Session 1
Often, diversity, equity, and inclusion are concepts that Jewish educators interpret as applying to groups outside of Judaism. In these sessions, we will turn the lens inward to examine segments of the Jewish community that are not always represented in teaching materials and on classroom walls. Join Drs. Meir Muller and Ilana Dvorin Friedman as they facilitate conversation around ways to shine a light on multiple groups within the Jewish people and ensure that our Jewish early childhood spaces cultivate community and belonging.
Facilitated by Dr. Meir Muller and Dr. Ilana Friedman
Rabbi Dr. Muller serves as an associate professor in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include anti-racist pedagogical frameworks, socio-political consciousness, Pro-Blackness, Jewish early childhood education, and countering antisemitism.
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Dr. Muller has served as lead author of South Carolina’s early childhood state standards and recently co-edited the Bloomsbury text, Early Childhood Jewish Education: Multicultural, Gender, and Constructivist Perspectives. Dr. Muller is the co-founder of the Cutler Jewish Day School where he spent 30 years heading the school.
Dr. Ilana Dvorin Friedman is the Director of Early Childhood Advocacy and Strategy at the Jewish United Fund (JUF) in Chicago. Her professional and research interests include early childhood Jewish education, child care advocacy, and social justice and critical pedagogies.
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For more than thirteen years, Ilana has been an adjunct instructor and child development consultant teaching courses at a variety of academic institutions and providing professional development for early childhood professionals. Ilana holds a PhD in Child Development, having completed her dissertation on gender beliefs of teachers in Orthodox Jewish early childhood programs. She lives in Skokie, Illinois with her husband and five children.