Description
Book SynopsisAbout 350,000 Jewish children are currently enrolled in Jewish day schools, in every continent other than Antarctica. This is the first book-length consideration of life in such schools and of their relationship both to the Jewish community and to society as a whole. It provides a rich sense of how community is constructed within Jewish schools, and of how they contribute to or complicate the construction of community in the wider society. The volume reframes day-school research in three ways. First, it focuses not just on the learner in the day-school classroom but sees schools as agents of and for the community. Second, it brings a truly international perspective to the study of day schools, viewing them in relation to the socio-cultural contexts from which they emerge and where they have impact. Third, it considers day-school education in relation to insights derived from the study and practice of non-parochial education. This cross-cultural and genuinely comparative approach to the study of Jewish schooling draws on research from the United States, the former Soviet Union, South America, and Europe, making it possible to arrive at important and original insights into parochial Jewish schooling. With contributions from outstanding scholars as well as practitioners of public education and of Jewish parochial schooling, the volume reveals conflicting conceptions of the social functions of schooling and also produces original insights into the capacity of schools to build community. The book is timely in that it studies questions about faith-based schooling and the public good that today are as much questions of public policy as they are of academic inquiry. It will appeal first and foremost to those with a particular interest in Jewish schooling but will also attract the attention of academics and professionals concerned with the place of parochial education in contemporary society. Contributors: Ami Bouganim, Erik H. Cohen, Ira Dashefsky, Howard Deitcher, Jay Dewey, Joshua Elkin, Yoel Finkelman, Zvi Gitelman, Scott J. Goldberg, Ellen B. Goldring, Yossi J. Goldstein, Eli Kohn, Jeffrey S.Kress, Binyamin Krohn, Jon A. Levisohn, Ilana Maryles Sztokman, Deborah Meier, Helena Miller, Christine Muller, Michal Muszkat Barkan, Alex Pomson, Joseph Reimer, Randal Schnoor, Susan L. Shevitz, Asher Shkedi, Claire Smrekar, Uriel Ta'ir, Michael Turetsky, Rahel Wasserfall.
Trade Review'Particularly relevant at this time when more Jewish children than ever, around the globe, attend Jewish day schools . . . comprehensive in its exploration of how schools and communities can be mutually influential in strengthening and developing Jewish identity . . . The book is optimistic about the future of Jewish day schooling and inspires belief in the breadth of opportunities to strengthen and develop Jewish communities and Jewish education . . . thorough and articulate . . . critically important as a reminder that when moulded the right way schools have a unique opportunity to breathe freshness, dynamism, and life into Jewish communities.'
- Adele Stowe-Linder, Manna
'Its cross-cultural and comparative approach reveals conflicting conceptions of the social functions of schooling, a new understanding of the capacity of schools to build community, and insights into faith-based schooling and the public good.'
- Shofar
Table of ContentsNote on Transliteration
Introduction. Jewish Schools, Jewish Communities: A Reconsideration
ALEX POMSON and HOWARD DEITCHER
Part I Insights from Public and General Education 1 Building Community Within and Around Schools: Can Jewish Days Schools Measure Up?
ELLEN B. GOLDRING
2 From Control to Collaboration: Mapping School Communities across Diverse Contexts
CLAIRE SMREKAR
3 Corporate Conservatism: On School, Community, and Democracy
DEBORAH MEIER
4 A Response to Deborah Meier
JOSHUA ELKIN
5 Community as a Means and an End in Jewish Education
JON A. LEVISOHN
Part II Cross-Cultural Insights 6 Do Jewish Schools Make a Difference in the Former Soviet Union?
ZVI GITELMAN
7 Jewish Pupils' Perspectives on Religious Education and Expectations of a Religious Community: A Case Study of the Jewish High School in Berlin
CHRISTINE MA LLER
8 Mutual Relations between Shlihim and Local Teachers at Jewish Schools in the Former Soviet Union
URIEL TA'IR and IRA DASHEFSKY
9 Community School versus School-as-Community: The Case of Bet El Community in Buenos Aires
YOSSI J. GOLDSTEIN
10 Beyond the Community: Jewish Day School Education in Britain
HELENA MILLER
11 Comparison of Attitudes, Behaviours and Values of French Jewish Families with Children Enrolled in Jewish Day Schools and Other School Systems
ERIK H. COHEN
12 The School Ghetto
AMI BOUGANIM
Part III Insights through the Prism of Community 13 Relationships between Schools and Parents in Haredi Popular Literature in the United States
YOEL FINKELMAN
14 The Impact of Community on Curriculum Decision-Making: A Case Study from a North American Jewish Day School
ELI KOHN
15 Ideological Commitment in the Supervision of Jewish Studies Teachers: Which Community is Represented and Who Represents It?
MICHAL MUSZKAT BARKAN and ASHER SHKEDI
16 Schooling for Change in the Religious World: An Educational Experiment amid Ethnic, Class, and Academic Hierarchies in a Religious Junior High School in Israel
ILANA MARYLES SZTOKMAN
17 Home-Made Jewish Culture at the Intersection of Family Life and School
ALEX POMSON and RANDAL SCHNOOR
18 Teacher Perspectives on Behaviour Problems: Background Influences on Behavioural Referral Criteria and Definitions of Rebellious Behaviour
SCOTT J. GOLDBERG, BINYAMIN KROHN, and MICHAEL TURETSKY
19 Shabbatonim as Experiential Education in the North American Community Day High School
JEFFREY S. KRESS and JOSEPH REIMER
20 Teaching Leadership through Town Meeting
JAY DEWEY
21 Building Community in a Pluralist Jewish High School; Balancing Risk and Safety, Group and Individual, in the Life of a School
SUSAN L. SHEVITZ and RAHEL WASSERFALL
Contributors
Index
