CONNECTION AND CARING: THE ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN ADULT JEWISH LEARNING

Religious Education, Spring 2004 by Grant, Lisa D

Abstract

This article explores how the role of educational leadership can significantly enhance adult Jewish learning experiences through an in-depth examination of the position of site director at the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School, a two-year program of adult Jewish learning operating at more than sixty sites across North America. Applying the literature on moral leadership that is shaped by an ethic of caring, the author shows how these site directors care for their learners and build learning communities. The article explores how the site directors shape, support, and sustain the learning process at this particular program and considers how the role of educational leadership can enhance and enrich adult Jewish learning in other venues.

School leadership literature and practice tell us that successful schools need strong leaders to achieve excellence. School leaders inspire, motivate, coordinate, supervise, and support teachers. They develop and implement curriculum, guide teachers in developing skills and instructional strategies, and monitor student learning and well-being. Effective school leaders also build a sense of shared purpose and community. The need for such leadership is a given in Jewish education as well, at least in schools that serve children. Even the smallest congregational school will have a principal. However, the assumption that such a leadership role is essential has not yet taken hold in the burgeoning world of adult Jewish learning.

This article explores a leadership model that appears to significantly enhance adult Jewish learning and suggests general principles for effective practice in adult religious education as well. The model is based upon NeI Noddings' (1984) notion of an ethic of caring, which she developed by observing how women shape their moral attitudes and behaviors. Such an orientation to moral decision making is rooted in our natural inclination to want to do good, particularly for others. Interestingly, the great majority of site directors are women. I will argue that the relational way in which women work together and understand community (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule 1986) is a significant factor in how leadership norms and cultural values are constructed. At the heart of what these school leaders do is build relationships with and care for their students. This is a particularly feminine style of leadership. As Noddings wrote:

An ethic built on caring is, I think, characteristically and essentially feminine-which is not to say, of course, that it cannot be shared by men, any more that we should care to say that traditional moral systems cannot be embraced by women. But an ethic of care arises, I believe, out of our experience as women, just as the traditional logical approach to ethical problems arises more obviously from masculine experience. (8)

The approach to leadership of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School (FMAMS), a two-year, 120-hour program of adult Jewish literacy, was studied as part of a larger inquiry about the impact of this successful program. Established in 1986, the Mini-School operates in more than sixty sites in North America. It defines itself as a "school," meaning a permanent institution rather than a short-term program, informal class, or study group. Each site not only has teachers who teach a sequential, structured curriculum, but also a site director who is responsible for providing administrative and support services to the students both within and outside of the classroom. The site directors provide the connective tissue that build relationships, hold the community together, and make the Mini-School far more than just a series of classes in adult Jewish learning.

In Moral Leadership, Sergiovanni (1992) writes, "transforming schools from organizations to communities may be a key to school improvement" (xiv). Although his focus is on the public school system, the parallel to the Melton Mini-School is striking. The bonds participants build between the texts, their teachers, Jewish tradition, the process of learning, and each other belies the two short hours a week that they meet. How the Mini-School transforms itself from a program into a school, and from a school to a learning community rests largely in the hands of the site directors. As we explore how these site directors support and sustain the learning process at their schools, we also can consider how the role of educational leadership can enhance and enrich adult Jewish learning in other venues as well.

Data for this article come from in-depth interviews with four directors from Mini-School sites of varying age, size, and geographic location, and with Dr. Betsy Katz, North American Director, as well as from three days of participant observation at the international conference for Florence Melton Adult Mini-School directors in Fehruary 2001. Individuals who were formally interviewed are cited by a pseudonym. Occasionally, informal conversations are reported which are not attributed to a specific individual. Also, at one oi the conference sessions, directors were asked to reflect in writing about how their experiences have changed them, if at all. These were submitted anonymously and are cited as such.