JEIC's Listening Booths Report Surfaces Stakeholders' Dreams for Day Schools

The Jewish Education Innovation Challenge’s Listening Booths Initiative seized the opportunity to hear from many diverse voices in the Jewish day school (JDS) field by partnering with Prizmah to host “Listening Booths” at their bi-annual conference in March 2019.

They wondered what JDS stakeholders would say are their dreams, visions, and wishes for Jewish education. And they wondered how those responses might help JDSs achieve the optimal results of students internalizing Jewish values that can help them develop enduring Jewish identities and connections to Jewish belief and practice.

JEIC invited conference attendees to participate in a 20-minute recorded interview in which they shared their opinions and ideas confidentially. Some of what they heard validated what many in the field already believe to be true. Other ideas were somewhat surprising with a few that were truly out-of-the-box.

Eight major themes emerged in this research, which was highlighted in the Fall 2019 issue of HaYidion: The Prizmah Journal in an article entitled “Listening to Day School Dreams” by JEIC Managing Director Sharon Freundel. Additional compelling ideas to radically improve Jewish day schools that were shared in the Listening Booths will be highlighted in a special series on the Prizmah blog.

Out of the Listening Booths research emanates good news and an opportunity to be fearless. The good news is that there are a great number of impassioned, creative JDS stakeholders who are committed to improving Jewish education and creating the strongest and most enduring future for the Jewish people. These stakeholders have the ideas, and they are ready to execute them. The opportunity to be fearless means stakeholders in the field need to be ready to jump into action, collaborating, taking risks, innovating and inviting others (including funders) to be a part of the solutions.

Access the complete report, What We Heard in the Listening Booths: Summary of findings from the JEIC Interviews at PrizmahCJDS’s 2019 Conference, The Greenberg Team, 2019.