Jewish Youth in Texas: Toward a Multi-Methodological Approach to Minority Identity

Qualitative and quantitative research methods are used to examine the religious and ethnic identity of youth attending a Jewish summer camp in Texas. A strong aspect of participants' Jewish identity is formulated in reaction to the surrounding Christian society, with which they negotiate a compromise to live relatively comfortably. The informal religious education and temporary community of the camp allow exploration of a proactive Jewish identity. A typology is developed with two sets of opposed concepts of identity: individual versus peoplehood and internal versus external. Sub-regions differentiate between fearful versus benevolent external identity and between psychological versus traditional internal identity.     

The Hyde Perk Guild,Chicago

Utilizing “teachable moments” within daily situations to impart knowledge and transmit values is a type of informal education. In a structured camp environment, such teachable moments may be integrated into the educational curriculum. “Jewish teachable moments” may be used to address Judaism and Jewish Peoplehood holistically, as the educators and counselors guide the campers through the Jewish summer camp environment. This article examines the Jewish Teachable Moments method through a case study conducted at a Reform movement affiliated camp in Texas. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of the Jewish Teachable Moments method are discussed.     

The relationship between second language college students’ perceptions of online feedback on draft-writing and academic procrastination

Reading and Writing - Though essay writing is an essential part of postsecondary education, it can be challenging for second language learners, who are required to organize ideas coherently in a...     

Universities and National Development: an introduction

Volume 23 (1) of this journal was a special issue on Education and Development guest-edited by Fred Lazin (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel), Samuel Aroni (University of California at Los Angeles, USA) and Yehuda Gradus (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel). The guest editors comment in this article on the issues which arise from the papers they selected for inclusion in the special issue. In developing countries higher education has to face the problems associated with nation-building and the drive towards fast economic growth; in more developed countries there is the challenge implicit in the social and economic changes necessarily associated with the transition to post-industrial societies. Further comments are made on each of the articles in the special issue.     

Maternal Responsiveness to Infants in Three Societies: The United States, France, and Japan

This study examines and compares prominent characteristics of maternal responsiveness to infant activity during home-based naturalistic interactions of mother-infant dyads in New York City, Paris, and Tokyo. Both culture-general and culture-specific patterns of responsiveness emerged. For example, in all 3 locales infants behaved similarly, mothers also behaved similarly with respect to a hierarchy of response types, and mothers and infants manifest both specificity and mutual appropriateness in their interactions: Mothers responded to infants' exploration of the environment with encouragement to the environment, to infants' vocalizing nondistress with imitation, and to infants' vocalizing distress with nurturance. Differences in maternal responsiveness among cultures occurred to infant looking rather than to infant vocalizing and in mothers' emphasizing dyadic versus extradyadic loci of interaction. Universals of maternal responsiveness, potential sources of cultural variation, and implications of similarities and differences in responsiveness for child development in different cultural contexts are discussed.     

Childhood emotional abuse and neglect as predictors of psychological and physical symptoms in women presenting to a primary care practice

OBJECTIVE: There were two aims to this study: first to examine whether emotional abuse and neglect are significant predictors of psychological and somatic symptoms, and lifetime trauma exposure in women presenting to a primary care practice, and second to examine the strength of these relationships after controlling for the effects of other types of childhood abuse and trauma. METHOD: Two-hundred and five women completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein et al., 1994), Trauma History Questionnaire (Green, 1996), the Symptom Checklist-revised (Derogatis, 1997), and the Revised Civilian Mississippi Scale for posttraumatic stress disorder (Norris & Perilla, 1996) when presenting to their primary care physician for a visit. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine unique contributions of emotional abuse and neglect variables on symptom measures while controlling for childhood sexual and physical abuse and lifetime trauma exposure. RESULTS: A history of emotional abuse and neglect was associated with increased anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress and physical symptoms, as well as lifetime trauma exposure. Physical and sexual abuse and lifetime trauma were also significant predictors of physical and psychological symptoms. Hierarchical multiple regressions demonstrated that emotional abuse and neglect predicted symptomatology in these women even when controlling for other types of abuse and lifetime trauma exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Long-standing behavioral consequences may arise as a result of childhood emotional abuse and neglect, specifically, poorer emotional and physical functioning, and vulnerability to further trauma exposure.     

Characteristics of Science Teachers Who Incorporate Web-Based Teaching

This study concerns the characterisation and classification of the way junior high school science teachers incorporate Web-based learning environment and materials into their teaching. About 60 science teachers from nine junior high schools in the northern part of Israel took part in an extended professional development (PD) program. The study, which applied the qualitative interpretative methodology, involved multiple sources of data, including field notes of observations in the PD meetings and class observations, interviews with teachers and principals, and teachers artifacts. Based on their professional growth and beliefs about implementation of Web-based teaching, four basic types of science teachers were identified: the initiator and pathfinder, the follower and conformist, the avoider, and the antagonist. Provided with long-term support, these teachers elevated their specific Web-related qualifications. In particular, they improved the development of Web-based, learner-directed material. The level of success in assimilating Web-based learning in science classes was influenced by the quality and cohesion of the school's teacher team and their principal's care and involvement.     

Teachers’ Learning Communities for Developing High Order Thinking Skills—A Case Study of a School Pedagogical Change

Interchange - This study deals with an elementary school that is undergoing a process of pedagogical change. The teachers understood that their weak point was excessive use of teaching based on...     

Ethnic similarity and economic status of the potential helper as determinants of helping behavior

A field experiment was conducted in an attempt to study the effects of (a) the ethnic origin of the potential helper, (b) the ethnic origin of the recipient, and (c) the economic status of the potential helper, on the extent to which help would be offered. One hundred and twenty subjects participated in the experiment. The experimenter asked each of the subjects to contribute money for a needy family. The major finding was the significant interaction between the ethnic origin of the potential helper and the ethnic origin of the recipient. The frequency of European contributors was about equal for recipients from the two ethnic groups involved, whereas the frequency of Middle-Eastern contributors was higher when the needy family was of Middle-Eastern ethnic origin than when it was of European ethnic origin.