Intergenerational Model: Tribes

Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, New York, NY

Model Summary:

The Tribes model aims to build community and strengthen relationships among learners across grades. It also creates an opportunity for learners to see teens in the Emanu-El community as Jewish role models. Rituals allow learners to feel like they are a part of a special, caring community within the larger school.

Tribes is centered around weekly, twenty-five minute teen-led learning experiences built into the Jewish enrichment curriculum for learners in grades 3-5. Learners of different ages are integrated into four tribes, and engage in immersive activities to learn about Jewish values. Tribes is facilitated by teens (tribal chiefs), who design and implement the day’s immersive activities.

On a typical Sunday, Tribe members join together in their Tribe room. A thought question is posted on the blackboard, and learners write their individual responses in their Tribal notebooks. After a brief discussion, the learning moves to become more active, experiential learning. Of the twenty-five minute Tribe lesson, almost fifteen minutes are dedicated to etgar, literally the Hebrew word for challenge, which requires the learners to move around and actively engage with the learning. For example, during one session, after the students had answered the question on the blackboard, they were asked to get out of their seats and go stand next to one of the three signs posted around the room. One read ‘PRAISE,’ one ‘ASK,’ and one ‘THANK YOU.’ As the first part of the exercise, kids were asked to go to one station and pair with another student in the class. At whatever station they chose, they’d have to praise their buddy, thank them, or ask them for help.

The tribal elders (teachers) meet several times over the year to think about how to best integrate Tribes into the school.

Who are the Learners?

Learners in grades 3-5 (Sundays only) participate in Tribes. They are divided into tribes based on questionnaires their parents answer at the beginning of each school year. The questionnaire helps the educators to group learners with shared values and interests. Once a child is in a tribe, he or she continues in that tribe from year to year.

Learners also include teens who serve as tribal chiefs and their assistants.

Who are the Educators/Learning Facilitators?

Four A-TEEMers (members of the teen internship group at Emanu-El, Assistant Temple Emanu – El Madrichim) serve as tribal chiefs, with junior A-TEEMers (younger teens) serving as assistants. Teachers serve as tribal elders; they participate in Tribes and support the tribal chiefs.

When does the Learning Happen?

Tribes meets weekly Sundays for about 25 minutes. Tribes also meets for extended periods at various points throughout the year, including Tribal Kick Off, Tribal Sorting, The Great Dreidel Spin-Off, and Passover.

The Tribes coordinator meets with the teen leaders (tribal chiefs) each week to help the teens plan out the next tribal meetings.

Where does the Learning Happen?

Mainly in the Temple.

What is the Learning? How is it Designed?

Learners in grades 3-5 are divided into tribes, led by tribal chiefs (members of the A-TEEM). Tribes meets weekly during religious school hours to participate in a series of content-rich rituals and etgar (challenge) activities. Rituals – welcome and goodbye – frame the learning each week and help build a unique tribal identity. Etgar activities aim to strengthen relationships and provide experiential learning opportunities for tribe members. The curriculum is framed around various themes. For example, in 2012-2013, the Tribes curriculum was centered around Pirkei Avot 4:1 – Who is wise? Who is strong? Who is rich? Each of those 3 themes made up one unit over the year.

What were You Trying to Achieve with this Model?

The congregation was looking for meaningful opportunities for teen madrichim (counselors). They thought that Sundays, when teens might be available, would be a good time to engage the teens. They were also hoping to take advantage of more school hours on Sunday, compared to weekday afternoons, to experiment with building something that was more camp-like, and to explore different modalities of learning. In addition, they wanted to promote community-building within the congregation.

Key First Steps and Recruitment Plan:

An action plan was put into place by the education team. Parents received emails and flyers about the new model. Since Tribes is integrated into the full model, no additional recruitment is necessary to engage elementary school learners.

The teens are all part of the A–TEEM (Assistant Temple Emanu – EL Madrichim) that is billed as a religious school internship program.

Parent communication is frequent. Parents are consulted to help sort the children into tribes (based on a questionnaire about their child) and received surveys to help assess the Tribes model. Teachers were also encouraged to mention Tribes in their emails home.

Role of governance and Clergy:

A rabbi serves on the education team. The clergy have also participated in some of the Tribes activities.

Budget:

The teens are part of the religious school internship program. They choose to receive $25/session or recognition for community service for their work as madrichim. The costs for Tribes falls under the school’s general budget – tribal elder meetings go under the staff development budget. At the end of year, costs for color war require some additional funding.

Hiring Needs:

No additional employees or educators were brought on to manage the Tribes component.

Tribal Chiefs: The oldest, most experienced teens were asked to do this. The number of qualified teens limits the number of tribes. Ideal teen madrichim (tribal chiefs) are responsible, open to feedback, and excited to be role models for younger children.

Relationship of Model to Congregational Learning System:

Tribes is a model that occurs within a more traditional learning model. All learners in grades 3-5 participate in this model each Sunday.

How Do You Describe Your Congregation?

Temple Emanu-El is a Classical Reform congregation. There are approximately 3500 family units (200 families are in the religious school) with 3 rabbis, and 1 cantor. The Department of Lifelong Learning has 5 full-time staff.