Product Description

This unique book is designed to invigorate, enhance and promote adult learning. Dr. Diane Tickton Schuster's groundbreaking new book addresses key issues in the rapidly expanding field of Jewish adult education. Using stories of learners and teachers, as well as theories of adult development and education, Dr. Schuster provides insight into how Jewish adults learn and grow.

The search for understanding adult Jewish learning starts by seeking to understand people’s individual experiences - Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning also chronicles many personal Jewish journeys.

Some of the questions this book tackles are:

-What prompts Jewish adults to begin to study texts?

-What obstacles need to be overcome for adult learners to feel safe and confident in their pursuit of more Jewish knowledge?

-What enriches the growth of adult students-and their teachers as well?

Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning covers many topics, including providing easy access to learning, aiding the quest for competence, understanding different kinds of learners, creating learner-centered education, supporting teacher development, and more. Drawing on research and experience, this book contains practical suggestions for professionals working with Jewish adults. Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning presents compelling and exciting new ways to reinvigorate adult Jewish learning while also providing important insights into adult faith development and spiritual journeys.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #944349 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-01
• Released on: 2003-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 249 pages

About the Author
Diane Tickton Schuster, Ph.D, is Director of the Institute for Teaching Jewish Adults at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. A developmental psychologist, Diane teaches and conducts research about adult Jewish learners and their teachers. Previously, her scholarship focused on the lives of educated women.

Customer Reviews

All who are hungry, come and read!
"Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning" is a lively and useful study offering insight and tools for teachers and learners alike. Through a thorough knowledge of and facility in the field of adult development and adult learning as well as sensitive and compelling case studies, Diane Tickton Schuster illuminates the experience of Jewish seekers. "Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning" provides a framework for understanding the particular questions and circumstances of adult Jewish learners. By doing so, Schuster honors the journeys of adult learners, mirroring the honor that Jewish tradition has for learners of all levels. Much like the study of Talmud that uses a specific text to elaborate a set of related questions, this book opens out, includes and embraces the lives and the learning of adult Jews.

An Essential Resource Guide for Teaching Jewish Adults
Diane Schuster's Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning is a most valuable resource for rabbis, educators, program planners and anyone interested in enhancing the range and quality of educational opportunities for adult Jewish learning. Through an artful blending of individual learner's stories, theories of adult development and education, Schuster provides a thoroughly accessible resource that offers powerful insights into why adults pursue Jewish study and what they hope to obtain when they come to the study table. Schuster provides a wealth of practical strategies for engaging adults that will add meaning and depth to their lives and promote a passion for lifelong Jewish learning. The stories that open each chapter provide a compelling contextualization for the theories that inform her work. Particularly useful are the many tables throughout the book that summarize and reinforce her key points. This book will be the central address for teachers of Jewish adults for many years to come.

Conscious Approach to Adult Jewish Learning
This is a very valuable addition to the study of Jewish learning. Diane Schuster displays a respect for the adult learner,not seen before in Jewish education. Their social-psychological-spiritual motivation is paramount in her mind as she analyses needs and assesses approaches to greater and deeper study. Additionally the pragmatics of adult learning are addressed: classroom strategies, learner orientation, quality questions for the educator.
Worth every penny!