What should I have learned as a Jew after 12 years in a Jewish school? A Curriculum Study of Centrist-Orthodox Jewish Day Schools in the UK

What is the ideal Jewish Education for children going to Jewish schools in the Diaspora in the 21st century? This paper aims to offer some directions in response to this question within the context of centrist orthodox Jewish day schools in the UK. In June 2005, the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel was approached by the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) of the UK to design a Scoping Paper outlining the Jewish studies curriculum expectations of graduates from central orthodox day schools in the UK. This work was to provide the foundations for intensive curriculum work in Jewish studies in these schools. The paper focuses on the process by which these curriculum expectations were reached. The conceptual model that is presented attempts to show how a synthesis between Fullan's collaboration model and Schwab's 'commonplaces' concept can yield a fruitful foundation for a successful curriculum process. The paper also outlines the weaknesses of the Fullan/Schwab model as evidenced in the process of consultation undertaken with various stakeholder groups within the UK Jewish school setting and subsequent implementation of the curriculum model.