Putting Students Front and Center in the Hebrew Bible Classroom: Inquiry-Oriented Pedagogy in the Orthodox and Liberal Classroom

ABSTRACT

Inquiry-oriented pedagogy is a difficult pedagogy to enact in the classroom. By placing students’ questions and textual ideas at the center, the teacher opens the door to unanticipated and sometimes off-the-wall comments in text discussion. And yet, research has shown that it is exactly this type of pedagogy that leads to increased engagement and comprehension. This study examines two elementary school Hebrew Bible teachers’ enactment of inquiry-oriented pedagogy. It explores how one pedagogy can look very different in different contexts and the contrasting motivations teachers hold.

KEYWORDS:

• Pedagogy
• Jewish studies
• student-centered
• inquiry
• Orthodox

Notes

¹ These two teachers’ pseudonyms reflect each teacher’s titles in the classroom. Rabbi Goldman went by Rabbi and Yonatan went by his first name.