the L.A. Pincus Fund for Jewish Education in the Diaspora

Pincus Fund -> Guidelines -> Areas -> Development

Development of curricula and educational materials

The Fund recognizes the importance of quality curricula and educational materials, which are attractive, engaging, and suited to the level and needs of the learner. The Fund has supported more than 50 projects which have developed new curricula for use in formal and informal educational settings. These include traditional curriculum materials, as well as those which utilize multimedia technology.

One project, developed by the London-based Jewish Association for Business Ethics, wrote and piloted a curriculum to teach high school students about Jewish attitudes toward business practices. This curriculum, "Money & Morals", demonstrates that Judaism impacts students' daily lives, and that business should be conducted with integrity and responsibility toward the community. This curriculum subsequently was adapted to mainstream schools in Britain.

Another project was carried out under the auspices of the Institute for Jewish Education, at St. Petersburg Jewish University, in Russia. This project included workshops and seminars for senior teachers of Jewish Studies. Following these seminars, teams of educators met to develop kits of pedagogic materials, for distribution in more than 300 Jewish schools in the FSU. The rapid expansion of Jewish schools in the FSU during the past decade had led to a shortage of both skilled teachers, and educational programs and materials.

The Board has enumerated the following special guidelines for applications to develop new curricula. Potential applicants should review these guidelines early, before beginning work on their application:

A. Projects in curriculum development must show evidence of strong local support and input.

B. The application must include an in-service training component which will train personnel to use the materials produced.

C. Preference will be given to schools or organizations which can pool resources or implement a joint project in the area of curricula or materials development, rather than to individual schools or organizations.

D. Projects which the Fund considers successful may be granted additional funding some time after completion of the initial project, to revise or update the materials produced, in order to maximize the period of their use in the field.

E. The Fund reserves the right to appoint an outside consultant to accompany a project and report directly to the Fund. The salary of this consultant will be included in the approved grant.

F. Any materials produced within the framework of a Pincus Fund-supported project must be made available at cost to the partners of the Fund, for their own use, and to other schools or educational institutions.