Pedagogy Chaburah for Rabbis & Educators

Bring the magic of SVARA to your teaching! SVARA’s Pedagogy Chaburah for Rabbis & Educators is a rigorous learning space for rabbis and educators working in Jewish communities who are seeking to expand their pedagogical toolkits to include SVARA’s traditionally radical, empowering approach to teaching Talmud. Beginning with a deep dive into the practice of studying Talmud in SVARA’s method (y’all know, the old-fashioned way: hardcore, queer, and radically inclusive), this learning space will help you integrate elements of SVARA’s method into your classroom, bet midrash, or other teaching setting, and will include sessions on pedagogy and practical skill-building. 

About this Learning Space

This learning space is for folks who:

• have previously learned Talmud with SVARA and are interested in exploring or deepening their relationship to Talmud study as a personal practice
• are experienced educators/facilitators with strong facilitation skills
• lead with self-awareness, groundedness, humility, and mentschiness
• have experience learning rabbinic texts in the original beyond the intermediate level (basic familiarity with grammatical structures like binyanim, ability to decode texts independently in SVARA’s method using bet midrash tools)
• are committed to acknowledging and interrogating mechanisms of power and inequality in the world and the bet midrash
• are interested and invested in incorporating elements of SVARA’s pedagogy & practice into their learning spaces

Calendar & Curriculum

This program will run from November 3rd, 2021 – June 1, 2022, and includes a weekly commitment of approximately four hours of learning (two hours of weekly shiur, two hours of weekly chevruta).

• Weekly Synchronous Sessions: Wednesdays from 2:00-4:00 PM ET

• • November – February | Learn and ground in SVARA’s method through weekly chevruta learning and shiur, accompanied by readings and reflections (approximately 4hr/week commitment total: 2hrs in weekly chevruta, 2 hrs in weekly shiur)
  • March – May | Explore SVARA’s pedagogical framework and approach (“COMP”) through workshops, readings, and reflections (approximately 4hr/week commitment total: 2 hrs in weekly chevruta or small groups, 2 hrs in weekly shiur)
  • June 1 | Siyum

• Weekly Chevruta Learning: Each synchronous session will be accompanied by a weekly chevruta session.

• Coaching & Observation: Each participant will have access to four 45-minute coaching sessions throughout the year with a SVARA faculty member

Tuition & Application

Tuition for our programs is offered on a sliding scale. The top of the scale reflects the true cost of this class, and is the cost that we would charge all learners in the absence of a sliding scale. This range acknowledges that paying the full cost would prevent some folks from being able to attend. Please be mindful that if you pay at the lower end of the scale when you can afford higher tuition, you are limiting access for those who truly need the gift of financial flexibility. If the tuition scale remains prohibitive, you will be offered the opportunity to make a contribution that is meaningful to you. For more thinking on this topic, here is a resource that informs our approach.

The tuition scale for the Pedagogy Chaburah is $950-3,000. As part of SVARA’s commitment to leveraging our work in support of reparations, all tuition is waived for Black and Indigenous participants of teacher training programs (including SVARA’s Teaching Kollel and the Pedagogy Chaburah for Rabbis/Educators). Click here for more about reparations.