The following is written by a cantorial student at HUC in New York.
Sarah
Krevsky experienced as a chaplain, says the principles of being a chaplain may well be the principles to bring to Jewish engagement. See what you think ( I say brilliant).
The
following quotes are chaplaincy principles I used frequently while making
patient visits in the hospital. Now used in framing education.
“Meet them where they are” –
Each time my beeper went off and I was called into the hospital for an
emergency, I repeated this mantra to myself over and over again. Perhaps the distressed patient would be
angry, or scared, or hopeful, or nervous – who knew? It was not my job to guess ahead of time, but
to walk into the room and meet them where they were in that moment. It would not make sense to speak to someone
who felt angry with God as if they have hope for the future. Similarly, this principle can be used in the
classroom. Who knows what has gone on
during the day before students arrived in my classroom? It would not make sense to keep a quiet,
contemplative lesson plan if my students are full of energy because they did
not have recess earlier that day. By
staying aware of how my students are doing in every moment, I can reorganize my
lesson a bit in order to help to ensure that they get the most out of the
lesson I am teaching them.
“Notice and acknowledge different
feelings in the room” – Often times when sitting with a patient, I would
verbally note that they looked sad or that they sounded frustrated. Acknowledging a person’s feelings allows that
person to be heard and can even normalize his or her emotions in what feels
like an abnormal situation. This approach
can also be used in the classroom whether interacting with a group or an
individual.
A few weeks ago, I noticed that in the beginning of the Hebrew
lesson, my students were excited and engaged, but about twenty minutes into the
lesson they started to look bored. What could
have happened if I said to them, “Guys, what’s going on? You look pretty bored right now. Is that true?” Perhaps we could have spoken about why they
were feeling unengaged and what we could have changed to make them feel more
interested and connected to the lesson.
Or perhaps I misinterpreted their perceived disinterest with confusion
about the material – perhaps I could have learned from them that they simply
did not understand the information I was trying to present.
Noting the feelings of individual students also helps with
classroom management. Often times in the
middle of a lesson that I took hours to carefully plan, one of my students interrupts
with a sudden case of the giggles.
Despite my best efforts to kindly tell them to please sit down, it works
to no avail. So, I gently pull aside my “problem” child and ask them how he or
she is feeling and then make it verbally explicit how their behavior makes me
feel. I stand eye level with the student
so I am not standing above their heads, and say “Jamie, I can see that you have
a lot of energy today. What are you feeling so excited about?….I love that you
have such good friends at the synagogue and understand why you want to talk to
them, but when you talk to your friends when I’m trying to tell the class
something it makes me feel hurt. Do you
think you could try and calm down a little bit?
Maybe take a quick walk before coming back to class?” By acknowledging how my students might be
feeling, as well as identifying how their behavior makes me feel, it takes some
of the mystery out of the situation.
Although I do not expect my student to be perfect the rest of class, I
find that speaking honestly with my students is very helpful. Keeping track of the different feelings in
the room and checking in with my learners helps create a more positive learning
environment and a more engaged teacher.
“Incorporating ritual” - At
the end of almost every patient visit, I would end our time with a short
prayer. Sanctifying the time we spent
together by speaking together to God allowed us to connect to God, each other,
and create trust. Often times, in fact,
our conversations would continue in deeper ways after the prayer ended. Using ritual in the classroom has the exact
same effect. I recently substituted for
a class of four, five, and six-year-olds.
We rode up together in the elevator to the classroom, and I could feel
their skepticism and nerves. Where was
their regular teacher? Who is this new
teacher? Can she be trusted? As soon as we arrived in the classroom, I
invited everyone to sit on the floor with me so we could all introduce
ourselves. We took turns going around
the circle and said our name, favorite color, and birthday. Slowly, I could
feel their skepticism melt away and their trust in me slowly grew. They began chatting with me more and joking
in a special way that only five-year-olds are experts at. Although the circle-sharing ritual is
different from the bed-side ritual, they both allow sacred connection to
happen. In the case of circle-sharing
the connections made help to support a kehillah
k’dosha, a sacred community. Incorporating ritual all year long can help to
build class trust and relationships.
“Including God in the
conversation” – Talking about God and talking to God can feel awkward sometimes. How do you know God is listening? Is it ok to be angry with God? What do you say to God? For some patients, talking to God felt easy while
for others it was more difficult, but, when I was in the room, it was my role
to help guide that conversation. Similarly,
it is the responsibility of Jewish educators to help students develop their own
spiritual life. Simply teaching kids the
words and melodies to prayers leaves a significant gap in their prayer
education. I taught a music class to
three and four-year-olds. For the past
few months, we have been singing the Allard’s song “God is One” which talks about
all the places God could be: in the grass, in the flowers, in the tables and
chairs. Most recently we added the song
“Are You Listening God?” We discussed whether God could hear us when we talk to
God. I explained that sometimes when I
like to talk to God, I sit in a big comfy chair in my house right by the window
where I can see the sky. I suggested
that they create a God Corner in their room where they could go and talk to God
if they want. Educators ought to encourage
and facilitate a relationship to God early in children’s lives so that they can
build the skills and understandings to have a stronger relationship with God as
they move into their teens and young adulthood.
“Help facilitate self-discovery” –
Sometimes in a hospital setting, it is the chaplain’s job to help the patient
realize something about them that had been previously hidden. One of my patients who recovered from back
surgery in the ICU realized through our conversations together that although
she loved her family, she needed to spend more time taking care of herself; similarly,
educators should help learners come to realizations about their own Jewish life,
practice, and belief. This goal is
admittedly difficult to do sometimes, but is worth pursing for the sake of the learner. Bringing a text to study with a group of
adults can always bring about interesting conversations, but the conversation
can be elevated to a moment of self-discovery in helping them to understand how
our ancient, holy text can be related to our modern lives. I found myself as a learner in this situation
recently studying a Chassidic text focusing on Shabbat. For six days you will work and on the seventh
you will rest. Shabbat is a built in
time for me to rest, I realized. It is
difficult to remember on your own to stop and take a breath, but Shabbat is always
included in the workweek schedule so that I do not have to remember. I just have to rest. I found this realization
to be liberating.
My teacher did a few things to help me come to this
realization. He asked gentle, open
ended, guiding questions, which allowed me to think and consider the concept. My teacher also allowed for long moments of
silence, which gave me time to thoughtfully consider his questions. Although long silences can sometimes feel
uncomfortable, taking the time can produce fruitful conversations.
Chaplaincy is part of my identity.
I am drawn to helping people and being there to support people
particularly in times of crisis. These wonderful
tools do not need to live in a hospital vacuum, but can also be implemented in
the classroom. Using the tools of
chaplaincy is a way of treating and educating the whole person in his or her process
of learning. As both a learner and a
teacher, I have seen these techniques used and found that they work incredibly
well. I am excited for the future and look
forward to spending time in the classroom with my future students!
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