TEACHING JEWISH STUDIES “UNDER GENTILE AUSPICES” VERSUS THE ACADEMIC STUDY OF RELIGION,INCLUDING JUDAISM: RESPONSE TO ZACHARY BRAITERMAN

Zachary Braiterman's essay, “Teaching Jewish Studies in a Radically Gentile Space: Some Personal Reflections,” demonstrates the cost of pursuing a secular, postmodernist agendum rather than teaching about a discipline‐‐Judaism‐‐under auspices of the academic study of religion. Braiterman's students did not learn about the richness of Judaic thought, but rather learned about their own opinions. Braiterman's position demands revision.     

A critique of “unequal educational opportunity" 1

Using the 159 counties of Georgia as statistical units Osborne has presented data indicating (a) a positive relationship between percentage of non‐Whites and per pupil expenditures; (b) a negative relationship between per pupil expenditures and mean achievement and intelligence scores; and (c) a negative relationship between percentage of non‐Whites and mean intelligence and achievement scores. Osborne has interpreted these findings as indicating that the attempt to raise the achievement levels of previously deprived groups has been a failure, and has used this interpretation as a basis for a more general negative conclusion concerning the effectiveness of compensatory efforts. The present analysis indicates, however, that neither of these conclusions follows from his data. The evidence suggests rather that Osborne's negative correlations reflect in large measure long‐range effects of earlier conditions.     

The Experience of Corporal Punishment in Schools, 1890–1940

Corporal punishment was an important part of the educational experience of many children educated during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It has often been assumed that it was an uncontroversial and widely accepted means of maintaining school discipline. This article questions these assumptions, using autobiographical accounts produced by individuals educated between 1890 and 1940. Working from common themes in these accounts, it presents a reconstruction of how corporal punishment was viewed by the child. Whilst educationists of the period encouraged the sparing and impartial exercise of school discipline, the accounts demonstrate how, in practice, the use of corporal punishment was often seen as arbitrary or unjust. Corporal punishment was, as a result, to become a major source of tension between pupils and teachers within the early twentieth‐century school.     

The Rules of Engagement: Examining the Limits of Standards and Accountability Policy

Standards and accountability policies are central elements of school reform agendas aimed at equalizing students' access to quality education and closing the achievement gap. Yet, such policies have failed to yield the expected, large scale results. One explanation may be found in the embedded zones of wishful thinking. Two particular zones of wishful thinking are the policies' efficacy to foster deep learning and the standards' ability to create cohesive P–12 systems of educational excellence.     

The Potential of Perspectivism for Science Education

Many science teachers are presented with the challenge of characterizing science as a dynamic, human endeavour. Perspectivism, as a hermeneutic philosophy of science, has the potential to be a learning tool for teachers as they elucidate the complex nature of science. Developed earlier by Nietzsche and others, perspectivism has recently re-emerged in the context of the philosophy of science in the work of Ronald Giere. Giere presents a compelling case that scientific theories and scientific observation are perspectival by using science itself. There are many tangible examples already present in science textbooks which, when approached in a certain way, offer an exciting opportunity for a realistic incorporation of philosophy of science into the classroom. Furthermore, introducing perspectivism to students necessitates an engagement with notions such as truth, reality, perception and experimentation, through a familiar medium, while painting a nuanced conception of the nature of science.