In a recent article, Alex Pomson writes about the findings of a research study that he and his colleagues at Rosov Consulting undertook about day school education and Israel. This is a current topic and one that has been discussed on Looked numerous times over the years.
Here is an excerpt from his article:
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Despite the narrative of groups such as IfNotNow, the members of this sample – with one exception – did not feel they had been duped by their day schools; they did not believe that they had been intentionally mislead about the “real Israel.†In fact, they expressed a good deal of empathy for the good intentions of their schools. They were, though, deeply frustrated, even angry. Most had been educated in day schools for 12 years, and felt they had been short-changed. They complained that with respect to Israel, they received an education that was banal, simplistic or shallow.
This takes us back to the question of whether schools are capable of doing any better, especially if these were the results of educators acting with good intentions. Having had the opportunity to study Jewish day schools over the last 20 years, I’m inclined to think they are. I’ve been involved in projects that document what better can look like (see here [
avichai.org]).
Looking closely at the form and content of the forces that did positively shape the relationships of the young people in this study to Israel, there are promising opportunities to adapt and adopt such experiences to the day school context. In the report we start to sketch these out. They involve cultivating meaningful social associations with Israel (real, interpersonal memories), developing deep cultural connections with the country (especially connections that are not exclusively religious), and engaging honestly with political questions about Israel.
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See the article – with links to the full study – at [
blogs.timesofisrael.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2018 12:25PM by mlb.
