THE ‘NEW LEARNING’ IN ADULT JEWISH EDUCATION

The period between Passover and Shavuot has been dramatic from time immemorial, because it signifies the Exodus from Egypt — physical rescue — and culminates with the stand at Mount Sinai — the attainment of spiritual nationhood. Modern Jewish history has added an unprecedented tone of tragedy and drama, which is symbolized by Yom Hashoah and Yom Haatzmaut. The March of the Living to the Sites of Struggle and Extermination and to the Land of Life and Promise, took place during that two week period, April 18th – May 4th, 1990.     

THE ACCREDITATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES∗

In view of the interest which certain countries have expressed in developing accreditation systems for higher education based on the American model, the author lists nine attributes which he considers critical to the success of this model. As the success of the American model depends very much on certain fundamental characteristics of American higher education, they should be adapted with very great care in different contexts. Indeed, even in the United States, traditionally held views of what accreditation represents and how it should be conducted are being increasingly challenged. The feeling is that normal accreditation procedures have neglected consideration of such matters as the quality and the results of education programmes, student attrition rates, the default rate on student loans, and similar matters of great concern to the public. The author proposes a series of reforms so as to address these criticisms and to develop a reformed accreditation model.

     

WHAT FURTHER EDUCATION AFTER THE “BACCALAUREAT”

The results of a survey made in 1986 of French students and former students who had received their baccalauréat's at the end of 1982‐1983 academic year are presented below. They give a breakdown of which students enrolled in which post‐secondary course programmes and which type of baccalauréat augured best for success in university studies.

     

THE “NEW” SOCIAL HISTORY AND THE HISTORY OF MORAL EDUCATION

The rise of mass education systems in 19th‐century Europe and North America was often followed by establishment of programmes of compulsory moral/civic instruction. Few of the “new” social history's techniques have been applied to the latter phenomenon, although those techniques have produced broad reassessments of public education.

Using the example of France at the turn of the twentieth century, this paper offers such an application. It shows how a social history of moral/civic education would lend itself to comparative historical research, help our understanding of the roots of public social policy, throw new light on the question of social class, and invite reformulation of traditional administrative and intellectual history of education. The closing section outlines possible avenues of research, and offers bibliographical guidance on the development of moral/civic education in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.     

SIXTEENTH‐CENTURY HUMANISM AND THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

Until now Dutch historical youth studies have not focussed on the family as an educational environment. However, since World War I pedagogues have had high hopes of parents as educators of their teenage sons and daughters. On the basis of research into advice literature the author shows how family educationalists contributed to curtailing the ‘dangers’ of adolescence. Parents were recommended to loosen the reins on their adolescent children. This advice was based on different psychological theories. At first a physiological interpretation dominated educational thinking. During the twenties Adler's Individual‐psychology shifted attention to the relational aspect of the parent‐child interaction as well as to continuity in the educational relationship. In the thirties new psychological development theories gave birth to the concept of a ‘negative phase’ at the start of adolescence, followed by a neutral and even a positive phase concerning individual mental growth. This brought about a less negative appreciation of adolescence, regarding it as just one of the ‘troublesome phases’ in childhood. Only after World War II psychoanalysis made family educationalists shift their attention more exclusively to young children. Adolescence was no longer regarded as pathogenetic.

     

SHOULD JEWISH SUPPLEMENTARY RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS BE LIKE THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

Whether the Jewish supplementary school should be operated as if it were a public school depends on the goals of Jewish education. “In terms of ultimate goals, however, Jewish education is now at a crossroads.”¹ While all Jewish educators would probably agree with Harold Schulweis' statement that “it is our sacred task to create Jews,”² educators are not in agreement over what type of Jews we are to create and how we are to create them. Jewish educators can be divided into two groups. One group wants to create “educated, thinking Jews” — goal #1—while the other desires to shape children into “feeling Jews” —goal #2.     

CITIZENSHIP AND EDUCATION IN THE NETHERLANDS BOTTOM‐UP TRADITIONS

The author states that, taking into account historical changes and variations, citizenship in the Netherlands mainly developed as a bottom‐up affair. She stresses the structural conditions (geographical: an early and high degree of urbanization, the co‐operative regulation of the waterlevel; social and political: limited forms of a central political authority, a multiplied religious map, pillarization; economic: a highly developed merchant capitalism and a late emergence of industrial capitalism) and points at the special contribution of the Dutch educational system to these processes: the operation along local (urban) lines; the early decline of the relevance of the grammar school (from the sixteenth century on); a curriculum for higher and lower social strata set up from a relatively congruent utilitarian point of view; and a structural transformation of the school system in the late eighteenth, early nineteenth century, starting at the level of elementary education and not just (as in Germany and France) in secondary or tertiary institutions.     

