Route Recommendations

How many people showed up? How much did it cost us to run that program? How often are the programs you run being evaluated on one or both of these questions? How often are the top goals of your program about the numbers? Jewish education and Jewish living are about meaning-making, not about quantifying – and yet we consistently measure success by the numbers, doing a complete dis-service to our participants, our staff, and our stakeholders. In putting an emphasis on qualitative assessments, we open the doors to better understanding WHY our programs are successful (or not). Just evaluating a program based on the numbers never gets us to understanding what motivates our participants, what impact we had on their lives, and how our plan and vision came to life. In the last two years, I have spent a lot of time training groups on a unique approach to evaluation which ensures that staff, lay-people and stakeholders (i.e. funders and board members) assess the vision of the program, the process of implementing the program, and the meaning and the relationships the participants derive from the experience. Check yourself the next time you ask a colleague “How many people showed up?” and consider what other questions you might ask to assess success.

Self-reflection isn’t easy. Being honest with ourselves is even harder. Recently, I have encountered several education leaders who are taking the following stance … “I know my program/school isn’t as good as it can be, but there’s nothing to change, I’m doing everything right. It’s ‘them.’” Really? How can this possibly be true? There is no doubt that these leaders have sustained passion and commitment for Jewish education, what I think they are lacking is the ability to be totally honest with themselves. Change isn’t easy – it often gets roadblocked by fear of loss. In these cases, it might be that these education leaders fear loss of their jobs if they take too big of a risk and make too many changes and they don’t work. It could be that these education leaders fear the loss of their jobs if they admit that they let things go for too long. It’s critically important in a change process to be honest in self-reflection and include in that an admission that sometimes we get in the way of change due to our fears.

Be a practitioner. Often I interact with amazing education leaders who work as administrators, conveners, and consultants at large organizations – central agencies, Federations, JCCs, institutions of high education and national agencies. The number of professionals who spend time as practitioners is abysmally small. As a consultant and a doctoral student it would be extremely easy to not ever interact with children, teens, adults, and families in a Jewish education learning environment. However, the time I spend as a practitioner is extremely rewarding and more importantly, serves as grounded “research” for the consulting I engage in. Being a practitioner lends credibility for all of the suggestions I make to others. I have on-the-ground proof of what works as well as my own lessons-learned for what might not work. It’s time for education leaders to make a serious commitment to getting out of their offices and meetings and into the “classroom.” 

The cost of doing business. I was recently speaking with a young professional who is heading a small Jewish non-profit for the first time. In going over the expenses she would encounter in the day-to-day work of her job (i.e. driving all over the city to meet with volunteers, meeting volunteers for coffee/breakfast/lunch, picking up/transporting supplies to various locations, engaging in a lot of post-hours email communication with lay leaders, etc), this dedicated professional was shocked when I told her that the organization should be paying for all of these things. She said she couldn’t ask the organization to reimburse her for mileage (at least gas), for business meals, for her home internet … I am trying to coach her that this isn’t HER asking THE BOARD to pay her back for something this is THE ORGANIZATION LEADERSHIP ensuring that the cost of doing business is covered in their budget.

As professionals, it is important we advocate for ourselves. Many of us in non-profit work make a lot less than our corporate counterparts – and trust me, they have company budgets for business meals and mileage. As lay leaders, it’s really important for us to think about what expenses our professionals will have as a result of conducting the business of our organization and committing to a budget that covers these expenses. I recommend that lay leadership ask their professionals to sit WITH them and review the budget in comparison to the actual dollars the professional is spending on the organization out of pocket and then work together to revise the budget and make a fundraising plan that will cover those expenses.

Intention. It’s a powerful word and an even more powerful concept. When we do things carelessly or haphazardly or even just in a routine way, the product we put out there often shows it. Even if on a subconscious level, consumers respond to intention in a very positive way. When planning a curriculum, it is important to be intentional about everything from pedagogy, to set inductions, to environment (room, mood, physical, social), to pre-communication about the program, post-learning reflection, and materials used. All too often, education leaders focus on the core content but aren’t focused on being intentional about the delivery of the content and especially not intentional about the “trappings” that surround the delivery and the content. This concept is important to transfer to staff meetings, celebrations, recruitment events, fundraisers, PR/marketing …. well, everything. 

Sometimes, you just need to throw out your planned curriculum and help your learners process current events via our Jewish framework. As we begin November, we are focused on two distinct issues and then where the two converge: The Election, the impact of Hurricane Sandy and how this natural disaster might impact the election. Many Jewish education agencies have put forth response curricula on these topics. Even if they aren’t written with your target age audience in mind (i.e. if it is written for teens but you teach adults, or it’s written for elementary learners and you teach teens), the source texts themselves are applicable and the discussion questions and learning activities can be easily adapted.

Here are some links to a few materials: 2012 Election, Responding to Crisis and some secular resources for teaching about Sandy.

