jewish tradi-tion, the rabbis model the potential interrelationship between individual andcommunity in the realm of adult Jewish identity formation. In her empir-ical longitudinal research on adult bar and bat mitzvah, Grant (2003), forexample, argued:

One way of looking at adult Jewish education is as a process wherebyteachers help learners find themselves in, and make deeper connectionsto, the Jewish story. If educators accept this premise, they must under-stand that their role is not just about helping to deepen or change whatsomeone knows but also how one knows. (pp. 47–48)

The desire for coherence and purpose in a person’s life as a primereason for participation in adult Jewish learning (Schuster, 2003); the shar-ing of personal stories on the part of the teachers and the learners is akey part of that process. Grant et al. (2004) discovered in their researchon the Melton Mini-School program corroboration of the sociologist RobertWuthnow’s claim, based on his study of support-groups: “[T]he act of sharing

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


stories is key to the development of community within a group, as mem-bers offer up details of their personal histories as texts for examination andresponse” (p. 134).

According to Rossiter (2002),

Because stories lead from the familiar to the unfamiliar, they provide anentryway into personal growth and change. . . . In short, stories enableus to engage with new knowledge, broader perspectives, and expandedpossibilities because we encounter them in the familiar territory of humanexperience. (p. 1)

For the three rabbis in this study sharing, listening, and reflectingthrough the stories are each components of an intertwined process. Movingback and forth in time from ancient Jewish textual narratives to modernand contemporary narratives, and incorporating the personal experiencesof the learners and the rabbis, these rabbinic educators facilitate the foster-ing of connections to of Judaism, Jewish tradition, and the Jewish people.Even when the ancient stories diverge from contemporary sensibilities, theawareness that the learners and the events in their lives are part of a long,complex, and rich Jewish history emerges as a significant touchstone to theeducational process. The learners discover that they too are participants, orcharacters if you will, in a several-thousand-year-old drama. Memories ofpersonal experiences are transformed into opportunities for contemplatinghow these experiences contribute to the Jewish story write large. Events intheir lives and the lives of their congregations become part of unfolding plotlines and themes. The rabbis hope that the learners will find their place inthe stories and that through their exposure to this way of studying aboutJudaism the adults will be empowered to determine more consciously whatkind of place they want to claim. A brief entry from my field notes capturesthis sense of linking traditional stories with the adults’ experiences:

At a Shabbat morning Torah study session led by Jonathan on the parashaVayeshev, a Torah section from Genesis that begins the cycle of Josephnarratives, the learners discuss the unethical behavior of the children ofJacob as it appears in the portion. Some express shock at the less thanflattering narration of the brothers’ behavior. Toward the conclusion ofthe discussion, Jonathan remarks humorously, “We come from a line ofcrooks and criminals.” But then he pauses and, both wrapping up andleaving the learners with a subject to ponder, adds, “What we can takeaway from this is that these are still evolving people. They’re unfinished.”(December 21, 2008)

Jonathan’s remarks reflect a guiding principle for him of being a rabbinicteacher of adults, one that Rina and Eric would probably agree with: Noless than the characters in the Torah, he and his adult learners are evolv-ing human beings. Our backgrounds, memories, and experiences inform

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


our how we respond to subject matter in subtle and obvious ways. At thesame time, Jewish learning has the capacity to help adults continue to grow,develop, and transform themselves, both as Jews and as human beings.Dedication to that activity seeks to enrich both the people who engage in itand the tradition that supports it.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Among the most significant implications derived from this research are thefollowing observations:

● Rabbis must be comfortable drawing upon their own personal experiences,and be able to reflect on them as part of how they teach adults. They needto learn how to synthesize experience and reflection and transmit thatsynthesis via storytelling to their learners in intentional ways that illuminatethe particular subject of study.

● Rabbis need to teach so that they facilitate the adult learners’ ability todelve into their personal experiences and share them in story form; theability to hear the stories of their learners serves as a trigger for deeperexploration, both personal and communal, of the various topics that therabbis teach.

● Rabbis need to have a basic understanding of the dynamics of adult devel-opment and the concerns that age cohorts and gender differences presentin the context of their teaching. The use of story is a powerful meanstoward situating developmental concerns within a broader and deeperframework. Knowing something about developmental theories can alsohelp the rabbis see that the kinds of questions their adult learners posemay be related to these developmental phases.

These suggestions point to a sophisticated skill for rabbis, one that moveswell beyond subject matter expertise alone. Rather than a hit or miss orhaphazard introduction of personal experiences into their teaching, if rabbisseek to prioritize certain kinds of stories, then they require a heightenedreflective capacity related to their own life-story. This includes being ableto sift through their experiences, and distilling how those experiences mayapply to their teaching, in order to determine the best ways to bring thesestories to their learners. They must model that process for their learners sothat the latter, in turn, will see how to make sense of their experiences inthe context of Jewish education. While some rabbis may succeed in doingthese things through trial and error over time, many more would certainlybenefit from a comprehensive focus in rabbinical school on the relationshipof personal experience, identity, and development to teaching adults.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESEARCH

The paucity of scholarship in the field of adult Jewish education is trou-bling. Equally disturbing is the absence of research on rabbis as adult Jewisheducators. The results of my study suggest several paths for future research.These include:

● Further exploration of the kinds of stories that adult educators (rabbis andothers) use in their teaching and how they function within the context ofadult Jewish learning.

● Comparison of how rabbis and other adult educators employ stories inorder to understand more about how rabbis are similar to and differentfrom other adult educators.

