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    Towards A General Theory of Jewish Education - Seymour Fox

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    The document argues that previous analyses of Jewish educational reform have failed to define the purpose of Jewish education. It states that serious philosophical deliberation is needed to determine this purpose before addressing other issues like curriculum, personnel, structure, and financing. Currently, Jewish schools lack guiding philosophies, have curricula unrelated to their stated goals, and use teaching methods imported from general education without consideration of their applicability to Jewish education. The document calls for a consensus on basic curriculum ideas and research to accompany the investigation of educational goals. It concludes that defining philosophies through deliberation could significantly impact Jewish life but will require recruiting new leadership from Jewish scholarship and social sciences.

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    Towards A General Theory of Jewish Education - Seymour Fox

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    The document argues that previous analyses of Jewish educational reform have failed to define the purpose of Jewish education. It states that serious philosophical deliberation is needed to determine this purpose before addressing other issues like curriculum, personnel, structure, and financing. Currently, Jewish schools lack guiding philosophies, have curricula unrelated to their stated goals, and use teaching methods imported from general education without consideration of their applicability to Jewish education. The document calls for a consensus on basic curriculum ideas and research to accompany the investigation of educational goals. It concludes that defining philosophies through deliberation could significantly impact Jewish life but will require recruiting new leadership from Jewish scholarship and social sciences.

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    Summary of an article by Seymour Fox that I wrote in Fall of 05

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    Towards a General Theory of Jewish Education - Seymour Fox

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    The document argues that previous analyses of Jewish educational reform have failed to define the purpose of Jewish education. It states that serious philosophical deliberation is needed to determine this purpose before addressing other issues like curriculum, personnel, structure, and financing. Currently, Jewish schools lack guiding philosophies, have curricula unrelated to their stated goals, and use teaching methods imported from general education without consideration of their applicability to Jewish education. The document calls for a consensus on basic curriculum ideas and research to accompany the investigation of educational goals. It concludes that defining philosophies through deliberation could significantly impact Jewish life but will require recruiting new leadership from Jewish scholarship and social sciences.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    91 views2 pages

    Towards A General Theory of Jewish Education - Seymour Fox

    Uploaded by

    api-3855559
    The document argues that previous analyses of Jewish educational reform have failed to define the purpose of Jewish education. It states that serious philosophical deliberation is needed to determine this purpose before addressing other issues like curriculum, personnel, structure, and financing. Currently, Jewish schools lack guiding philosophies, have curricula unrelated to their stated goals, and use teaching methods imported from general education without consideration of their applicability to Jewish education. The document calls for a consensus on basic curriculum ideas and research to accompany the investigation of educational goals. It concludes that defining philosophies through deliberation could significantly impact Jewish life but will require recruiting new leadership from Jewish scholarship and social sciences.

    Copyright:

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    Towards a General Theory of Jewish Education

    Seymour Fox (1973)

    THESIS

    All previous analyses of Jewish educational reform fail to deal with the fundamental and most
    urgent problem: The lack of a defined purpose for Jewish education.

    Serious philosophical deliberation about the purpose of Jewish education is needed as a prior
    and necessary condition to be able to tackle questions about curriculum, personnel, structure,
    and financing.

    CRITIQUE

    Lacking a guiding philosophy that would enable it to pick and choose among subjects
    competing for the limited time available, the Jewish school finds itself virtually paralyzed.

    1. Curricula and methods of teacher training bear little resemblance to what the
    leadership of the given movement, school, or institution claims to be central in its conception
    of education. Purposes of Jewish education generally regarded as essential but largely absent
    from Jewish education include character development, the role of Halacha, and its
    applicability in practical situations, the State of Israel, philosophy and theology, and the
    Holocaust.

    2. Means and techniques have largely been imported indiscriminately from general
    education without attention to their applicability to Jewish education.

    3. Current curricula are based on models of the cheder and the yeshiva, modified in
    the light of reduced instruction time. Additionally, the contemporary school attempts to teach
    subjects (such as prayer, "synagogue skills," and Jewish observances) that were formally
    handled within the domain of the family or outside of the school environment (who are no
    longer equipped for the task).

    CHANGE PROCESS

    We must arrive at some kind of a consensus as to the basic ideas for the curriculum of
    the Jewish school (and even within this consensus, alternative and competing curricula will
    be developed to attain the same goals). This deliberation will enable us to discover, invent,
    and import means that are likely to lead to the goals we have agreed upon.

    We will have to invest a good deal of money and energy in social-science research to
    accompany our investigation of the goals and content of Jewish education. Almost no
    information concerning the attitudes, reactions, and commitments of students in Jewish
    schools is available to the educator, and we know even less about the parents and the family.
    We do not know the answers to such questions as: What would happen if schools
    "succeeded?" Would parents then engage in subtle sabotage?
    The necessary discussion on the goals and curriculum of the Jewish school cannot be
    undertaken by the present leadership of Jewish education. We will need the expertise of
    scholars in the field of Judaica in a partnership with educators and social scientists.

    CONCLUSION

    Jewish education can have a significant impact on the future of Jewish life in the United
    States only if it is prepared to establish, through serious deliberation, philosophies of
    education to guide the creation of new programs and practices.

    These programs must be based on a sound analysis of both the reality and potential of Jewish
    life.

    A new kind of personnel will have to be recruited, from the ranks of Jewish scholarship and
    the social sciences, to assume positions of leadership in Jewish education. Their task will be
    to develop ideas that will inspire talented Jewish students, in turn, to consider a career in
    Jewish education.

    These new sources of energy must inevitably infuse new ideas into the curriculum,
    teacher training, and the structure of education itself.

    To accomplish all this will require large allocations of funds – but funding agencies will be
    able to base their decisions on competing visions of the future.

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