Additional information
by Elie Holzer (Author), Orit Kent (Author)
No longer confined to traditional institutions devoted to Talmudic studies, havruta work, or the practice of students studying materials in pairs, has become a relatively widespread phenomenon across denominational and educational settings of Jewish learning. However, until now there has been little discussion of what havruta text study entails and how it might be conceptualized and taught. This book breaks new ground from two perspectives: by offering a model of havruta text study situated in broader theories of interpretation and learning, and by treating havruta text study as composed of textual, interpersonal and intra-personal practices which can be taught and learned. We lay out the conceptual foundations of our approach and provide examples of their pedagogical implementation for the teaching of havruta text study. Included are illustrative lesson plans, teachers' notes and students' reflections, exercises for students, and other instructional materials for teaching core concepts and practices.
Author Biography
Orit Kent is a Senior Research Associate at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University, where she also teaches in the DeLeT/MAT program. Orit co-designed the Beit Midrash for Teachers at Brandeis and has taught in it since 2003, where she has developed an approach to the teaching of havruta and the close study of student learning. At the Mandel Center, Orit conducts research on collaborative learning and pedagogical approaches to the teaching of texts and draws on her research to help teachers create rich learning environments.
