Jewish High School Students Research Articles

The Torah of Che Guevara: Jewish Students and Armed Struggle in Military Brazil

Studies of Latin American Jews under Cold War dictatorships have primarily focused on Jewish victims of dictatorial state violence. More recent scholarship, however, has offered individual case studies of Argentine Jewish activists as political actors rather than victims. Building on this newer work, this article examines the participation of Jewish high school and university students in the student movement and armed struggle against the Brazilian military regime (1964–85). Drawing on secret police records, memoirs, and oral history interviews, it explores the experiences of a dozen Jewish activists, tracing their politicization to family ties, Jewish elementary schools and summer camps, and elite public high schools. Blurring the boundaries between the "communalist" and "dispersionist" approaches to Jewish history by demonstrating how social networks established through leftist Jewish institutions had lasting impacts on ostensibly unaffiliated Jewish activists, this article offers the first extended examination of Jewish anti-dictatorship activism in the Latin American sixties.

Confronting BDS in the Classroom: Jewish High School Students Build Community by Watching BDS Demonstrations on University Campuses

A practitioner research study was carried out with 31 students who were enrolled in a course on contemporary Israeli society at a Zionist Jewish high school. As part of a unit designed to introduce students to criticisms against Israel, students watched 3 videos produced by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and by university student newspapers. The study assessed whether watching videos of BDS behaviours negatively affected the ways that pro-Israel students learned and thought about Israel. Reflective exercises and interviews revealed that the videos did not harm students’ relationships with the country. Instead, while some students reported feeling intimidated and scared by BDS’ tactics, all 31 students reported that watching the videos was crucial for helping them prepare for life after high school and for understanding the criticisms made against Israel. A surprising finding of the study was that many students shared that having the opportunity to discuss BDS together as a group not only helped them better understand BDS but, more importantly, allowed them to feel less alone by forming a community that banded together through the learning of difficult and upsetting content.Une étude par un praticien en éducation a été menée auprès de 31 étudiants inscrits à un cours sur la société israélienne contemporaine dans une école secondaire juive sioniste. Dans le cadre d’un module conçu pour initier les étudiants aux critiques d’Israël, les étudiants ont regardé 3 vidéos produites par le mouvement Boycott, Désinvestissement et Sanctions (BDS) et par des journaux étudiants universitaires. L’étude a évalué si le visionnement de vidéos qui mettaient en scène des manifestations BDS affectait négativement la manière dont les étudiants pro-israéliens apprenaient et pensaient à propos d’Israël. Des exercices de réflexion et des entretiens ont révélé que les vidéos n’avaient pas nui aux relations des élèves avec le pays. Plutôt, alors que certains étudiants ont déclaré se sentir intimidés et effrayés par les tactiques de BDS, les 31 étudiants ont tous déclaré que regarder les vidéos était crucial pour les aider à se préparer à la vie après le lycée et pour comprendre les critiques dirigées à l’endroit d’Israël. Une découverte surprenante de l’étude est que de nombreux étudiants ont partagé que le fait d’avoir l’opportunité de discuter du mouvement BDS en tant que groupe les a non seulement aidés à mieux comprendre le BDS mais, plus important encore, leur a permis de se sentir moins seuls en formant une communauté qui s’est regroupée tout au long de l’apprentissage de contenu difficile et bouleversant.

Perceptions of science and their effects on anticipated discrimination in STEM for minority high-school students

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how different perceptions of STEM are related to the anticipated levels of discrimination in STEM-related fields for minority high-school students in Israel. Regression analyses of questionnaire data (N = 380) from Arab-Palestinian (minority) and Jewish (majority) high-school students are conducted. The results suggest that for all students, perceiving STEM as cooperative is associated with reduced anticipated discrimination. Perceiving STEM as global and international is also associated with reduced anticipated discrimination, but only for minority students with the highest levels of social distance from mainstream society. The paper argues that for students who experience high levels of social distance, perceiving STEM as global or international creates a ‘global space’ wherein the salience of the local-national context – which typically facilitates discrimination – is reduced. Accordingly, the paper addresses larger debates regarding the conditions under which the globalisation of education may be empowering and/or threatening for minority students.

