From a life-stage perspective, the purpose of this study was to examine the motivation of female students in midlife to enroll in an undergraduate or graduate program and the meaning they attach to higher education (HE) in general. An additional purpose was to reveal these women's subjective perceptions of the benefits they gained from HE at this…

Explores how nonformal education contributes to the quality of life in Israel's Kibbutzim. The focus is on basic life functions that provide criteria for the successful development of individuals and communities. (CT)

Research indicates that the ethnic composition of a community is of greater importance in explaining income and attitude differences that are the individual's own ethnic attitudes. The study was conducted on a Moshav community in Israel. (Author/KC)

Twenty-one children with moderate to severe developmental disabilities attending two special education schools in Israel participated in group bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies. Children were observed during the six-month learning process and the ceremonies. Parents and school staff were also interviewed. The study found the children could both express…

The ideas presented in this lecture are based on the observation of processes of construction and consolidation of knowledge by individual students learning in groups within classrooms along a sequence of activities. Whereas the uniformity of the basic elements used to describe the knowledge construction processes may be seen as inclusive, there…

Examined attitudes toward retirement in 805 Israeli people on verge of retirement. The results pointed to importance of distinguishing between perceptions of gains and losses in retirement development transition; identification of blue-collar workers with ambivalent attitudes as a high-risk group; and importance of strong sense of coherence in…

Continues a previous exploratory investigation of the personal changes emerging in academic writing courses in two Israeli universities where English is taught as a foreign language. Suggests that Sustained Content-Based instruction may contribute significantly to students' personal growth and relationships. (SG)

This paper discusses the use of mediated learning which involves training given to other humans by an experienced adult who frames, selects, focuses and feeds back environmental experiences in such a manner as to create learning situations. The authors' program utilizing such an approach is described. (Author/EJT)

A study of effects of age and schooling in grades five and six on raw scores from a variety of general ability tests found that schooling: (1) is the major factor underlying the increase of intelligence test scores as a function of age; and (2) has a larger effect on verbal than nonverbal tests. (RH)

Considers Blos' conceptualization of adolescence as the stage when a second process of separation-individuation takes place. Notes various handicapping conditions may force adolescent to stay closer to family and hence interfere with adolescent's separation-individuation. Suggests that nature of interference will vary depending on whether the…

Examines 662 Arab adolescents' commitments to their own self-development, family, Arab people, and village along with the order in which these commitments are structured. Reveals that the two prevalent patterns of adolescent commitment, individualistic and collectivistic, demonstrate the adolescents' struggle with these value systems and the…

Analyzed self-perceived maturation associated with service in the Israeli army according to gender, rank, service trajectory (unit or role), and the socialization environment of the individual (urban or kibbutz). Results for 633 subjects suggest that army service contributes to the maturation of Israeli youth, and maturation is moderately affected…

Investigates children's tendency to return the smile of a friendly stranger in two cultures: Israel and the United States. In the first study, developmental trends in smiling behavior are examined. In the second, mothers' socialization philosophies and childrearing practices are explored in an interview and a conjoint mother/child task. (RH)

Tests a career model of immigrants with the following stages: crystallization, vocational retraining, job entry and trial, establishment, and maintenance. Two samples of immigrants are followed up. The research brought into focus the continuity of the process of career reconstruction after the interruption of vocational activity caused by…

Describes how Holocaust literature can be used in Israeli English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) high school classrooms, focusing on the importance of the cultural model, language model, and personal growth model when studying literature in ESL classrooms. The article describes a work unit in Holocaust literature and presents sample activities related…