The Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership is dedicated to advancing community-based scholarship in the field of Jewish education and leadership, particularly in the arenas of pedagogy, identity, and literacy. The Center provides graduate level training for Jewish educators and professional development for Jewish administrators, educators, and nonprofit professionals, catalyzes research, and convenes academics and practitioners for critical conversations about the Jewish future. The program is designed for Jewish day school educators, heads of departments, directors of congregational schools, or individuals starting their careers in Jewish education. The Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership prepares students to become teachers in formal classroom settings with an emphasis on teaching strategies, instructional techniques, and curriculum design for specific Jewish text-based disciplines. Housed in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD), the Center is a vibrant laboratory for teaching, learning, and educational engagement.

Through interdisciplinary studies and in collaboration with GSEHD’s graduate program in Experiential Education and Jewish Cultural Arts, the Center explores important links between evolving theories of teaching and learning in formal and informal educational settings. These degree programs are connected with GW University in WA, DC. Cohorts approach the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership and customized programming is arranged. There is no ‘off the shelf’ coursework for this program. Therefore, costs are also variable, depending on the size of the group. A minimum of 15 people are required. No other language aside from English is available. Facilitators are inspiring and informed, and adjust their sessions so that participants mimic their interactive and educational experiences.  Facilitators all have deep content knowledge, are accountable for their teaching, and facilitate interactive sessions. 

Faculty: 

Dr. Erica Brown is an associate professor and the director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education & Leadership. She consults with a variety of Jewish nonprofits and is the author of twelve books in Judaic studies and leadership.

Dr. Sharon Blumenthal-Cohen is the program director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education & Leadership. She teaches core courses in Curriculum and Instruction and manages teaching internships.

Specialties/areas of expertise: 

• Core courses in Curriculum & Instruction
• Concentration courses in Jewish education
• Supervised internship placement in a Jewish school
• Two-year immersive cohort experience
• Partial need and merit-based scholarships available
• Opportunity to study in Washington, D.C. in the heart of the nation’s capital