In the world of tefillah, the word yir’a – fear – is usually read positively, as in “awe.” Yet when it comes to school tefillah, the word yir’a often has less to do with how we feel about God, and a lot more about the sense of anxiety educators have about their students – whether it’s about getting them to behave or about helping them relate to writings and routines that they (students and educators) may struggle to connect with. As tefillah in schools is undoubtedly an area of growth, I want to focus on one specific position that could greatly benefit from a boost in professional development and support — the humble tefillah coordinator.
My backstory: I joined a school with a failing tefillah program. In my first few days as tefillah coordinator, a colleague prophesied in the nicest possible way, “You won’t make it past a year.” I’d like to think this was less about me and my tefillah coordinator abilities and more about the tefillah coordinator's challenging role and the school's recent history. Thankfully, I successfully navigated the role, luckily having received some vital words of advice and encouragement along the way from more experienced educators.
Too often, educators are thrust into the tumultuous situation of creating and developing a whole school approach to tefillah without the proper training, background, resources, or support. I suspect that tefillah is sometimes viewed as such a rambunctious child that no one in the school wants to take responsibility for it or look after it; therefore, it is often given to a new-to-the-school or just “new” teacher. There’s an erudite book called Swimming in the Sea of Talmud, and I think the equivalent for tefillah coordinators would be called “Sink or Swim in the Sea of Tefillah.” Of course, it is not all doom and gloom, as there are many success stories and role models for tefillah coordinators, but in my work as a mentor of newer teachers and tefillah educators, I see and hear the struggles on the ground.
This leads me to the question: How do we support new and emerging tefillah coordinators? This past year, I mentored a new teacher who was also a newly appointed tefillah coordinator of a program needing improvement. We spent more than a few hours talking about the following:
Creating clearly articulated goals for the school tefillah program (check out the Pardes Goals of Tefillah if you need help!).
Considering how to introduce change to the tefillah teaching faculty.
Clarifying the roles of all the staff present during tefillah (leaders, cantors, support staff).
The need to advocate for the tefillah program within the school.
How to champion the idea that tefillah is the most critical part of a student’s school day (and yes, I believe that – and so should all tefillah coordinators!).
The tefillah coordinator role needs to be about more than just focusing on the product (minyanim, curriculum, logistics, etc.); it has to focus on the person. As a community, we need to consciously support, build, and grow a cadre of tefillah coordinators who have the skill, knowledge, and savvy to create whole-school programs, leading and inspiring their teams to implement them. Tefillah needs to be more than just “coordinated” like an event planner would do, but be led competently and passionately to bring out the inner worlds of students and connect them to the bigger picture – God, community, self-growth – however the school/student defines it.
So what can we do to support our unsung heroes of the tefillah world? Conferences, listservs, and webinars are good, and I would like to add another option that heads of schools should seriously consider in order to help their tefillah coordinators — tefillah coordinator coaching. The coach would be an experienced tefillah educator who can help challenge, focus, and support the coordinator as they navigate a vital yet sensitive role in the school.
Each school has nuances regarding its tefillah program, including hashkafah, parent expectations, student body, institutional history, and tefillah faculty. A tefillah coach would help the tefillah coordinator take general principles in leadership and tefillah education and consider how best to apply them to their specific school and their context. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for tefillah education, and so we must unite as a community to help tefillah coordinators develop outstanding programs that their schools deserve.