New Article: Gor Ziv, Teaching Jewish Holidays in Early Childhood Education in Israel

Gor Ziv, Haggith. “Teaching Jewish Holidays in Early Childhood Education in Israel: Critical Feminist Pedagogy Perspective.” Taboo 15.1 (2016): 119-34.

 

URL: http://search.proquest.com/openview/40522e5877f96e9463985043f68d6e85/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=28753

 

Abstract

Teaching Jewish holidays in secular kindergartens in Israel is a major part of the early childhood education curriculum and often revolves around myths of heroism. The telling of these stories frequently evokes strong nationalist feelings of identification with fighting as they describe survival wars and conflicts in which the heroes are mostly male fighters and Jewish victory over the enemy is celebrated. Thus the teaching of the holidays hidden agenda strengthens ceremonial, patriarchal and national ideas. This paper proposes a number of educational alternatives in accordance with critical feminist pedagogy and Jewish values of social justice. The article focuses on three major holidays: Hanukah, Purim and Passover. It shows in each one of them the conventional reading of the holiday which is the traditional way it is being taught in secular kindergartens, the holiday through a critical feminist pedagogy lens and application in early childhood classrooms.

 

 

 

New Article: Lerner-Geva et al, Improving the Lifestyle Habits of Kindergarten Children in Israel

Lerner-Geva, Liat, Elinor Bar-Zvi, Gila Levitan, Valentina Boyko, Brian Reichman, and Orit Pinhas-Hamiel. “An Intervention for Improving the Lifestyle Habits of Kindergarten Children in Israel: A Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial Investigation.” Public Health Nutrition 18.9 (2015): 1537-44.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S136898001400024X

 

Abstract

Objective To assess the effectiveness of an intervention programme to improve kindergarten children’s eating and leisure habits in Israel.

Design A cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Setting Six full-day kindergartens in Israel were randomly divided into three groups. Group A received the full intervention programme, which included lessons on good eating habits and daily physical exercise. Group B received a partial intervention of lessons only. Group C, the reference group, did not receive any intervention.

Subjects Children aged 4–6 years (n 204) were recruited for the study.

Methods Objective data for weight and height were collected to calculate BMI Z-scores. Activity, sedentary time, sleeping hours and daily energy intake were assessed via a parental questionnaire. Nutritional knowledge was assessed by a single dietitian using a questionnaire addressed to the children. Assessments were done at baseline and at the end of the intervention.

Results After adjustment for baseline levels we observed a significant reduction in daily energy intake for the full intervention group A (P = 0·03). A positive intervention effect was demonstrated on nutritional knowledge in the partial intervention group B (P = 0·03), although no significant change was demonstrated for BMI Z-score.

Conclusions The study supports the incorporation of education on healthy lifestyle habits and physical activity into the curricula of kindergartens.

New Article: Ziv et al, Holocaust Studies in Israeli Kindergartens

Ziv, Yair, Deborah Golden, and Tsafrir Goldberg. “Teaching Traumatic History to Young Children: The Case of Holocaust Studies in Israeli Kindergartens.” Early Education and Development 26.4 (2015): 520-33.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2015.1000719

 

Abstract

Recently, the Israeli Ministry of Education initiated a mandatory nationwide curriculum for Jewish kindergarten children focusing on the study of the Holocaust. This initiative raises general questions regarding the inclusion of sensitive historical issues in curricula for young children. In this article, we use the new Holocaust curriculum as an instructive case through which to address the broader questions about what might constitute an appropriate and acceptable curriculum in early childhood. We discuss the initiative from three disciplinary perspectives: a developmental sciences perspective, an anthropological/cultural perspective, and a learning sciences perspective. As we demonstrate, these three perspectives not only represent different disciplines but also highlight different aspects of this issue, thus exposing the complexities of this discussion. We show that understanding these perspectives separately and then trying to combine them may enable a richer and more complex look on the broader questions that this specific curriculum raises. We conclude with an endeavor to integrate the three perspectives, all of which should be taken into account when constructing a curriculum for young children.

ToC: Journal of Jewish Education 81.1 (2015); special issue: Israel Education

Journal of Jewish Education, Volume 81, Issue 1, January-March 2015 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online.

Special Issue: Israel Education, Part I

This new issue contains the following articles:

Editor’s Note
Israel Education in Unsettled Times
Bethamie Horowitz
Pages: 1-3
DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2015.1010368

Articles
“Israel Is Meant for Me”: Kindergarteners’ Conceptions of Israel
Sivan Zakai
Pages: 4-34
DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2015.1007019

“Like a Distant Cousin”: Bi-Cultural Negotiation as Key Perspective in Understanding the Evolving Relationship of Future Reform Rabbis with Israel and the Jewish People
Michal Muszkat-Barkan & Lisa D. Grant
Pages: 35-63
DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2015.1007011

Lights, Cameras, Action Research!—Moviemaking as a Pedagogy for Constructivist Israel Education
Ofra Backenroth & Alex Sinclair
Pages: 64-84
DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2015.1003480

A Linguistic Analysis of the Role of Israel in American Jewish Schooling
Barry Chazan
Pages: 85-92
DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2015.1007016

Book Review
Sharon Feiman-Nemser, Eran Tamir, and Karen Hammerness, Editors, Inspiring Teaching: Preparing Teachers to Succeed in Mission-Driven Schools (Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, MA, 2014)
Laura Shefter
Pages: 93-96
DOI: 10.1080/15244113.2015.1003481