Exploring Leadership Goals for Academic Education and Identity Development in Complementary Jewish Education for Adolescents

The development of positive identity is viewed as a developmental task for adolescents and may be essential to both the individual and society. The many ethnic and religious minorities in America face special challenges in helping youth develop these positive identities. Non-Orthodox Judaism is one such American minority facing increasing challenges in providing the best educational opportunities for adolescents. The American Jewish community is very diverse and far from monolithic in goals, needs, and expectations. There are many opinions within the non-Orthodox Jewish community about what goals might be appropriate and beliefs about potentially conflicting goals held by various stakeholders, clergy, administrators, teachers, and parents. Yet there has not been much empirical research into the true goals for these stakeholders or exploring any potential conflicts. The purpose of this qualitative nested cross-case study was to explore those goals, examine if they do conflict, and if so, explore how they conflict and where are they aligned. Through a semi-structured interview protocol of seven members of each of six communities, representing the various stakeholders within each community, data were gathered regarding these goals and how they related to the leadership within those communities. There were three large urban communities and three rural communities included in the study with one large and one rural community from the different demographic regions of the United States. There were 42 interviews collected from clergy, administrators, teachers, and parents, with a pool of seven from each of the six communities. The results were analyzed within each community as a case study and then analyzed across cases for differing stakeholder goals. All participants in Jewish complementary education prioritized a strong positive Jewish identity as the primary goal of educational programming, from which a powerful moral compass is seen as a natural development. Academic achievement was viewed as a tool in the service of this larger goal. The data from this study showed that the primary sources of conflict in congregational educational programs are impacted by the components considered important in Jewish identity by the individuals involved, the leadership styles within that organization, and the communication patterns associated with that leadership style. Further research is needed to explore possible communication tools and modalities that will aid in achieving these goals across leadership styles and even potentially reduce conflict between and among the different stakeholders.