Esty Gross

Background

About Esty Gross

Dr. Gross is driven by the belief that language is intimately bound to identity, culture, and power and all of these factors must be attended to support effective and equitable language learning. In the context of Hebrew language education, she believes that mastery of the Hebrew language promotes students' understanding of the Israeli people and culture, increases their overall academic performance, supports their understanding of their own language, strengthens their Jewish identity, and fosters their appreciation and tolerance to other cultures. Through the study of the Hebrew language students can become active change agents who feel at home with diversity and are confident to face and solve the inequalities of today’s society (Tikkun Olam תיקון עולם). To that end, Dr. Gross posits that equitable and effective language instruction synthesizes three orientations: traditional (teacher-centered), progressive (student-centered), and critical (power- and society-centered). Dr. Gross has been involved in language instruction in various capacities for more than 25 years. Currently, Dr. Gross is the Chief of Staff and Director of Education for Hebrew at the Center and the lead instructor at Hebrew Union College (HUC) in Los Angeles, CA in the DeLeT Lhorat Ivrit program. Prior to that, she served as the Education Director for Bishvil Ha-Ivrit-CET and as an adjunct professor at University of Southern California (USC) in the MAT-TESOL program She has co-published several articles about Critical Language Pedagogy with Dr. Jenifer Crawford, USC. She is also the author of Chaverim B’Ivirit students workbooks, Behrman House Publishing and has been the educational consultant for Bishvil Ha-Ivrit Book 3 (Intermediate level) textbook and teacher guide and for Besod Ha-Ivrit (Novice level) textbook and teacher guide. In addition, she is the co-founders of the National Association of Hebrew Teachers (NAHeT) in North America. Prior to moving to Los Angeles in 1997, she taught English in Israel. As a former K-12 Director of Hebrew for Stephen S. Wise Elementary School and Milken Schools, NETA Educational Consultant and an independent Hebrew Educational Consultant in various Jewish Day schools across the U.S, Canada, Former USSR, Brazil and Australia, Dr. Gross trained new and veteran Hebrew teachers on the principles of teaching Hebrew-as-a-second-language. Click on this link to read Dr. Gross' current resume: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19yeTFILIfSEXdXpYGY2LfPovKtOgCmUm/edit?usp=sharing & ouid=103163312143459899827 & rtpof=true & sd=true