Israel is a multicultural state where ultra-Orthodox groups run their own separate schools. The present phenomenological study examined and compared the management patterns and educational emphases of three women principals of religious schools (Muslim, Christian [Franciscan], and ultra-Orthodox Jewish). The findings show that the ultra-Orthodox…

Israeli students and their families can choose between state-funded secular, religious, orthodox, and other alternative schools (e.g., Waldorf, Montessori, democratic). Earlier studies showed that the motivation to engage with science differs greatly between Israeli students in secular schools and democratic schools, with these differences being…

This study attempts to describe Jewish teachers' perceptions about their ethical dilemmas based on stories derived from the Bible. Sixty teachers were asked to submit descriptions of their ethical dilemmas to the study website; submissions were then discussed in focus groups. The findings were grouped by the ATLAS.ti into five categories: Telling…

To date, there is limited research examining the parenting experiences of parents with a child with special needs, and there is virtually no research on the experience of these parents in the Jewish community. In addressing this gap in the scholarship, this study describes the experiences of parents with a child with special needs and explores the…

This article discusses an action research study of a week-long Summer Teachers Institute which immersed teachers in the study of Jewish historical and cultural texts. We investigate how this kind of cultural immersion created opportunities for transformative learning--the kind of learning that would not merely be the application of "new…

This research explores the impact of a year studying in Israel on Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) rabbinical students' emotional connection toward and knowledge about the State of Israel and the Jewish People. We want to better understand the students' beliefs, ideas, and behaviors that emerge from their experience…

While Woocher's vision for the future of Jewish education is ambitious, the ability to deliver any plan successfully depends upon the strengths of professionals and the guidance and support provided for them. This author contends that unless people create opportunities for teachers/educators to explore common issues, seek possible solutions, and…

This study examines the nature and extent of extracurricular activities in the Palestinian Arab, Jewish Religious and Jewish Secular educational sectors (Israeli education system also includes the Ultra-Orthodox sector with its own management, monitoring and governance apparatus.) in Israel, in order to characterise the contextual variables that…

The context for this study is the increased focus on school-community partnerships in the United States. With limited research having been conducted on high-achieving schools, this is a case study of one of America's top 100 high schools, a Jewish day school; this article reports on its school-synagogue partnership. Like most research on…

How do Jewish residential summer camps provide campers and staff with opportunities to learn and grow as Jews? Sales and Saxe (2004) have viewed this growth through the lens of their socialization theory. This article asks: Can there be more to the camp experience than being socialized into the norms and values of a well-aligned Jewish…

This descriptive case study explores the implementation of a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) in a Jewish supplemental school setting. The research was conducted to present the recollections and reflections of three constituent populations of a new technology exploring constructivist education in the context of supplemental and online…

The views of Jewish education articulated by Rosenzweig in his essays "It is Time" and in "The Opening of the Lehrhaus" are quite different. So different, in fact, that an account of how one mind can produce such different accounts is necessary. Following the lead of a 1950's popular television quiz show, the authors ask "Will the Real Franz…

This article examines the ways that, in Holocaust education in Jewish schools in Melbourne and New York at the beginning of the 21st century, knowledge of the Holocaust is transferred to students in chronological form. It begins by asking: What work do chronological narratives do within the Holocaust historical narratives offered within Jewish…

"Foundations of Jewish Education" is a required course for masters degree students in Jewish Education offered by the William S. Davidson School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. As an introduction to the theory and practice of Jewish education, it seeks to integrate theory from a wide range of fields as a way of…

Jonathan Woocher's "Reinventing Jewish Education for the 21st Century" presents a vision for a reimagined system of Jewish education. The educational landscape is changing, Woocher says, both because of a myriad of contextual factors (economic, geopolitical, technological, sociological) and because of the very need for Jewish educational decision…