As we usher in October with Sukkot, what lessons can we learn from our holiday customs? Ushpizin. During Sukkot we learn that we invite the souls of the seven great leaders of Israel – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and King David – to leave Gan Eden and to partake in the divine light of the earthly Sukkot (Zohar – Emor 103a). It is said that each day of Sukkot, all seven souls are present, but each takes his turn to lead the other six. Collectively these transcendent guests are known as Ushpizin, the Aramaic word meaning “guests.” 

There is a culture built into the Limmud programs around the world in which everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner. Titles (Rabbi, Dr., Cantor) aren’t used – aren’t even visually present – and each person is acknowledged as having the skill and talent to teach every other person at some point. The Limmud International website even boasts, “One of the key principles behind Limmud is that we all have something to contribute and can learn from each other.”

What does the leadership in your organization look like? Is it top-heavy? Is there a strict hierarchy or is it more of a team environment? Who leads staff meetings? Who leads staff training days? The concept of the Ushpizin taking turns leading each other can remind us that we need to take time in our organizations to learn from and lead each other. We need to acknowledge the unique skills that each person has and provide them with a platform to showcase their talents and leadership.

About eight years ago, I attended a conference where I was introduced to scholar and researcher Dr. Amy Sales, professor at Brandeis University. At that conference, she shared with the group her take on “surprise and delight.” I had never heard of this concept before (Google it, there’s a ton from the marketing world), but it really stuck with me. She explained that in her research of Jewish summer camps, one element she found to be the most dynamic was this concept of “surprise and delight.” She writes, 

“Camps run on unbridled creative energy. This energy explains how the camp environment generates fun, risk-taking, and constant invention. Indeed, camp is full of surprises (Sales & Saxe, 2004). The field as a whole needs to embrace this same creative spirit and continue to surprise the community…”

When I present on “High Impact Learning Methods,” I often integrate some basic ideas to bring “surprise and delight” into the learning environment. What do you do to integrate “fun, risk-taking, and constant invention” into your learning environment?

August is back-to-school (or education program) month for many of us. Which means a lot of new faces, new classes/groups, and a lot of introductions. A typical first day is a “go around the room, give us your name, what school you go to (or where you live), and your favorite Jewish holiday (or favorite Jewish food).” By the time you are on to the fourth person, the 20th person in the circle is bored out of their mind and completely disengaged. Instead of this method, consider several small group games in which you, as the education leader, participate in them. For example, if you have 30 kids in your class/group – make three groups of 10. Design three different kinds of activities each lasting 10 minutes that take place simultaneously. The games rotate through the groups so they all get to play all three games and you spend 10 minutes with each group. Consider the educational themes of the year for your class/group. Integrate those themes into the content of the games. Remember, the first impression the learners get of their education leader is “boring” if the introduction is boring. Instead, give them a little energy, surprise, and enthusiasm.

What does your library look like? What resources do you have at your fingertips? Building a professional library is a career task that should not be overlooked. You might not even read a book you purchase right away, but you never know when you will go back to it. Sometimes you may only use one portion of the resource immediately and discover later other gems within the volume. The internet has been our recent go-to for information, but there’s nothing like cracking open a book you pulled from your own library. While it can sometimes break the bank, the investment is well worth it. One way to help get it paid for, is when negotiating your contract, build in a book line item; pre-negotiate that these are yours to keep when you leave. Whatever isn’t covered buy your organization’s budget, is tax deductible as a business expense. So keep those receipts. 

In several areas of my work, the conversation around Jewish families and engaging Jewish families sits at the forefront. Before we can begin the work of building family engagement systems, we must ask “What is a Jewish family? Who’s in it?” The Jewish family began to change a while ago (or we just started to acknowledge that there is diversity in what a Jewish family looks like), but we are still not reflecting these changes in our marketing materials. Do an inventory of your website and your most prominent printed PR pieces: How many Jews of Color or Multi-Racial Jews are depicted? Are you sending the message that Jews with special needs have a place in your community? Do LGBT families have an image in your marketing that they can identify with? Does the single person feel their needs for family are being met by your organization? Does a multi-generational family know that their unique necessities for Jewish living are cared for in your community? How can they all get this message by your PR? 

Sometimes when we are trying to impress others, build a business, network, etc we are afraid to admit when we don’t have a particular strength or skill (fake it til’ ya make it approach). I am often asked to consult in areas for which I know are not my passion nor my strength. Could I do these activities (i.e. fundraising and quantitative evaluation), yes. Will I if a client asks me to, no. It’s really important to be authentic in your skills and abilities and to stick to them. Instead of looking at it as a short-coming, consider it as an opportunity to be a successful connector. Be sure your professional collegial network has in it people who have skill where you have weakness, and then refer them to your clients/boss as needed. Making a successful connection (shidduch) is much better for your career than attempting to fulfill a request you know isn’t in your core skill toolbox.