Phillip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, a British statesman and man of letters, is purported to have said on March 10, 1746, “Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.”

Nearly 300 years later, those words still ring true and certainly should speak to Jewish educators. Our work is “worth doing” in order to develop in the next generation a healthy Jewish identity and sense of connectedness; given those stakes, it needs to be done in the best way possible.

What might that “best way” entail? 

At least in part, it should include collaborative practice. A spiraling scope and sequence―considered best practice for teaching―needs input from all teachers to create seamless boundaries among subjects and from grade to grade. When we present challenges to a community of practice, the discussion generates a more robust list of solutions than when we grapple alone with an issue. There is value in feeling like we are part of something larger than our own classrooms in a profession where one’s primary rewards are gleaned from students’ successes.

Why, then, do most schools create schedules in a way that is penny-wise, but pound-foolish?