A Philosophy of Havruta: Understanding and Teaching the Art of Text Study in Pairs

ISBN-13: 9781618112903 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 264 str.

Elie Holzer; Orit Kent

Opis

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.

Emerging from practice based research, this book combines philosophical analysis and pedagogical guidance for understanding and advancing a distinctive form of Jewish learning - the study of texts by a pair of learners (havruta text study). It breaks new ground by offering a model of havruta learning situated in philosophical hermeneutics - an art of interpretation- and learning theories and by treating havruta learning as composed of interpersonal, intra-personal and textual practices, which can be taught and learned. This effective approach - particularly relevant to working with teachers, adult learners and teenagers- aims for the integration of the pedagogical with the ethical, imaginative and critical thinking with human interactions, and of learning with text based conversations. Included are illustrative lesson plans, teachers notes and students reflections, exercises for students, and other instructional materials for teaching core concepts and practices.