Religiosity: Protective or Risk Factor for Posttraumatic Distress Among Adolescents Who Were Exposed to Different Types of Acts of Political Violence.

This study examined the potential moderating effects of religiosity on the associations between exposure to acts of political violence and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) among Jewish adolescents in Israel. In addition, it examined whether self-reported physical and interpersonal exposure to acts of political violence predicts PTS symptoms beyond the objective exposure effects (i.e., the proximity of participants' place of residence to high-, moderate-, or low-intensity political violence). A representative sample of 2,992 Jewish high school students (Grades 10 and 11) was taken. We used self-reporting to measure the level of religiosity and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) to measure PTS symptoms. Results show that self-reported exposure to acts of political violence adds a significant additional amount of variance to the prediction of PTS symptoms after objective exposure is already included in the regression equation. Religiosity was found as a risk factor for PTS symptoms such that the greater the religiosity of the adolescents, the higher their PTS symptoms. Therefore, prevention interventions should target the vulnerable group of religious Jewish adolescents.

EXPLORING ADOLESCENT COMMUNITY VIOLENCE EXPOSURE AND POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS CROSS‐CULTURALLY IN ISRAEL

Adolescent community violence exposure (CVE) has been linked to posttraumatic stress (PTS) and has been found to vary by race and ethnicity. Little is known about the relationship between adolescent CVE and PTS across ethnic groups in an international context. Arab and Jewish high school students (n = 1571) in Israel completed self‐report questionnaires. Jewish adolescents (n = 821) witnessed more community violence, while Arab adolescents (n = 750) were more likely to victimized in the community and endorse higher levels of PTS. Ethnicity was found to be a significant predictor of PTS when controlling for CVE using hierarchical multiple regression (accounting for 2% of the variance in PTS). Ethnic affiliation did not moderate the relationship between CVE and PTS. These findings add to the small body of literature exploring cross‐cultural differences in CVE and associated psychological distress. Further investigation of CVE and mental health cross‐ethnically is warranted given the disparities in CVE and PTS rates.

The attitudes of Israeli Arab and Jewish high school students towards extrinsic and intrinsic values

The aim of this research was to investigate the attitudes of Israeli Arab (n = 259) and Jewish (n = 259) high school students toward extrinsic and intrinsic values. A questionnaire, which consisted of eight value scales in two groups—extrinsic and intrinsic values—was administered. Participants were asked to state whether they agreed or disagreed with 31 statements on a five-point Likert scale. Jewish students who experience school-based values education endorsed more intrinsic values (e.g. autonomy: Jews M = 4.27, SD = .53; Arabs M = 3.92, SD = .83), whereas Arab students, whose education as a minority group focuses on education towards achievement, endorsed more extrinsic values (e.g. attractiveness: Jews M = 3.56, SD = .82; Arabs M = 3.96, SD = .84). The findings suggest that the use of a more refined and complex analysis of extrinsic–intrinsic scales yields multiple interpretations of moral education in a modern world. This research may contribute to the discussion on moral education for minority groups, especially where they are a distinct minority in a society where they are surrounded by different cultural values. The growing cultural diversity in the Western world requires that through moral and civic education, schools explicitly expose their students, and especially minority groups, to the diverse interpretations of values and to the need to both respect differing interpretations, on the one hand, and to challenge them, on the other.

