Section archive - Formal Education

New research that surveyed nearly 1,400 9-12th graders at Jewish day schools shows that 60% of those students believe that “their remote learning has not had a notable negative impact on their education.” Students also appreciate the efforts made by their schools and, even when they feel their education has been set back “somewhat” or “very much,” they don’t tend to attribute their problems to their schools.

Starting in 2018, the three of us – a researcher of language and identity (Benor), a researcher of heritage language education (Avineri), and a rabbi-educator (Greninger) – investigated how Hebrew is taught and perceived at American Jewish part-time schools. After interviewing 20 Jewish educational leaders, we conducted a survey of 519 school directors (across diverse denominations, regions, and school sizes). Then we conducted observations at ten schools and surveyed students, parents, teachers, and clergy at eight of those schools.

This study examines the conflictual interaction in the context of the recent rise of Haredi (Jewish ultra-Orthodox) participation in Israeli higher education, asking: How do students from bounded religious communities legitimize their participation in academic learning? Through 27 semi-structured interviews with Haredi students, the authors uncovered four modes of legitimation: (1) existential—viewing academic learning as a means for improved welfare; (2) community-based—expressing communal tolerance toward academia; (3) tailored—referencing adaptation of the pedagogic environment to student needs and demands; and (4) epistemic—reconciling scientific and religious knowledge. Paradoxically, they found that the growth within academia of educational enclaves with firm boundaries actually fosters greater affinity toward scientific knowledge among learners.

The simple truth is that we don’t know when we will return to school. We are hopeful that the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year will take place in our classrooms. We know that at some point in the future that we will return. But as Heidi Hayes Jacobs recently said, “We have to start thinking about how we don’t go back to school, but how we go forward to school.” This extraordinary moment we are living, teaching and learning through will eventually end, but it would be a huge mistake to go back to school as it was when we have an opportunity to go forward to school as it ought to be. Here are four ways we should begin thinking about going forward to school.