THE LYCEUM MOVEMENT IN AMERICAN EDUCATION, 1826–1845

One of the earliest American reeducation programs designed for the transformation of political attitudes and the inculcation of American democratic ideals among Germans came into being shortly before the end of the Second World War. Initiated by the Special Projects Division of the War Department in 1944, this top secret experiment in reeducation brought together a group of university professors, including philosopher Thomas Vernon Smith from the University of Chicago, at selected prisoner‐of‐war camps in Rhode Island and Virginia. Consistent with his faculty colleagues. Smith drew heavily from the liberal arts tradition and classical humanism to teach his German charges about the plausibility of the “democratic way of life. “ The relatively brief initial foray by Smith into the reeducation of Germans under captivity revealed American aspirations and democratic ideals for the new German citizen of the post war era, elements of which subsequently reappeared in the activities of American Military Government on German soil. Not the least significant in this endeavor was the formation of a German citizenry supportive of American interests, a foundational goal of the Special Projects combining reform idealism with “Realpolitik”.     

THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION FROM THE SUNDAY‐SCHOOL VIEWPOINT

Dorothy Day's love of the poor originated from reading novels that portrayed the poor as persons worthy of respect. This article explores how Day's reading novels opened her mind and heart to the realities of poverty. The methodology is literature-based. Dorothy Day's autobiography reveals the novelists who captivated her mind and cultivated a religious heart: Charles Dickens, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and the Russian authors Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. As a journalist and writer, Day described how the poor struggled to survive and how love is needed to counter the challenges that poverty presents. Finally, two novels by authors favored by Day will serve as examples for educating young adults religiously and encouraging love for the poor.     

CITIZENSHIP,EDUCATION AND THE NATION‐STATE. THE INCLUSIVENESS OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE NETHERLANDS

The aim of the author is to estimate the heuristic value of Meyer's (et al., 1985) social theory on citizenship, education and the nation‐state, in relation to F. Ringer's three dimensions of educational systems (i.e. ‘inclusiveness’, ‘segmentation’, and ‘progressiveness'). Rupp's thesis is that the inclusiveness and expansion of educational systems is related to the processes of the formation of nation‐state and citizenship institutions; their progressiveness and segmentation, however, to other socio‐political developments. It is suggested that national differences correspond to differences in centralized or decentralized polities.     

THE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF EDUCATION,RESEARCH AND TRAINING IN SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY−THE ISRAELI EXPERIENCE

This article examines the multidimensionality of education, research, and training in gerontology through a discussion of the significance and implications of developments in this area based on the Israeli scene. The discussion focuses on the issue of whether gerontology is an academic discipline based on the development of specialized knowledge, along with education and training, in a distinct academic framework, or whether it constitutes part of professional training in a variety of academic fields. The article begins with a presentation of milestones in the development of gerontology in Israel, focusing mainly on social gerontology. It then offers a definition of an academic discipline and of a profession and distinguishes between them by examining the development of curricula in the field of aging in two contexts: social work studies, on the one hand, and specialization in gerontology toward a Master's degree in this area at Haifa and Ben-Gurion Universities, on the other. A model is presented that examines the mutuality among the evolutions in technology, demography, and information, and their significance in the development of standards in education, training, and the dissemination of gerontological knowledge.     

SOME OPINIONS ON THE TEACHERS COLLEGE EDUCATION IN CHINA IN 2000

This article briefly recalls the whole process of the teachers college education in China, analyses the present situation and tasks and suggests some ideas and ways of carrying on the education in the twenty - first century 1. A brief review 1.1 Most teachers colleges in China at present were run at the end of the seventies. Strongly supported by the national government, the conditions of the colleges have been greatly improved, and thus the system and scale of the teachers college education have been formed first 1.2 In the nineties, every college has quickened its steps in reforming the inner system of management and has set up a new type of college which shows specially the features of teachers training with the corresponding environment and good teaching and learning atmosphere.     

THE ENHANCED BIOLOGY EDUCATION（EBE）PROGRAM AT DREXEL UNIVERSITY

This article introduced the Enhanced Biology Education(EBE)program which is a successful innovated program developed in the USA.The program incorporates hands-on experience with theoretical knowledge, focuses on the ability to apply what is learned and trains the students to work independently from the instructor.