Tay Sachs disease in Australia: reduced disease incidence despite stable carrier frequency in Australian Jews

To evaluate the outcomes of preconception screening of Jewish Australians for Tay Sachs disease (TSD) carrier status on Jewish TSD-affected births. Epidemiological observational study involving a complete retrospective audit of infantile and intermediate TSD cases diagnosed in Sydney and Melbourne between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2011 (Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne; Pacific Laboratory Medicine Services, Pathology North, NSW Health Pathology, Sydney; Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, Melbourne; and SA Pathology, Adelaide), and carrier frequency among Jewish high school students attending schools participating in TSD screening programs over the same period. Jewish TSD carrier frequency; and expected versus observed Jewish TSD-affected births. The 2006 Census indicated that most of the total 88,826 Jewish Australians live in Melbourne (46%) and Sydney (40%). The 7,756 Jewish high school students screened for TSD in Sydney and Melbourne during the study period had a carrier frequency of one in 31 (3.26%; 95% CI, 2.89%-3.68%).The estimated expected number of TSD-affected births in Melbourne and Sydney in 1995-2011 was 4.1 for Jewish births and 7.4 for other births (a ratio of Jewish to non-Jewish births of 1:2). The actual number was 12 (four in Sydney and eight in Melbourne), of which two were Jewish (a ratio of Jewish to non-Jewish births of 1:5). This finding of fewer than expected Jewish TSD cases coincided with a period during which screening programs were operating. There have been no Jewish TSD-affected children born to parents who were screened previously. Community education, appreciation of autosomal recessive inheritance and genetic carrier screening before pregnancy are the likely factors in our finding of fewer than expected Jewish babies with TSD. Ongoing outcome monitoring must continue.

Are we preaching to the converted? The role of motivation in understanding the contribution of intergroup encounters

The role of motivation to participate in peace encounters was examined against the popular claim that such programs mainly benefit those who already espouse peace-movement ideas. The self-determination theory served as the theoretical framework for the study. Jewish and Arab high-school students (N = 330) were randomly assigned to research and control groups based on their motivation to participate in peace encounters. The findings revealed that those who benefited most and whose social relationships were significantly enhanced by participation in the program were participants who were extrinsically motivated. Those who were amotivated gained nothing but did not deteriorate, whereas their counterparts in the control group deteriorated. Those who were intrinsically motivated did not gain much from their participation but did not deteriorate, even without the encounters (in the control group). Theoretical and pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed.

Assessment of the laboratory learning environment in an inquiry-oriented chemistry laboratory in Arab and Jewish high schools in Israel

An inquiry-oriented laboratory in chemistry was integrated into the chemistry curriculum in Jewish high schools in Israel, and after a short period was also implemented in Arab sector. In this study, we investigated the effect of culture on the perceptions of laboratory classroom learning environments by comparing the perceptions of Arab and Jewish high school students who learned the inquiry-oriented chemistry laboratory. The learning environment is influenced by student-teacher relationship and we thought that this relation is an important issue in the inquiry laboratory and is different between the Arab and Jewish populations. However, until recently, the Arab teachers have remained in the centre of the learning process and their students perceived them as the main source of knowledge and information. In this study, we used both quantitative and qualitative methods to determine whether the laboratory learning environment was different in Arab and Jewish classes that learned in the inquiry-oriented laboratory in chemistry. A statistical comparison of Arab and Jewish inquiry groups revealed significant differences in their actual and preferred perceptions. From the qualitative part of the study, we found that the teachers and students from the Arab and Jewish sectors were statistically similar in the categories that we measured during the inquiry phase, but they were statistically different during the pre-inquiry phase of the laboratory. From the interviews with the teachers and the students, we found that there were differences in the student-teacher relationship between the two sectors.

“Why Israel?” Re-Viewing Israel Education Through the Lenses of Civic and Political Engagement

This article takes up categories from literature on political and civic engagement to help make sense of data collected from interviews with 40 American Jewish day high school students about what they think and feel about Israel. Viewed through a set of lenses that distinguish between the manifestations and motivations of political and civic engagement, the article helps clarify why young Jews, even when actively and positively engaged with Israel, are uncomfortable labeling themselves as Zionists. The analysis points to an important distinction between the concepts of Israel as “home” and “homeland.” The article also raises important questions about what is presumed to be an increasing distance or alienation from Israel among young American Jews.

