Description
How can educators help students feel proud of their Jewish identities while also creating space for honest, nuanced conversations about how challenging it can be to be Jewish right now? Join Moving Tradition's Pamela Barkley and Rabbi Daniel Brenner in this interactive session. Educators will explore sample activities that take a social-emotional learning approach to these questions, reflect on pedagogy, and develop practical strategies for supporting pre-teens and teens as they navigate the challenges of a polarizing political world. Join us as we explore an educational approach that helps Jewish teens discover who they are and who they want to be.
Objectives:
- Participants will reflect on pedagogical approaches that foster student pride in Jewish identity while navigating complex and often divisive political issues.
- Participants will generate and share their own strategies for applying these approaches in their educational settings
Presentor Bios:
Pamela Barkley, Chief Growth Officer (she/her/hers), is in charge of overseeing the development and implementation of Moving Traditions programmatic offerings. Pam works with a team of gifted educators to bring the magic of caring connection and Jewish insight to teens, teachers, parents and clergy. She brings over 25 years of experience in facilitation, education, training and coaching as well as a deep passion for finding opportunities for personal growth in herself and others. Pam has a BA from Brandeis University and an MSW from NYU and is a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Trainer. When not engaged in all things Jewish, Pam can be found dancing anywhere and everywhere, hiking in the woods listening to podcasts, or walking on the beach with her husband and twin daughters.
Rabbi Daniel Brenner serves as the Vice President of Education (he/him/his), where he weaves together ancient wisdom, developmental psychology, social pedagogy, embodied practice, and pop culture to help a diverse network of rabbis, educators, and volunteer leaders who mentor teens. Prior to joining Moving Traditions in 2011, Daniel led educational programs for CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Auburn Theological Seminary, and the Birthright Israel Foundation. Brenner is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; he furthered his studies with Rabbi Yitz Greenberg and Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z’l), and for the last five years he has been obsessed with studying and teaching shtetl dance. He lives with his beloved, Dr. Lisa Brenner, in Montclair, New Jersey and they are the proud parents of three young adults.
