The Jewish Religious and That of the National Curriculum

Institute of Education, University of London. A UNITARY PHILOSOPHY FOR U.K. JEWISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS EDUCATING PUPILS WITHIN TWO DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL CONCEPTIONS: THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS AND THAT OF THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM. Hana Pinner A thesis submitted to the Institute of Education for the degree of PhD. September 2006 1 ABSTRACT This philosophy addresses the complex educational issues arising in Anglo-Jewish education catering for a community which is rooted in two cultures: the Jewish-Orthodox and the Western-liberal, a community that incorporates all aspects of Western culture that do not conflict with Jewish law or its value system. Underpinned by diverse ontologies and epistemologies these cultures differ in many aspects, most significantly for educators, in their value systems and therefore in the hermeneutic understanding of the "excellences" to be designated as ultimate and proximate aims for the education. Whereas the liberal Western culture endorses anti-authoritarian, individual autonomy, the Jewish thesis endorses such only in areas for which Jewish law has not legislated. For all other, free choices are to be exercised against the divinely commanded value system. The National Curriculum, through which secular subjects are delivered, and Judaism both require holism in education. In both, all knowledge is to serve also as a vehicle for pupils' overall personal and social growth: the cognitive/intellectual, ethical, spiritual and physical. Since holism necessarily has to be governed by an overall organic quality of wholeness, in which all the educational aims permeate every area of education, it is axiomatic that contradictions in the aims cannot be accommodated within any specific educational structure. This unitary philosophy responds to the requirements of holism by establishing an educational structure which, in itself, is free of conflict. This is achievable due to the liberal National Curriculum's acceptance, qua being liberal, of non-public values to overlay the statutory political ones in the entire school's curriculum — which, for Jewish education is the Halakhic value system. A conflict-free philosophy, however, does not guarantee conflict-free development of pupils who live their lives within both the Jewish thesis and the all pervasive, multi-media imposed Western culture. The unitary philosophy sets out strategies for dealing with these conflicts within carefully structured programmes. CONTENTS. PAGE ABSTRACT. 2 INTRODUCTION SOME FACTS CONCERNING ANGLO JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS 5 RELEVANT FACTS ABOUT THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM'S FRAMEWORK ALONGSIDE WHICH JEWISH STUDIES OPERATE 5 THE ANGLO-JEWISH DAY SCHOOL —A DUAL SYSTEM OF EDUCATION 7 CHAPTER 1. THE CATEGORICAL NEED FOR A UNITARY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION IN THE ANGLO-JEWISH DAY SCHOOL -11 PROPOSED SOLUTION 16 CHAPTER 2. ARGUMENTS FOR JEWISH SCHOOLING - FAITH SCHOOLS VIS-A-VIS STATE SCHOOL, - 17 CHAPTER 3. THE TWO DISTINCT PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION TO BE EMPLOYED IN FORMING A UNITARY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 28 TOWARDS A UNITARY PHILOSOPHY 30 THE NATURE OF THE TWO DISTINCT PHILOSOPHIES TO BE EMPLOYED IN FORMING A UNITARY PHILOSOPHY 34 WHY JEWISH SCHOOLING WILL BENEFIT FROM ADOPTING A SYSTEMATIC, CONCEPTUAL AND ANALYTICAL THINKING MODE 37 CHAPTER 4. CONFLICT — A CONCOMITANT FACTOR IN A PHILOSOPHY UNDERPINNED BY DIVERSE THEORIES. IS CONFLICT NECESSARILLY A DESTRUCTIVE EDUCATIONAL FACTOR? -44 INVESTIGATION OF THE POINTS OF CONFLICT ARISING FROM THE MEETING OF THE TWO PHILOSOPHIES- 48 a) AUTONOMY 48 b) LANGUAGE 51 c) HABITUATION 54 d)ANALYSIS, REFLECTION AND EVALUATION 57 e) DISPLACEMENT 61 CONCLUSION 62 CHAPTER 5. THE FIRST STEP OF FORMING A NORMATIVE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION - ESTABLISHMENT OF ULTIMATE AIMS AND THE NECESSARY DISPOSITIONS FOR THEIR REALISATION 63 THE ULTIMATE AIMS OF EDUCATION IN UK JEWISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS. 68 CHAPTER 6.. THE SECOND STEP OF FORMING A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION - HERMENEUTIC ANALYSIS OF THE EXCELLENCES AND ULTIMATE AIMS IN THE DESIRED UNITARY EDUCATION 73 1) ANALYSIS OF JEWISH EXCELLENCES'-(Designated as 1 5) 73 ANALYSIS OF EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 1, to be in awe of God 74 TRANSLATION OF EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 1 77 EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 2. To walk in God's ways 78 TRANSLATION OF EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 2-... 85 EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 3, to love God 86 TRANSLATION OF ELEMENT 3 89 EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 4, to serve God with all your heart and soul 90 TRANSLATION OF EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 4 IN ULTIMATE AIM 94 EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 5, Keep all His commandments and statutes. 