Tay-Sachs disease preconception screening in Australia: self-knowledge of being an Ashkenazi Jew predicts carrier state better than does ancestral origin, although there is an increased risk for c.1421 + 1G > C mutation in individuals with South African heritage

The Australasian Community Genetics Program provided a preconception screening for Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) to 4,105 Jewish high school students in Sydney and Melbourne over the 12-year period 1995-2007. By correlating the frequencies of mutant HEXA, MIM *606869 (gene map locus 15q23-q24) alleles with subjects' nominated ethnicity (Ashkenazi/Sephardi/Mixed) and grandparental birthplaces, we established that Ashkenazi ethnicity is a better predictor of TSD carrier status than grandparental ancestral origins. Screening self-identified Ashkenazi subjects detected 95% of TSD carriers (carrier frequency 1:25). Having mixed Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi heritage reduced the carrier frequency (1:97). South African heritage conveyed a fourfold risk of c.1421 + 1G > C mutation compared with other AJ subjects (odds ratio (OR), 4.19; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.83-9.62, p = 0.001), but this was the only specific case of ancestral origin improving diagnostic sensitivity over that based on determining Ashkenazi ethnicity. Carriers of c.1278insTATC mutations were more likely to have heritage from Western Europe (OR, 1.65 (95% CI, 1.04-2.60), p = 0.032) and South Eastern Europe (OR, 1.77 (95% CI, 1.14-2.73), p = 0.010). However, heritage from specific European countries investigated did not significantly alter the overall odds of TSD carrier status.

Effects of Intergroup Conflict and Social Contact on Prejudice: The Mediating Role of Stereotypes and Evaluations

This study explored the mediating role of stereotypes and evaluations in the relationships between intergroup conflict, social contact, and behavioral intentions to engage in intergroup contact. The hypotheses, derived from realistic group conflict theory and intergroup contact theory, were tested on samples of Arab and Jewish high school students in the context of an ethno-racial intergroup conflict. As hypothesized, the less participants perceived a conflict between the groups, and the greater their past contact with out-group members, the more they were willing to engage in intergroup contact. Moreover, stereotypes and evaluations mediated these effects in the Jewish sample. The implications of these findings for the study of the mechanisms underlying prejudice are discussed.

Perceptions of the narrative of the ‘other’ among Arab and Jewish adolescents in Israel: between peace talks and violent events

One of the major challenges for the process of peace building is to overcome the rigid structure of the socio‐psychological repertoire that accompanies it. Our longitudinal study examined one element of this repertoire among Jewish and Arab adolescents in Israel: the cognitive legitimacy and the emotional reactions toward the historical narrative of the opponent. We focused our question on the impact of the socio‐political context and the role of the violent reality in the development of these perceptions among youth. Data were collected in four stages (1999–2000, 2002, 2004, and 2007) among various samples of Arab and Jewish high school students (10th and 12th graders). The results showed that among the Jewish adolescents, the readiness to legitimate Palestinian narratives significantly decreased during violent periods. Among the Arab students, the impact of their difficult status as a Palestinian minority in the State of Israel is reflected in their relatively high level of readiness to accept both narratives. The results are discussed from social, cultural, and developmental perspectives with a focus on the role of the conflictual reality itself in the development of the socio‐psychological repertoire among youth.

Religion as a basis for dialogue in peace education programs

Religion could play a positive role in intergroup relations. However, this potential is usually overlooked and religion is often perceived as divisive and polarizing, perhaps even a source of intergroup conflict. This study examined religion as a possible tool for achieving positive intergroup encounters. A randomized control trial research design was used to study the contribution of religion to the enhancement of positive relations between Jewish and Arab high school students in Israel. The 255 eleventh‐grade students were randomly assigned into three groups: encounters based on religious content, encounters based on social content, and a control group. Findings revealed that the religion‐based intervention was more effective than the social‐based one, which merely slowed down the deteriorating relationships between the groups. The results suggest that religion can serve as a common denominator for different national and social groups and be used for enhancing tolerance and understanding between conflict groups.

