Societal Values in Jewish State Religious and State Secular Schools in Israel

The Israeli Jewish educational system offers mandatory religious and heritage education specially tailored to the specific needs of the state religious and state secular sectors of the Israeli population. In both state religious and state secular schools, study about Jewish religion, Jewish tradition, Jewish history, and Jewish culture falls under the category of religious and heritage education and, as such, addresses the normative societal values common to both sectors in Israeli Jewish society. In state religious schools religious and heritage education is both faith and knowledge based and is characterized by an emphasis on religious themes underlying societal values, whereas in state secular schools religious and heritage education is entirely knowledge based with emphasis on the secular character of societal values. In the present study a questionnaire designed to examine the values of Jewish identity, Jewish tradition, Jewish peoplehood, humanism and universalism was administered to 84 eleventh grade students in Israeli state religious and state secular high schools. Results of the study indicate that while students in the state religious high school hold significantly more intense attitudes toward Jewish identity, Jewish peoplehood and Jewish tradition, students in the state secular high school exhibited significantly more intense attitudes toward humanism and universalism. The results of the study were explained in light of the different emphases characterizing religious and heritage education studied in state religious and state secular high schools and the resulting differences in the intensity of the influence of religiosity or secularity on the formation of societal values of students in the two educational sectors

Religious and Heritage Education in Israel in an Era of Secularism

Israel as a unique country composed of a religiously heterogeneous society of native-born Israelis whose parents arrived in the country before the declaration of Israel as an independent state in 1948 and immigrant Jews coming from countries spread throughout the world, mainly from the early 1960s until the present time, as well as Arab Moslem, Arab Christian, and Druze citizens born in the country. The Jewish population consists of secularized Jews who are almost totally estranged from the Jewish religion; traditional Jews who identify with the Jewish religion; religious modern orthodox observant Jews who share common societal goals with members of secular and religious Jewish society; and religious ultra-orthodox observant Jews who are rigid in their faith and oppose absorption and assimilation into general society. The Israeli Arab population comprises Moslems who are generally more religious than Israeli Jews, but are less religious and more flexible in their religious beliefs than Moslems living in many other countries in the Middle East. Christians who identify with their religion; and a moderately religious Druze community. Because of the heterogeneity of Israeli society, mandatory religious and heritage education presents each sector with a unique curriculum that serves the particular needs considered vital for each sector be they secular, traditional, or religious. In order to offset the differences in religious and heritage education and to enhance common social values and social cohesion in Israeli society, citizenship education, coupled with religious and heritage education, is compulsory for all population sectors

Religious and Heritage Education in Israel in an Era of Secularism

Israel as a unique country composed of a religiously heterogeneous society of native-born Israelis whose parents arrived in the country before the declaration of Israel as an independent state in 1948 and immigrant Jews coming from countries spread throughout the world, mainly from the early 1960s until the present time, as well as Arab Moslem, Arab Christian, and Druze citizens born in the country. The Jewish population consists of secularized Jews who are almost totally estranged from the Jewish religion; traditional Jews who identify with the Jewish religion; religious modern orthodox observant Jews who share common societal goals with members of secular and religious Jewish society; and religious ultra-orthodox observant Jews who are rigid in their faith and oppose absorption and assimilation into general society. The Israeli Arab population comprises Moslems who are generally more religious than Israeli Jews, but are less religious and more flexible in their religious beliefs than Moslems living in many other countries in the Middle East. Christians who identify with their religion; and a moderately religious Druze community. Because of the heterogeneity of Israeli society, mandatory religious and heritage education presents each sector with a unique curriculum that serves the particular needs considered vital for each sector be they secular, traditional, or religious. In order to offset the differences in religious and heritage education and to enhance common social values and social cohesion in Israeli society, citizenship education, coupled with religious and heritage education, is compulsory for all population sectors

Socialization, Identity and Psychological Resilience among Arab-Palestinian and Jewish High School Students in Israel

The aim of the present research study was to compare the relationships between identity (nationalistic, religious and ethnic), socialization processes (home and school), and psychological resilience (self-esteem, self-efficacy, and well-being) of Arab-Palestinian and Jewish high school students in Israel. 317 tenth and eleventh grade students (163 Arab-Palestinian students including 93 girls and 70 boys; and 154 Jewish students including 70 girls and 84 boys) participated in the study. The research was conducted in two state Arab-Palestinian schools, one state secular-Jewish school, and one state religious-Jewish school. The research employed a series of questionnaires. First, a background questionnaire was used to collect basic data about the students; a second questionnaire assessed the nationalistic and religious socialization of the Jewish teenagers and the nationalistic, religious, and ethnic socialization of the Arab-Palestinian adolescents; a third questionnaire assessed the salience of national and religious identity among the Jewish participants, and the salience of national, religious, and ethnic identity among the Arab-Palestinian participants; a fourth questionnaire examined indices of psychological resilience, namely self-esteem, self-efficacy, and the sense of well-being of the Arab-Palestinian and Jewish students. The research findings indicate differences between the socialization processes experienced by the Arab-Palestinian students and those experienced by the Jewish students. The nationalistic socialization experienced by the Jewish adolescents was stronger than that experienced by the Arab-Palestinian adolescents, while the Arab-Palestinian adolescents experienced stronger religious socialization than that experienced by the Jewish adolescents. In addition, the level of religious identity was higher among the Arab-Palestinian participants than among the Jewish participants. On the other hand, there were no significant differences between the two groups regarding salience of national identity. The findings did not indicate differences between the two groups with regard to self-esteem and well-being. However, the self-efficacy of the Arab-Palestinian students was found to be higher than that of the Jewish students

Computer science in the school curriculum:Issues and challenges

This paper is based on analysis and discussion undertaken over several years by researchers, policymakers and practitioners from a range of countries which vary in their approaches to the curriculum for Computer Science. The discussions, undertaken predominantly within the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) and EDUsummIT communities were motivated by a need to examine the rationale, issues and challenges following some concerns across the globe about the position and nature of Computer Science in the school curriculum. We summarise our findings and focus specifically on challenges for the computer science education community in communicating, clarifying needs and promoting curriculum change in order to encourage Computer Science in the curriculum both theoretically and practically.No Full Tex