Examined the mental health role of ideological commitment among 385 Israeli Jewish children ages 10 through 13 years. Found that exposure to political hardship (living in a border town or West Bank settlement subject to attack) did not increase anxiety, insecurity, and depression among children who showed strong ideological commitment. (MDM)

Demonstrates that the Judeans traveled along the Ancient Silk Route. Discusses the Iranian influence on the formation of Jewish religious ideas. Considers the development of Jewish trade networks, focusing on the Radanites (Jewish traders), the Jewish presence in the Far East, and the survival of Judaism in central Asia. (CMK)

Discusses three widely-known curricula on Holocaust education for secondary schools that vary significantly in their contextualization of anti-Semitism, particularly the relations between Christians and Jews, as a long-range cause for the Holocaust. Recognizes two essential contextual elements that still demand greater attention by curriculum…

Over the last 25 years, autobiography has gained increasing epistemological and methodological popularity and legitimacy in teacher education. Although this trend has opened up valuable new lines of inquiry, it has not been unproblematic. We have moved beyond the romantic, uncritical celebration of stories to the recognition of autobiographies as…

A major shortcoming of macro-spatial research undertaken to date in Israel pertains to the neglect of state investment-related measures and the extent to which they mediate unequal opportunities to learn (OTL) and educational opportunities between localities. In the present study, OTL refer to class size and high-school tracking patterns.…

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an especially entrenched ethno-national stalemate. The upsurges of violence in the Middle East provide flashpoints for tension among Arabs, Jews and other students on college campuses. The author presents methods for facilitating dialogue between these groups in the form of a psychologically informed,…

The concept of "practice" has become a central category of social analysis across a variety of disciplines. While religious educators have begun to recognize the critical role of practices in faith formation, less attention has been given to their role in education for responsible religious pluralism. Based on conversations between Catholic and…

In recent years, a new integrative bilingual multicultural educational initiative has been developed in Israel. Its main purpose is to offer dignity and equality to the two Israeli groups who have for the last 100 years denied each other's humanity: Palestinians and Jews. The research examines this attempt at encouraging each group to take pride…

In his article in the second volume of "Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America," Jonathan Sarna argues that the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) has always had two incompatible visions of its role. On the one hand, there were (and are) those who see it as "a centre of Jewish 'Wissenschaft' pure and simple",…

This article describes the emergence of the field of adult Jewish learning and the need for research in this burgeoning aspect of contemporary Jewish life. The authors describe the context in which the upsurge of adult Jewish learning has occurred, drawing attention to the absence of systematic data collection about programs, funding structures,…

If an institutional vision aims to inspire and enliven the reality of a school, it is not enough to craft its declaration once at the time of its establishment and then never again. In a dynamic institution, envisioning is the neverending project of clarifying purposes, looking at current practice, reflecting on what is seen, and aspiring to…

In recent years, the predominance of the nation-state as the sole arbiter of curricular matters has eroded. New actors and organizations, especially local schools, have acquired greater discretion over the definition of school subjects and curricular emphases. This study investigates whether and how different patterns of educational governance…

In the Netherlands, the first girl admitted to a qualifying secondary education and the first female university student were sisters, Frederika and Aletta Jacobs, after the father and Aletta had made successful requests. In each case, the admission brought an end to a long-standing male privilege. And in each case contemporaries conceived of these…

During the past 40 years, several generations of American children have grown up with the Nation of Israel as a historical reality. Whether Jewish or Gentile, juvenile readers have absorbed a version of the story that recapitulates in modern dress the biblical story of the children of Hagar and Sarah, reinforced by American attitudes toward people…

This study sheds light on the achievement gap between two culturally diverse populations in Israel by employing a diagnostic model for analysing responses of a representative sample of Jewish and Arab fourth graders on a national mathematics test. The results indicated large significant differences, in favour of the Jewish group, on most…