For Teachers & Educators
ICJS Fellowship for Teachers: Cohort program builds religious literacy for educators
Religion is always present in the classroom, even when no one names it. Students bring religious identities, assumptions, histories, holidays, and inherited narratives with them every day. Teachers do too. So do curricula, calendars, and school cultures. The question is not whether religion is present, but whether we are prepared to engage it thoughtfully.
ICJS works with classroom teachers, educators and schools to empower teachers to thoughtfully engage with religious difference and diversity. At ICJS, we see this work as contributing to safe learning communities that prepare students to eventually work, live and civically participate within a multireligious democracy.
To that end, ICJS offers a range of programs for educators including a yearlong fellowship for teachers in the greater Baltimore area, in-school professional development, and on-line and in-person programming to further interreligious dialogue.
ICJS Fellowship for Teachers: Cohort program builds religious literacy for educators
ICJS offers a one-year cohort for Baltimore-area teachers to gain knowledge and confidence in religious literacy, to develop and share lesson plans for their own classroom, and to think deeply about pedagogy with a network of experienced educators and scholars.
Interreligious Studies & Secondary Education
New book featuring contributions by ICJS staff and fellowship alumni
Edited by Christine Gallagher (ICJS), Lucinda Mosher, and Axel Takacs
Interreligious Studies and Secondary Education: Pedagogies and Practices for Living and Learning in a Religiously Plural World is a groundbreaking collection of essays exploring the role of interreligious studies in public, private, and parochial secondary education.
Contributors—including several alumni of the ICJS Fellowship for Teachers and the Fellowship for Nonprofit and Civic Professionals—offer insights into religious literacy, the impact of Christian privilege, and the transformative power of interfaith dialogue and experiential learning.
Each chapter ends with a list of discussion questions. Our hope is that administrators, professional learning communities, teacher educators, and more can use these essays as a way to begin conversations in their own schools.
Founder Story: Donna Lee Frisch
ICJS teacher programming has always been teacher-led. Donna Lee Frisch (1940-2020), a founding ICJS trustee and a former teacher at Bryn Mawr School, knew that students need to learn about religion to be informed local and global citizens, yet teaching about religion was tough. With generous support from the Frisch family, since 2015 ICJS has offered essential professional development opportunities for teachers and educators.
Teacher Voices & Impact Stories
Teachers and Educators Content On Demand
The Classroom and the Commandments: Religion, the Bible, and public schools
From Texas classrooms to federal courts, debates about religion are shaping American public education. Join us for a conversation with Dr. Mark Chancey, a leading scholar on the Bible and public school education, as we discuss the Ten Commandments in classrooms, Biblical sources and curriculum updates, and what this means for students, teachers, and the First Amendment.
Contact Christine Gallagher | Head of Program | Program Director for Teachers & Schools
If you want to learn more about ICJS’ work with teachers and educators, contact Christine Gallagher at cgallagher@icjs.org.
Contact Jason Creeger | Program Director for Teachers & Schools
If you want to learn more about the ICJS Fellowship for Teachers, contact Jason Creeger at jcreeger@icjs.org.