Ethical Creativity Institute

The Ethical Creativity Institute (ECI) is a weeklong professional development and curriculum design program created and hosted by The Brandeis School of San Francisco that combines the emergent fields of design thinking, tinkering, and constructionist education with Jewish traditions and ethical frameworks.

ECI started in the summer of 2016, and aims at developing a model of distributed innovation that will propel Jewish life, thinking, and engagement forward, while also developing new applications of Jewish ethics in the context of 21st century educational practices and approaches.

Bringing together a national cohort of practitioners from Jewish educational settings, and staffed by expert educators from early childhood to higher education who represent national and Bay Area institutions, this unique program encourages cross-pollination and collaboration among a range of subject matters, disciplines, and organizations.

List of 7 frequently asked questions.

What is Ethical Creativity?

Ethical Creativity is the intersection of Jewish traditions and ethical frameworks, human-centered design, hands-on learning, and constructionist pedagogy. Ethical Creativity insists on interrogating the ethics of our pedagogy and practice as much as the outcomes and intentions of what we teach. Like all of us as educators and human beings, ethical creativity is also in a state of becoming.
Who participates in the Ethical Creativity Institute?

ECI is open to any practitioner in the field of early childhood education through 12th grade education: classroom teachers, school leaders, Hebrew and Judaic studies teachers, subject specialists, makerspace facilitators, and school librarians.
Who teaches ECI?

Teaching at ECI, much like as in 21st century classrooms, takes many forms. Our faculty features the ECI design team, program leads, facilitators, and alumni. In addition to administrators and faculty from The Brandeis School of San Francisco, past institutes have featured facilitators from the K12 Lab at the Stanford d.School, the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, IDEO, the Teachers Guild, the Wonderful Idea Company, the Jewish Studio Project, design school x, Glide, Congregation Emanu-El, Congregation Beth Israel Judea, Or Shalom Jewish Community, the Little School, and BimBam.
What does a typical day at ECI look like?

The ECI day runs from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with morning, lunch, and afternoon breaks. Days are a mix of hands-on sessions, discussions, study, independent and collaborative work time, food, and fun.
How do I apply?

Applications for ECI23 should be available in December of 2022.
What kind of Jewish experience or background do I need in order to take part?

At ECI we welcome and encourage educators from all backgrounds and experiences to take part in our learning.
These FAQs are great, but I have another question. How can I get in touch?

You can feel free to email our program leads at eci@sfbrandeis.org with any other questions.