Community-Building Principles in The RE-IMAGINE Project
Congregations participating in this project often express a desire to build “community.”
The RE-IMAGINE Project embeds community building actions within the design of the process.
As the professional, using your expertise you may need to “spot and label” these moments. By
identifying or naming the experience they are having, that action becomes a principle or practice
that can then be applied to the design of low hanging fruit and future initiatives that have as
their goal “building community.”
1. Community is a place of safe connection.
 Connection and Reflection questions are designed in part to enable participants to share their
personal stories. These times allow people to get to know each other in ways connected to
the learning at hand and in ways that they may not usually be able to share within the context
of a work meeting.
 Text Study questions allow a personal voice to be revealed.
2. Language, metaphor and images shape how an experience is understood as communal.
 A community-building metaphor frames The RE-IMAGINE Project. We say, “We are going
on a journey together.” The Tefilat Haderech text study supports this metaphor with images
of journeying together.
3. Community develops when everyone’s voice is heard.
 The RE-IMAGINE Project structures text study so everyone speaks and has an opportunity to
be responded to. Learners “co-construct” meaning from what they learn; discovery from
hearing one another’s ideas replaces a teacher’s right answer.
 Leadership team members share responsibility – distributing leadership versus consolidating
it into one person’s voice.
 Each meeting’s exercise is designed specifically to include all voices.
 Suggestions for follow up communication with the congregation often involve two-way
sharing and listening.
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4. Community-building happens when people feel part of a “higher moral purpose.”
 Every meeting and exercise lists out objectives, conveying a sense of where the activity is
headed.
 Leaders frequently have/make opportunities to remind participants and congregants of the
“higher purpose” of their work-To re-imagine religious education so as to meet the goals of
the community.
 Communications with the congregation are designed to signal the importance of this work.
5. Community-building comes from shared language and values.
 Each text study, each exercise helps provide and build a shared “Jewish vocabulary” for
talking about educational issues.
 Each person’s story becomes part of the shared story and memory created by the Task Force.
6. People in community share space and time.
 The Task Force and Leadership Team meet regularly, not sporadically.
 Some Task Forces extend this space and time beyond the meetings – Yahoo groups;
Hanukah party; food before, after, or during; catching up people who don’t make a meeting.
7. A community strives to live what it values.
 Meetings are planned in advance. Creating and sending out agendas in advance shows
respect for people’s time.
 Setting and keeping to ground rules in meetings demonstrates living the Jewish values that
are studied.
 Each meeting sets aside time for study-demonstrating the value of Jewish learning.
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Educational Principles in The RE-IMAGINE Project
As professional staff you will be in a position to guide the design of new learning experiences based
on the vision you create with your Task Force. The vision may identify that learners need to know,
believe, belong and/or live Jewishly. These goals may require a new kind of learning design. As the
professionals you will be in a position to use your expertise to “spot and label,” name or identify the
principles of effective education that can be used when designing new learning. The following
educational principles underlie the experiences we create during meetings of The RE-IMAGINE
Project and may be helpful to you in your future design work.
1. Memory (knowing) deepens when learning connects to what a learner already knows and to
real life situations.
 Connection questions attach new information to existing knowledge. This aids memory.
 Each meeting ends with a reflection, enabling participants to synthesize, co-construct and
apply what has been said.
2. Memory (knowing) and meaning (believing, living, and belonging) are made when learners
actively engage with material.
 By working in small groups, by posing questions that allow participation even if you don’t
know “the right answer,” each learner can experience the material. Participants co-construct
their understanding from the text.
 For example, during the first orientation the video exercise introducing The RE-IMAGINE
Project did not come out and tell “this is the difference between product and process.” Rather
the exercise was designed to allow people to extrapolate the principles themselves.
3. Meaning (belonging, living, believing) is made when learners link their personal stories and
experiences to the material being learned and link the master story to their own story.
 Each text study is anchored in knowledge acquisition-(e.g., the original text, teaching about
who Rashi was). Then learning moves to questions that draw from one’s personal story.
It provides an opportunity for the learner to see his/her story in the Jewish Master Story.
The learner can see that something that has happened to him relates to the experiences in
our tradition.
 The text study in the first meeting roots the experience of being part of a project over time
with a journey, like those of Jews throughout the decades who recite Tefilat Haderech and
who have similar experiences. Learners gain insight into their own personal experiences by
learning from the experiences of our ancient ancestors.
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4. Personal meaning-making learning requires educational design that addresses the unique
interests/abilities and “hard wiring” of each learner.
 Sub-team assignments take into account participants’ individual interest and talents.
 Leadership Team responsibilities also reflect individuals’ expertise and interests.
5. Personal meaning-making learning occurs when learners experience what is learned in an
authentic way.
 Task Force members do not just talk about learning—they actually experience ongoing
learning with text study; the Task Force doesn’t just talk about the value of a community
engaged in learning—they experience it with the regularity of learning in meetings.
6. Personal meaning-making learning happens when learning is anchored within a community
of practice where positive relationships are developed.
 Each meeting allots time for people to “know each other” and build caring, respectful
relationships engaged in shared purpose.
 The Task Force becomes a “community of practice” that treats each other with respect and
engages in regular learning so that what is discussed is also lived.
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