The Gender Gap in Advanced Math and Science Course Taking: Does Same-Sex Education Make A Difference?

A large representative sample (N = 20,816) of Israeli Jewish high school students served to explore differences between coeducational and same-sex schools in advanced math and science courses. Data were obtained from the Israeli population census of 1995 and from the Israeli Ministry of Education. Results from logistic regressions suggest that girls at all-female state religious schools did not differ from girls at coeducational state schools in placement in advanced math, physics and biology courses. But girls at all-female religious schools took advanced computer science courses at a much higher rate than girls at coeducational schools. This finding is attributed to a different curricular policy and not directly to the all-female environment.

Israeli students’ perceptions of geography instruction goals

This research compares the official Israeli Ministry of Education's curriculum goals of studying geography with the perceptions of Israeli Jewish and Arab junior high school students who study the subject. In addition, the perceptions of Jewish and Arab students about the importance of studying geography are compared. In the first stage of research, 500 students from northern Israel were asked open questions about how they perceived the goals of geography education. In the second stage of research, 280 middle grade students (ages 14–16 years) in northern Israel participated. Of these, 129 students were Jewish and 151 students were Arab. These students were given a questionnaire to fill out which included 17 statements about geography that were formulated from stage one of the research. These statements related to the importance of studying geography as a curriculum topic and as a subject that is interrelated to wider economic and political processes. The results of the research indicate that there is a significant difference between the students’ perceptions of the importance of studying geography and the official curriculum goals for studying geography, which view its importance for the transmission of important societal values. Moreover, the research has also found that there is a significant difference between Jewish and Arab students in their perceptions of the importance of studying geography. While the Arab students perceive environmental values as being very important, the Jewish students perceive political and security issues as most important.

Gender differences in peace education programmes

Peace education programmes have become part of the school curriculum all over the world, as a way to enhance positive relationships between conflict groups. However, although gender differences are being taken into account when planning various educational programmes, this is usually not the case with peace education. The present study aimed to reveal gender differences regarding peace and peace pedagogy. One hundred and eighty Israeli Jewish and Arab high school students participated in a peace contact education programme. Gender and group differences were examined both before and after participation in the programme. The findings revealed that the Jewish and Arab female youths were more dovish than the males both before and after participating in the programme, and gained more from the encounters. Implications for conflict resolution and peace pedagogy are discussed.

Delinquent Activity Among Jewish and Arab Junior and Senior High School Students in Israel

This study compares the criminal activities of male and female Jewish and Arab junior and senior high school students in Israel based on self-reported criminal activities. The sample consisted of 906 randomly selected junior and senior high school students. The findings indicate that Jewish students committed more types of delinquent acts when compared with their Arab counterparts; males committed more delinquent acts than females; and Arab females had very low rates of delinquency. The findings are discussed in light of possible influences of cultural and ethnic origin and knowledge about possible discrimination against Arab juveniles by the Israeli criminal justice system. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are suggested.

Is it just talk? Understanding and evaluating intergroup dialogue

AbstractIntergroup dialogues are lauded as a way to increase understanding and reduce prejudice, but a limited amount of published research explores the effectiveness of these processes. This article examines the evaluation of a yearlong dialogue program for African American and Jewish high school students, considering both consistently found attitudinal changes and others that appear dependent on the nature and extent of relationships formed among dialogue participants.

An Introduction to Sexuality Education for Orthodox Jewish Female High School Students

Issues regarding sexuality are often little discussed in highschools serving students from religiously conservative backgrounds. Frequently, parents and school administrators are uncomfortable with, and reluctant to discuss the topic, and as a result students have inadequate opportunities to engage in discussions about sex and relationships. This lesson is designed to introduce a unit on sexuality for such a female audience, specifically Orthodox Jews, in an empowering environment that solicits their input and encourages future discussion.