Around a decade ago, Jonathan Woocher hosted a
meeting where folks from educational change initiatives sat at long banquet
tables to discuss how to effectively transform congregational education. The
tables are important in the telling because they represent both the number of
places recognized as trying to shake things up and the tone of the time.
Many, not all, spoke about their work like feted kings: “We’re the rulers and we know what we are doing.” There was
pride and little inquiry.
I remember one
project director, seemed to take pleasure In saying “We’re not like The RE-IMAGINE
Project (where I worked) we do this…which is so much better.”
Childish for sure, and armchair psychologists would
say, “Hey that just comes from insecurity.” Sure it didn’t feel safe to say "I
don’t know" or "we are not getting the results we hoped we'd see." It also came from an expectation that someone had to be the best.
Funders were listening too.
And now a decade later, with the proliferation of networking
as a big idea, the lack of quick results from any single project and a recession that
kicked everyone in the rear, the table is very different.
Next week teams from the educational agencies in
Boston, Philadelphia and New York are having lunch together --again-- around an oval table that will be lined with chocolate and flowers. As before, the
table is important in the telling.
These three geographically friendly cities are all in
the thick of trying to support their communities in transforming Jewish learning. And the good news is that we are all strong enough to be vulnerable. Each city is doing thoughtful and focused work
that produces results and quandaries.
Over the years personal relationships have been built among the people at the table so we have a convivial safety zone to learn from each others results and to explore the quandaries together. Let's be honest: there are a lot of quandaries.
Our next conversation is about sustaining innovation
with a large emphasis on “What is the story we are telling?”
Our agenda has us learning from each
other's work: what is/not working. And then asking: “Is
there an opportunity to have a national campaign to tell the story of the new
face of congregational education?” As David Treitsch from Boston said: “We need
something like the dairy farmers have with Got Milk.” Wanna join the
conversation, there is room at the table, and the chocolate is yummy.
There is truly room at the table: To share results and quandaries, success and challenge; To explore the possibility of moving our communal story forward together. When you arrive, be ready to step forward with an expectation of good will, a willingness to place your questions alongside your advice and your dreams for Jewish Ed alongside others' dreams for Jewish Ed. And, in the meantime, as Cyd says above, "What is the story we are telling?"
ReplyDeleteWhat I find most exciting about this conversation is that we are not only willing to place our questions alongside our advice, but that we are willing to put aside our egos. We all have work to be extremely proud of; initiatives that are truly making a difference. But by opening ourselves up to the conversation, by allowing ourselves to share, question, reflect and brainstorm together, we are able to impact more greatly not only our individual communities, but that of the national story line of Jewish Education. Bring on the chocolate and let's talk.
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