Camp has a good rep. So good that congregational educators are often heard wondering, “How can my school be more like camp?” Is there a way to deconstruct camp, examine its elements, and use those to inform congregational educational models?
Thanks to ARJE, a group of us recently had the chance to do just that. During a day at Camp Harlam in Kunkletown, PA, we got to experience some of the magic of camp, and to also get a peek at what’s behind the curtain.
What we learned about was the deeply intentional way education is woven into the fabric of daily life at camp, combining threads of formal spiral curricula, informal or even hidden educational initiatives, adherence to “Jewish time,” and managing a series of tensions between what it means for camp to be about camp and what it means for camp to be about Judaism. Michelle Shapiro Abraham, who presented the educational methodologies of camp, described them as surface strategies and embedded strategies.
Here are some things I noticed about Jewish education at camp:
Staff is central to the effort. Not only did I see a high ratio of staff to campers in small group settings (in one group lesson for 18 nine-year-olds there were five or six staffers on hand), I heard about the primacy of staff development. Critical attention is paid to ensure not only that there are plenty of staffers, but that staff is trained and supervised as they develop lessons, learn how to interact intentionally to take advantage of teachable moments, and receive their own mentoring from faculty in residence.
Daily or weekly learning themes are integrated throughout. This integration means that kids will experience continued reinforcement of a weekly middah, the value of inclusion, or any other key elements of their learning in a number of different settings with a wide variety of people.
Yes, Virginia, there are classes at camp. 55-minute periods of classroom-type lessons are built into the camp day, each with a lesson plan to guide learning. Printed materials were used to help transmit content, and pencils and paper were provided for reflective exercises and other activities. The experience has a surprisingly traditional feel—a ‘teacher’ explaining material, framing activities, and encouraging feedback from ‘students.’
Physical activity frames everything. The spaces—even the quasi classrooms—are larger at camp. Beyond time devoted to physical play, the extended campus that is camp requires that kids walk between activities. Many inside spaces are large, allowing for significant movement during any particular activity or class. This is key. In a recent study at Arizona State University, for example, researchers found that children are more able to follow instructions, pay attention, and stay on task during learning periods when they have had periods of physical activity beforehand. Exercised kids, it seems, are more ready to learn.
How might we use these observations in a congregational setting?
Let’s stop feeling bad about formal education. Apparently it has great value even in environments considered fully informal. It’s not whether we have ‘classes’ per se. It’s how we plan and implement lessons creatively in ways that capture kids’ interest.
Let’s provide attention and resources for staff and for staff development. How do we convince parents, religious school committees, and congregational boards that budgets and time for professional development are crucial? How can we think creatively about different models of teacher employment and compensation? Camp Harlam, for example, participates in a staff-sharing model that is able to provide a number of full-time positions for educators who are shared part time among several institutions.
Let’s find ways to get physical. Congregations, for better or for worse, have invested mightily over the years in physical plant. How can we more fully use these substantial assets in the service of our children’s learning? Yes, these are sacred spaces. And teaching our kids is the most sacred thing we can do as Jews. How do we open all our spaces to joyful, activated learning? Rabbi Tali Zelkowicz, formerly at HUC –JIR and now head of Columbus Jewish Day School, has written movingly of the balance between treating Judaism as a china shop and treating it as a jungle gym. Camps are doing a formidable job of letting jungle gym spaces cohabit with sacred ones, to the enrichment of both. How do we find joyful yet respectful ways to reinvent our sanctuaries as spaces that can also be a little more like jungle gyms?
