Kraków, March 3, 2024
Today in Kraków, I can only explain it as… “A magical and educational day”.
Lyndall and I have learned so much about the Polish culture and history in just a short amount of time. We engaged in a wonderful walking tour of the old town of Kraków as well as the Jewish Quarter. It allowed us to gain a better understanding of the culture around us and of the educators and school we are working with. Just as we look at our children as unique and individual, learning about the history of Kraków and Poland in general helped us to see each of the Fradja educators as unique and individual, each on their own learning Masa “journey”, as they explore the concepts of bringing “Jewish” into the classroom.
It is important to understand that each of these amazing educators are not Jewish. So, when they asked us to help them “Bring Jewish Into the Classroom”, our first question was… “What’s that mean to you as educators and what values are you already using?” Through our discussion we learned that they are already viewing much of what they do through values and are trying to teach the children about taking care of their world around, respect and honoring those around them and helping others…. through our Jewish lenses, Tikkun Olam, Kavod and Tzedaka.
Our work today focused mostly on using Jewish values as a lens for how we view the image of the child, family, classroom environment, and the educator. Using lenses such as:
K’dusha – Holiness – Intentionality & Presence
D’rash – Interpretation – Inquiry, Dialogue & Transmission
Hit Oreut – Awakening – Amazement & Gratitude
Masa – Journey – Reflection, Return &Renewal
B’Tzelem Elohim – Divine Image – Dignity & Potential
Tikkun Olam – Repair of the World – Responsibility
B’rit – Covenant – Belonging and Commitment
By using these values as their thinking lens to view their children as learners, their families as partners, their classroom as inspiration for engagement and inquiry and themselves as educators it will help them to be intentional in how they engage with all of the above. These lenses/values will help guide them towards making the “Jewish” visible in the classroom and think beyond the holidays and Shabbat, making it part of their everyday practice. Of course, we have just touched the surface and we all realize that this will take time, grace and flexibility as they slowly start to implement this into their everyday with the children.
Tomorrow, we are excited to able to spend our morning in the classroom observing and then reflecting with the educators. We look forward to sharing tomorrow’s experience soon.
Take care,
Mykenzie & Lyndall
