Machon Hadar aims to empower Jews to create and sustain vibrant, practicing, egalitarian communities of Torah, Avodah, and Hesed through progamming and teacher training programs.

Machon Hadar provides daytime and evening lectures and classes for the broader community, welcoming tens of thousands of people, in-person, every year. Over 2,000 people have learned with them through Project Zug (www.projectzug.org), an online learning platform that connects Jews around the world with each other through weekly one-on-one havruta (partner) learning. Hundreds of thousands of people learn each year through podcasts, essays, online classes, prayer recordings, and other web resources available on www.hadar.org. There have been over two million downloads of these resources in the last three years, and new materials are added, and attract new online students, every day.

Hadar welcomes people from all walks of Jewish life – teens to great-grandparents, of all denominational backgrounds, from around the country (and around the world). They have programs for college students, for music-lovers who seek to build spiritual community through singing, and for lay people who simply enjoy Torah study. Rabbis, educators, and Jewish professionals seek their guidance in how to build dynamic communities.

Teacher Training Program: What is PoP?

The Pedagogy of Partnership (PoP) is an innovative research-based pedagogy for the design of relationship-centered education, led by Dr. Orit Kent and Allison Cook.

They provide cutting edge professional development to 21st century educators and organizations. Their comprehensive model enables learners of all ages to develop the habits of wonder, empathy and responsibility toward others and Torah.

The PoP also guide learners toward using concrete tools to improve their communication and interpretive skills, and be better able to seek understanding, work collaboratively and engage with their studies as ongoing sources of wisdom and instruction. Leading learners in this way can inform teaching practices across almost any subject matter or category, offering a powerful Jewish framework from which to educate and learn.

What You Get

PoP offers a range of services for professionals interested in using this model to support educational and leadership efforts. They also offer interactive courses, workshops and reimagined beit-midrash-style Jewish learning for children and adults.

Day School Educators Institute

This intensive week of inspiring personal and professional learning includes Jewish text learning, led by Hadar faculty, in a lively beit midrash setting and offers two tracks to choose from for enhancing Jewish learning in the Day School classroom. The first is an in-depth exploration of the Pedagogy of Partnership with Dr. Orit Kent and Allison Cook. The second is an opportunity for schools to send cohorts of faculty who are committed to bringing Hadar’s Fluency Standards into their school environments. These fluency standards were developed in partnership with Beit Rabban Day School, where they are currently being implemented.

Track 1: Pedagogy of Partnership Track with Dr. Orit Kent and Allison Cook

Would you like to see an increased love of Jewish learning in your classrooms and schools? Are you eager to adopt a pedagogy that is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition and meets the needs of our 21st century lives?

Participate in an intensive introductory training in the Pedagogy of Partnership at Hadar: Experience and focus on teaching techniques that support ethical, spiritual and intellectual growth in your learners through the design and practice of havruta and group learning. Translate your learning into practice and discover methods for strengthening your students’ relationship with their peers and with Jewish texts—all with support and guidance from leading experts, Dr. Orit Kent and Allison Cook, developers of the research-based pedagogy, “Pedagogy of Partnership.” School leaders and teams of teachers of 3rd grade and up are encouraged to participate! This program is suited to both Jewish studies and general studies teachers and specialists. This track includes exclusive access to an online community of practice with webinars during the year.

Track 2:  Fluency Standards in Jewish Education Track with Lisa Exler 

Does your school have a vision for Jewish education that includes not only Jewish identity-building but also fluency in the texts and practices of Judaism? Are you looking for a clear definition of what this fluency looks like and roadmaps of the content, skills, and dispositions that should be taught in order to help your students achieve it? Are you ready to immerse yourself in a Beit Midrash setting and engage in your own Torah learning?

The Fluency Standards Track of Hadar’s Day School Educators Institute is intended for day school educators who are interested in learning more about how to bring the Standards for Fluency in Jewish Text and Practice (developed by Hadar and Beit Rabban Day School) into their schools.