Ethical Creativity

In the spring of 2015 when faculty and leadership at The Brandeis School of San Francisco were considering adding a makerspace and fabrication lab to the vocabulary of instructional spaces at the school, we began by asking ourselves a question: How would these spaces be different by virtue of their connection to Jewish education?

That initial question prompted both the core principles embedded in the CREATE + BUILD work spaces as well as the development of the notion of ethical creativity. Ethical creativity is the intersection of Jewish traditions and ethical frameworks, human-centered design, hands-on learning, and constructivist pedagogy. Ethical creativity insists on interrogating the ethics of our pedagogy and practice, as much as the outcomes and intentions of what we teach.

Ethical creativity has become a central site of inquiry for us as an institution and a framework for ongoing curriculum development and professional growth for our faculty. The centerpiece of this work is the Ethical Creativity Institute, which you can read more about here.