95 TRANSLATION OF EXCELLENT ATTRIBUTE 5 99 2) ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL CURRICULUM'S EXCELLENCES AND THEIR COMPATIBILITY WITH THE JEWISH PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. (Designated as 6 8)- 100 EXCELLENCES IN THE SPHERE OF CHARACTER AND PERSONALITYION-Designated as 6: 6a) MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 101 3 6b) SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT 104 6c) MORAL DEVELOPMENT 107 6d) SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 111 6e) CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 113 ANALYSIS OF EXCELLENCES TO BE DEVELOPED IN THE INTELLECTUAL SPHERE. — Designated 7: 7a) PROMOTING KNOWLEDGE 117 7b) DEVELOPMENT OF THINKING SKILLS 121 7c)PROMOTING AN ENQUIRING MIND AND A CAPACITY TO THINK RATIONALLY 123 7d)DEVELOPING A CAPABILITY OF CRITICAL, ANALYTICAL THOUGHT 127 7e) DEVELOPING CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE THINKING 130 7j) PROVIDING A FOUNDATION FOR LIFELONG LEARNING 132 7g) POSSESSION OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS 133 8) PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT 135 CHAPTER 7. ANALYTICAL PHILOSOPHY. INTRODUCTION. 136 A) THE REASONS FOR DESIGNATING AS EXCELLENCES THE DISPOSITIONS EMANATING FROM THE JEWISH ULTIMATE AIMS designated 1-5 136 B) THE REASONS FOR DESIGNATING AS EXCELLENCES THE DISPOSITIONS EMANATING FROM THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM'S ULTIMATE AIMS: IN THE SPIRITUAL AND CHARACTER FORMING SPHERE designated (6). 141 IN THE INTELLECTUAL SPHERE designated -(7) 147 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT designated (8) 156 CHAPTER 8. FORMULATION OF THE UNITARY NORMATIVE PHILOSOPHY FOR ANGLO-JEWISH, MODERN-ORTHODOX SCHOOLING. INTRODUCTION 157 THE UNITARY PHILOSOPHY: 160 IN THE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENTAL SPHERE, designated (6). 6a) MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 160 6b) SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT 164 6c) MORAL DEVELOPMENT 167 6d) SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 173 6e) CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 178 THE UNITARY PHILOSOPHY IN THE INTELLECTUAL SPHERE, designated (7) 7a) THE PROMOTION OF KNOWLEDGE 180 7b) DEVELOPMENT OF THINKING SKILLS 183 7c) THE PROMOTION OF AN ENQUIRING AND RATIONAL MIND 185 7d) DEVELOPING A CAPABILITY OF CRITICAL, ANALYTICAL THOUGHT 187 7e) DEVELOPING CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE THINKING 189 7f) PROVIDING A FOUNDATION FOR LIFELONG LEARNING 191 7g) POSSESSION OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS 193 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT designated (8) 195 CONCLUSION 195 AREAS IN NEED OF SPECIAL ATTENTION 196 ENDNOTES 198-211 BIBLIOGRAPHY 212-221 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 221 4 INTRODUCTION. Some facts concerning Anglo-Jewish schools. The demand for Jewish day school education in the U.K. has grown rapidly in the past 30 years, which has resulted in the establishment of a considerable number of new primary schools numbering 73 at the turn of the 21'1 century, 32 of which are state maintained. These schools educate 51% of Jewish children.1 Main stream Jewish primary schools in the UK operate within the framework of the National Curriculum and are religious in orientation. The majority of these schools are conducted along Orthodox lines. Three schools belonging to the Reform movement are also of religious orientation and tap, to a large extent, into Rabbinic Judaism for their teaching of the Judaic heritage. All Jewish schools include secular as well as Jewish religious education in their curricula. The school day is divided between the two educational areas: Jewish Studies receiving 25% - 30% of the overall (extended) tuition time2 and National Curriculum subjects receiving the rest. The problems facing Jewish Education in Jewish primary schools in the UK. 1) The Jewish schools operate within two conceptions of education, the Western-liberal and the Jewish-orthodox, each rooted within its own ontology and epistemology. The education is bi-departmental, each with its own aims and methodologies, yet with no attention given to incompatibilities where these exist, and the potential inner conflicts to which these are apt to subject pupils. Unaided solving of conflicts is apt to allow the all pervasive liberal values to prevail over the Jewish ones. 2) Jewish Studies lack a theoretical structure — a philosophy and theory of education — to inform and underpin its programmes and curricula. 3) Jewish Studies — the non statutory, less structured, partner in this education — is relegated to lower status within the bipartite system. Relevant facts about the National Curriculum's framework, alongside which Jewish Studies operate: The 1999 National Curriculum3 outlines the values and objectives of the education it mandates. As stated already in the Education Act of 1996, section 351, the two main aims of the 1999 school curriculum, (only slightly reformulated and omitting the all important mental development) are: 1) to 5 provide opportunities for all pupils to learn and to achieve 2) to promote pupils' spiritual, moral, social, cultural development, and prepare all pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life4. It is clear from the numerous requirements spread throughout the introduction that these aims have to be realised within the context of liberal democratic values. To achieve the first of the above mentioned aims (1), the National Curriculum requires, together with the dissemination of a broad range of knowledge, also the development of a variety of intellectual

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