JCRC Greater Boston’s K-12 Education Initiative
Our Vision for Education
JCRC Greater Boston’s K-12 Education Initiative counters antisemitism by promoting an understanding of Jewish people in both public and non-Jewish independent K-12 schools through Jewish representation and social and emotional practices to promote safe and inclusive school cultures. We accomplish this by building deep, sustained, and collaborative relationships with educational leaders and serving as a trusted resource.
Our Vision:
Our initiative counters antisemitism while promoting a climate of robust teaching and learning about Jewish identity and life. It aligns with CJP’s “Stop Jewish Hate Now” initiative and the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
All students should learn in a school culture that makes them feel safe, seen, and valued.
Curriculum should include the study of Jewish histories, cultures, and religion, so that all students can understand the role of Jewish people in American and global societies.
All students deserve to learn about the historical and contemporary realities of antisemitism, as part of a broader movement towards understanding bigotry and promoting students’ active, informed, and constructive civic agency.
School pedagogies, policies, and practices should be designed to meet the diverse cultural and social needs of all students, including Jewish students.
Priorities
Enhancing K-12 learning, collaborating for all students, is JCRC’s commitment to teaching, learning, and collaborating in a spirit of trust and collaboration. Our work expands and enhances schools’ capacity for including Jewish people within frameworks of multiculturalism, culturally affirming instruction, and inclusive school cultures. We do this by:
- Building constructive and sustained relationships with K-12 leaders and practitioners
- Leveraging partnerships with leading educational organizations to offer the most trustworthy, reliable, and vetted content.
- Convening stakeholders for learning and listening sessions to truly understand the concerns and aspirations of families in schools
- Connecting Greater Boston’s schools and districts with trusted providers of curriculum and professional development
- Serving as a valued partner resource for countering antisemitism to bias-related incidents in schools
- Facilitating opportunities for K-12 leaders and teachers to deepen their understanding of Jewish people and Judaism
- Working with stakeholders across community organization and government to ensure educational policy centers pedagogical excellence and inclusion
Guidance for Parents and Guardians
Parents and guardians of K-12 students deserve to be empowered to constructively engage with educational leaders and teachers. Effective communication and a spirit of inquiry are crucial to a students’ experiences in schools. Some questions parents and guardians may choose to use when facilitating these conversations include:
- What social and emotional services are available for all students?
- What trauma-informed approaches are teachers and staff providing students?
- What guidance and criteria are available for teachers when they select resources to frame classroom discussions around current events?
- What strategies are teachers using for civil discourse and media literacy education?
- What organizations is the district partnering with to build administrative, teacher, and staff capacity for meeting students’ social, emotional, and civic learning needs?
- Who is the district partnering with to build administrative, teacher, and staff capacity to understand antisemitism and respond to incidents?
Select Resources
JCRC is committed to providing educational leaders, teachers, and community members with innovative and reliable resources for enhancing K-12 education curriculum, pedagogy, and school culture.
Social, Emotional, and Trauma-Informed Education
National Association of School Psychologists Addressing Grief in Children: Tips for Parents and Educators
National Association of School Psychologists Culturally Competent Crisis Response
Child Mind Institute Helping Children Cope After a Traumatic Event
Child Mind Institute Going Back to School After a Tragedy
UNICEF How to Recognize Signs of Distress in Children
Cult of Pedagogy Podcast Unpacking Trauma-Informed Teaching
Civil Discourse and Media Literacy Education
Facing History and Ourselves Fostering Civil Discourse: How Do We Talk about Issues that Matter?
Education Week How Teaches Can Talk About Hard Things with Students
Teaching Controversies Framework for Teaching Controversial Issues
Common Sense Media Talking with Students about Shocking or Disturbing News
Common Sense Media How Do I Talk to My Kids about Violence in the News?
Our Collaborative Approach
We forge sustained, trusting partnerships with educational leaders, Boston-area teachers, and community stakeholders. We believe Jewish perspectives deserve to be reflected within the broader educational movements: multiculturalism, social and emotional learning, and civic education. We empower students to dialogue about and participate in a pluralistic, democratic, and globally interconnected society.
Our initiative builds bridges in school communities based on a commitment to cooperation and transformative relationships building. We do this work for the sake of promoting a healthy civil society, alongside our intra-Jewish and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color allies.
Stay Connected
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K-12 Education Initiative Blog
Dan Osborn, Director of Educational Partnerships, provides insight and analysis of trends and issues in K-12 education today.
K-12 Education Initiative Webinars
JCRC is committed to raising awareness of contemporary challenges and opportunities in K-12 education through ongoing dialogue with leaders in the field.
