Why study sociology of education?
Why study the sociology of Judaism education?
What does this course have to do with the reality of our classrooms in our Judaism schools?
The simple answer to all three of these questions is: “Everything.”
Our students are not blank slates. They are complex beings who live within the context of what is becoming a more complex society every day. Not understanding the “society” within which our children grow up, not understanding the pressures, the media, culture, and families in which our children reside, is to be terribly hobbled as an educator. Sensitivity to the nuances of our contemporary society, and to possess an historical perspective of how we have arrived at our current social contexts, become a vital element to provide truly effective and excellent educational models and methods of teaching.
Within our Judaism context, understanding the sociology of the Judaism community emerges as an even more essential element in educating our children. In our last class, we spent a full hour mapping the intricacies of the Judaism landscape in Los Angeles. And, that landscape is, indeed, intricate, complex, and even dizzying in its size and content. We discovered there are hundreds of Judaism organizations, schools, synagogues, community groups, and streams of Judaism, just to mention the obvious. The list, at the end of the day, felt endless and almost impossible to grasp.
Yet, not grasping it, not embracing its impact on our children and upon the education we promote, is, perhaps, to fail our kids. For us as Judaism educators, failure of any kind is a failure to ensure the Judaism people’s contribution to the greater American society. Indeed, failure is not an option.