Judaism, Education and Social Justice: Towards a Jewish Critical Pedagogy

This book sets out new theoretical foundations for Jewish social justice education by surveying and discussing Freirean critical pedagogy, Catholic models of social justice education, Jewish social justice literature and interviews with educators and activists.

Jewish social justice education is an active and growing field, encompassing a diverse range of issues including the treatment of refugees, environmental justice, human rights, peace and justice in Israel/Palestine, gender equality, and LGBT+ inclusion. Yet Jewish social justice education remains an under-researched and under-theorized phenomenon. This lacuna has practical implications for the thousands of educators and activists across the world who are attempting to achieve social justice ends through the medium of Jewish education. In discussing the key philosophical, political and educational issues that emerge when discussing these topics, the author draws on thinkers including Hannah Arendt, Martin Buber, Alasdair MacIntyre and Jonathan Sacks. Matt Plen proposes three possible directions for a normative theory of Jewish social justice education: ’Jewish politics in a renewed public sphere’, ’Jewish education for relational community building’ and ’Jewish critical pedagogy for cultural emancipation’.

Matt Plen is Chief Executive of Masorti Judaism, UK. He holds a PhD in Philosophy of Education from IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, University College London, UK.