Used a goodness-of-fit model and an exploration-based/perspective-taking model to examine identity formation among Jewish adolescents. Found that ideological identity diffusion was higher among students living in Jewish nondominant neighborhoods, and ethnic behaviors and practices and total ethnic identity were higher among adolescents living in…

Describes a teacher's experience as a speaker and representative of the religious right at a school board meeting to resolve conflicts over what is suitable reading material for school children. Reviews her personal involvement in the controversy, the nature of the controversy, and the possibility of dialog between the two sides. (TB)

The Meeting School is a boarding high school in New Hampshire based on the principles of the Religious Society of Friends, which emphasize simplicity, honesty, the peaceful resolution of conflict, the dignity of physical labor, mutual trust, and care for each other and the earth. Describes how students and faculty participate fully in the life of…

States that Zionist national identity in Israel today is split between a liberal, secular, Post-Zionist civic identity and an ethnic, religious, Neo-Zionist nationalistic identity. Describes the historical underpinnings of the two mutually antagonistic identities and reflects upon how each affects the perceptions of the boundaries of the…

Reports that the educational experience of Israeli Jews from Islamic countries (Mizrahi Jews) demonstrates the struggle between egalitarian rhetoric (a critical multiculturalism with a social-democratic character) on one hand and a practice of segregation (an autonomist multiculturalism with fundamentalist features) on the other. (Contains 78 end…

In the last two decades, the Israeli educational system has transformed from a state controlled and financed bureaucratic system into a decentralized, partly locally controlled, and increasingly privately financed system. Argues that these changes cater to the educational interest of middle and upper middle classes and undermine the principle of…

Presents guidelines for balancing teaching about religions in middle schools and a bias-free atmosphere. Guidelines include: teach religion as a cultural constant that can be integrated across the curriculum; use long-range curriculum planning incorporating best teaching practices into diversity topics; use inclusive language when addressing…

A theory of belonging is used as a framework for analyzing and interpreting focus group data from seven congregations in the Black church tradition. Findings suggest that church membership reflects the need to belong with a group rather than to a group. Within this context multiple dimensions of the self find opportunities for expression. (Author)

Teacher educators are being challenged to prepare teacher candidates for work with diverse students. For teacher candidates to work effectively with students from diverse cultures in all grade levels, they need to become familiar with some of the major issues that students confront in today's society. The study of children's literature from…

Pentecostalism is the result of an interesting amalgamation of different traditions: black and oral cultures, middle-class and proletarian languages, catholic and evangelical spiritualities. These traditions are contextualized in Western, Latin American, Asian and African contexts which produce a bewildering pluralism. This "post-modern…

Objective: Prospective study of well children at risk of bipolarity to identify the frequency and pattern of potentially prodromal symptoms/behaviors for bipolar disorder type I (BPI) disorder. Method: A total of 110 at-risk children with a BPI parent and 112 children with well parents were studied. Ten-year data collection used structured and…

This paper is a reflection on the two most significant challenges that I have faced teaching the introductory course in Islam. The first is the challenge of teaching Islam after September 11, 2001, the events of which gave rise to such pedagogical questions as how much and in what ways the course syllabus should change, and in particular how we…

In this essay I reflect on my experience thus far of teaching Islam as a non-Muslim at Metropolitan State University and at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. I begin by narrating a conversation about conversation that I had with one of my Muslim students. Then I introduce the theme of multiplicity as a way of…

This article reports the findings from a series of "Talkshops"--interactive facilitated discussions--undertaken with 114 young people from six secondary schools serving one town within Northern Ireland. The young people first met with the researchers in their own schools, then an elected group came together in combined Talkshops and,…

Using data gathered during a case study of the "culture" of a Jewish secondary school, this article explores the indeterminate boundaries of Jewish identity. By examining the mechanisms that control what and who comes into the school, and what is approved and disapproved of in the school, a picture emerges of what and who is counted as…