EDUCATION

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The Reform Jewish Day School
of Metropolitan Detroit

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invites you to

Both Jewish and secular education have been the focus of Irving Panush's career.

An Interested
Parents Meeting

Monday, April 10, 8:00 p.m.

(Babysitting will be available)

For further information please call
Dr. Margaret S. Eichner, Headmaster

at 661-1000, extension 275

JEWEL
KOSHER CATERING

"Classic Cuisine"

Exclusive Caterers for
Young Israel of Oak Woods
FACILITIES AND DATES AVAILABLE

For strictly Kosher affairs of ALL TYPES.
For all Occasions.

PHILLIP TEWEL

(313) 661.4050

Food and Beverage Director

Farmington Hills, MI

SUMP PUMP

failure

OR POWER OUTAGE IS NO PROBLEM IF YOU
HAVE AN AUTOMATIC JET PUMP.
$149.50

INSTALLATION AVAILABLE

H. B. LEWIS PLUMBING

50 FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1989

352-9350

Veteran Teacher's Wish List
Would Boost Jewish Education

HEIDI PRESS

News .Editor

ewish education cannot
move forward unless it
has dedicated leader-
ship, committed teachers and
allows for the experiential, a
long-time educator and ad-
ministrator noted.
Dr. Irving Panush, director
of Temple Kol Ami's religious
school, made this assessment
as he nears retirement this
spring, following a notable
career in both secular and
Jewish education.
According to Panush,
' leadership is important
because it sets the tone for
future generations. It also
earns the respect of the corn-
munity because of its "piofes-
sionalism, knowledge and
background in Judaism." So
important is leadership to
Jewish education that it must
be "cherished" by the com-
munity, Panush said.
Another key factor vital to
Jewish education is the
development of a corps of
dedicated, professional
teachers. One way to do this,
Panush suggests, is to "invest
in the improvement of the
status of the teacher." Panush
suggests developing a fund for
Jewish education, devoted to
teacher training, so that
teachers would be inclined to •
go into the field as a profes-

j

sion rather than an avoca-
tion. The fund also could be
used to pay for teacher mis-
sions to Israel or curriculum
development. At the same
time, communities would be
encouraged to develop a
system of certification adding
to the professional status of
the field, thereby showing
youngsters that "there is the
possibility of a career" in
Jewish education.
Panush recommends that
communities set up a clear-
inghouse "for the exchange of
information on teachers" and
a system of standards.
A third element is allowing
for the experiential factor in
the classroom. Calling it an
effective teaching method,
Panush said he sees a move-
ment "away from textbook
transmission study to ex-
periential study." Without
hands-on activity, students
are only spitting back to the
teacher what they read. But,
combining the "textbook
with participatory activities
makes learning more mean-
ingful to the kids," Panush
said.
To teach about ISrael ex-
perientially, teachers should
have the students make maps
or watch films, enhancing the
material they have read in
the textbook.
These informal sessions can
be the basis for post bar/bat
mitzvah retention, Panush

suggests. He recommends
giving students roles which
make themfeel like integral
parts of the group. "Each in-
dividual wants to have a role
to play. In the classroom they
don't have a role, but if you
put them in a group ex-
perience and have them do
something for the group and
give them a role, no matter
how small it is, they will act
it out or play it out or bring
it forth."
Panush sees a greater com-
mitment to Jewish education
on the part of the communi-
ty, but it is slow in coming. On
the national scene, teachers
have organized into the Coali-
tion for the Advancement of
Jewish Education and the
Jewish Education Service of
North America and created
all kinds of innovative
materials and suggestions for
improving Jewish education.
But the Jewish communal
response across the board
hasn't kept pace.
"The response of the
organized Jewish community
has been slow in terms of
cashing in on the educational
values that the leadership
has put in. Experimentation,
experiential Jewish educa-
tion, the development of
leadership, the development
of a corps of teachers are lack-
ing in Jewish education and
without those elements you
can't move forward."

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