PCJE Professional Development for Day Schools

Pardes Center for Jewish Educators (PCJE) Professional Development offers in-school single or multi-day workshops tailored for your school and Judaic studies teachers.

Through our years of experience collaborating with Jewish day schools, teaching and training new teachers, coaching our ever expanding network of both novice and veteran teachers, and working with Judaic studies curricula and methodologies, the PCJE Professional Development team has amassed a repertoire of strategies and developed an approach to teacher training to improve the practice of Judaic studies teachers in the classroom. This, coupled with Pardes’ expertise in adult learning and PCJE’s commitment to reflective practice, translates into a unique learning opportunity for your staff.

This is what we do best – train, enrich and support Judaic studies teachers. Give your faculty the gift of studying with colleagues, time to reflect on their learning, and support when applying new insights and techniques to their work.


Hoping to hire a PCJE graduate as a teacher or Jewish educator? Please contact Gail Kirschner at gail@pardes.org.il with a description of the position and we will try to make a shidduch!

PCJE Professional Development offers the following topics for (single or multi-day) workshops with your Judaic studies teachers. Workshops are built collaboratively with you to meet the specific needs of your institution and teachers. If you have additional “favorite” topics you want to explore – just ask us!

Judaic Text Study

  • Bringing beit midrash study to the Jewish day school
  • Infusing text study with meaning-making
  • Havruta as a paradigmatic 21st-century learning method
  • Using havruta effectively
  • Balancing content, skills and meaning
  • Introducing mishnah to your middle school
  • Dealing with the midrash conundrum

Tefilah

  • Re-envisioning tefilah education for our school
  • Setting goals and assessments for tefilah
  • Making the prayer experience meaningful for students
  • Helping faculty find meaning in tefilah
  • Making tefilah work

Pedagogy in the Judaic Studies Classroom

  • Empowering students to take ownership of their learning
  • Applying the Understanding by Design (UbD) approach to Judaic studies and Hebrew
  • Training students for effective havruta relationships

Impacting School Culture

  • Helping students, faculty, parents, and lay leaders engage in constructive conflict
  • Pursuing peace: Developing rodfei shalom in our schools and communities
  • Improving novice teacher induction and support

PCJE Professional Development offers pre-planning and follow-up support to optimize workshop impact.

Option 1: Professional Development day/s
This full day workshop includes collaborative pre-planning and bi-monthly follow-up calls to monitor and support progress.
Cost: One full day – $1,200 plus transportation from the East Coast/ Two full consecutive days – $2,000 plus transportation from the East Coast

Option 2: Intensive PD
For sustained professional development, this package includes two separate full day workshops, collaborative planning, consultation and monthly follow-up calls throughout the entire school year.
Cost: $2,500 plus transportation from the East Coast

Option 3: Consultation
PCJE Professional Development staff will consult with your school’s administrators or Judaic studies faculty on: curriculum (re)design, school-wide challenges, or your experiential education program, etc.
Cost: To be determined based on the nature of the consultation.

Note: We offer in-school professional workshop days primarily in Oct/November, March/April, June and August