● Different sites and settings for adult Jewish education and how stories areused in them; this can include formal communal based teaching, such asprograms like Meah and the Melton Mini-Center, as well as trips, retreats,and other customarily informal learning settings. How does environmentinfluence the way that stories are incorporated into the teaching?

● Instead of a focus on the Jewish educators, pay further attention to howthe learners understand the place of stories in their Jewish educationalexperiences.

From the aforementioned, it quickly becomes evident that a great deal ofcompelling research may result from advancing this field of inquiry. Thestories we read, hear, and share contribute to how we make sense of our livesas human beings and as Jews. Jewish education, as an intentional activity,engages adults in a process through which we are given the chance to bringcoherence to the manifold stories of our lives and a tradition with which weidentify to one degree or another. To understand better how this might bedone would be a significant contribution of the field of Jewish education.

REFERENCES

Belenky, M. F., Clinchy, B. M., Goldberger, N. R., & Tarule, J. M. (1986). Women’sways of knowing: The development of self, voice, and mind. New York, NY: BasicBooks.

Birren, J. E., Kenyon, G. M., Ruth, J., Schroots, J. J. F, & Svensson, T. (Eds.).(1996). Aging and biography: Explorations in adult development. New York,NY: Springer.

Brookfield, S. (1991). Discussion. In M. W. Guilbraith (Ed.), Adult learning methods:A guide for effective instruction (pp. 187–204). Malabar, FL: Krieger.

Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (2005). Discussion as a way of teaching (2nd ed.) SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


Clark, C. M., & and Rossiter, M. (2008). Narrative learning in adulthood. NewDirections for Adult and Continuing Education, 119, 61–70.

Foster, C. R., Dahill, L. E., Golemon, L. A., & Tolentino, B. W. (2005). Educatingclergy: Teaching practices and pastoral imagination. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Golemon, L. A. (Ed.). (2010). Living our story: Narrative leadership andcongregational culture. Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute.

Grant, L. D. (2003). Restorying Jewish lives post adult bat mitzvah. Journal of JewishEducation, 69(2), 34–51.

Grant, L. D., Schuster, D. T., Woocher, M., & Cohen, S. M. (2004). A journey of heartand mind: Transformative Jewish learning in adulthood. New York, NY: TheJewish Theological Seminary.

Gudmundsdottir, S. (1995). The narrative nature of pedagogical content knowledge.In H. McKewan & K. Egan (Eds.), Narrative in teaching, learning, and research(pp. 24–38). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Hester, R. L., & Walker-Jones, K. (2009). Know your story and lead with it: The powernarrative in clergy leadership. Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute.

Jarvis, P. (1987). Adult learning in the social context. London, UK: Croom Helm.Knowles, M. S. (1984). The adult learner: A neglected species (3rd ed.). Houston,

TX: Gulf.Knowles, M. S. (1989). The making of an adult educator: An autobiographical

journey. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and

development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Lindeman, E. C. (1961). The meaning of adult education in the United States. New

York, NY: Harvest House.McAdams, D. P. (1985). Power, intimacy and the life story. Homewood, IL: Dorsey

Press.McAdams, D. P. (1993). The stories we live by: Personal myths and the making of the

self . New York, NY: The Guilford Press.McAdams, D. P. (2005). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. New York,

NY: Oxford University Press.Merriam, S.B., Caffarella, R.S., & Baumgartner, L.M. (2007). Learning in adulthood:

A comprehensive guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Polkinghorne, D. E. (1988). Narrative knowing and the human sciences. Albany, NY:

State University of New York.Polkinghorne, D. E. (1996). Narrative knowing and the study of lives. In J. E. Birren,

G.Kenyon, J.-E. Ruth, J.J.F. Schroots, & T. Svensson (Eds.), Aging and biography:Explorations in adult development (pp. 77–99). New York, NY: Springer.

Randall, W. (1996). Restorying a life: Adult education and transformative learning.In J. E. Birren, G. Kenyon, J.-E. Ruth, J. J. F. Schroots, & T. Svensson (Eds.),Aging and biography: Explorations in adult development (pp. 225–247). NewYork, NY: Springer.

Rossiter, M. (1999a). Understanding adult development as narrative. New Directionsfor Adult and Continuing Education, 84, 77–86.

Rossiter, M. (1999b). A narrative approach to development: Implications for adulteducation. Adult Education Quarterly, 5(1), 56–71.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13


Rossiter, M. (2002). Narrative and stories in adult teaching and learning.ERIC Digest, 241. Retrieved from www.calpro-online.org/eric/docgen.asp?tbl=digests&ID=126

Rossiter, M., & Clark, M. C. (2007). Narrative and the practice of adult education.Malabar, FL: Krieger.

Schuster, D. T. (2003). Jewish lives, Jewish learning: Adult Jewish learning in theoryand practice. New York, NY: UAHC Press.

Schuster, D. T., & Grant, L. D. (2005). Adult Jewish learning: What do we know?What do we need to know? Journal of Jewish Education, 71(2), 179–200.

Woocher, J. (1995). Toward a “unified field theory” of Jewish continuity. In I. Aron, S.Lee, & S. Rossel (Eds.), A congregation of learners: Transforming the synagogueinto a learning community (pp. 14–55). New York, NY: UAHC Press.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Sara

h M

. Tau

ber]

at 1

1:09

30

Dec

embe

r 20

13

Journal of Jewish Education Teaching Through Personal Stories: Congregational Rabbis and Teaching...

Documents

Transcript of Journal of Jewish Education Teaching Through Personal Stories: Congregational Rabbis and Teaching...