The aim of this research is to investigate the intergenerational changes that have occurred in Australian Jewish day schools and the challenges these pose for religious and Jewish education. Using a grounded theory approach according to the constant comparative method (Strauss 1987), data from three sources (interviews [296], observations [27],…

For decades researchers assessed sense of community (SOC), inclusion, and pluralism within academic settings. In the present study, 2,220 undergraduate students (1,442 women, 778 men; M age = 23.42 years; SD = 7.84) at two Catholic universities responded to perceived levels of school sense of community, inclusion, and religious pluralism. Analyses…

In "Education, liberation and the church," Paulo Freire uses the metaphor of "apprenticeship" to describe a form of liberative education for people of faith who begin to discover the ways in which they benefit from the systemic oppression of other human beings. As depicted in ten oral history interviews conducted with the…

Children and young people have the inalienable right to be part of a learning community. Nobody can learn on his/her own. Education is always a communal enterprise. In this article the concept of the "spiritual learning community" is developed as a contemporary answer to the socioeducational issues raised by Martin Buber and John Dewey…

Educators employed in devoutly religious institutions often teach students who view even their secular higher education through a uniquely religious lens. Based on his own experiences teaching psychological science at a Jewish university, the author suggests enhancing student interest and enthusiasm by wedding secular curricula with religious…

The author argues that adolescents are not only philosophers, as Kohlberg and Gilligan once claimed, but should also be viewed as theologians. This view corresponds to what has been called "lay theology" or "ordinary theology." Moreover, the article takes up the double question what adolescents might benefit from theology and…

In the evolution of the World Wide Web toward a more participatory experience, the blog is one opportunity with intriguing educational potential. Among its educational benefits, the blog can offer a platform for exercising the public voice, but does so in a way that is simultaneously private and public, giving the author a safe distance through…

This article reports some of the results of interviews with 120 Israeli Druze, 60 middle-aged adults and 60 young adults, regarding values, views of the Druze community, and personal identity. All participants expressed commitment to and love for traditional Druze values of familial respect, respect for others, modesty in dress and behavior, and…

This study presents the cases of two teachers in a Jewish supplementary school whose experiences as learners in a year-long professional development (PD) program shaped their teaching practice. The PD program, based in a theory of havruta text learning, immersed the faculty in the very pedagogy they were being encouraged to use in their teaching…

Using historic documents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and resources of its leaders, the principles of LDS or Mormon education and its key characteristics are described. In particular, the following characteristics are discussed: (1) the critical role of the Spirit in both teaching and learning, (2) the worthiness,…

Freedom movements historically have shown power to transform social and personal identity. Absorbing the narrative of a movement can lead to something not unlike conversion. Accepting the truth of a movement's story implies change in who one believes oneself to be and may reorient one's life story. Movements like Cesar Chavez's…

Islamic education has always recognized spiritual and moral values as significant elements in developing a "balanced" human being. One way of demonstrating spiritual and moral concepts is through effective teaching methods that integrate and forefront these values. This article offers an investigation of how the authors' teaching…

Ella Josephine Baker (1903-1986), an African-American human rights activist, influenced the trajectory of the modern civil rights movement with her emphasis on local action, liberative pedagogy, and grassroots involvement. She modeled a pedagogy of liberation convinced that grassroots efforts at participatory democracy could empower diverse…

The author argues that if we are to foster life-giving and liberating moral reflection, we must first liberate moral reflection from distortions; specifically, from the distorting effects of moral insensitivity, destructive moral relativism, and confusions resulting from a failure to understand the dynamics of moral reflection. The author proposes…

When people of faith participate in movements for social change, how are their religious and moral identities formed, challenged, and transformed? Although they have explicit and tangible goals as they participate in advocacy, protest, and boycotts, religious social activists also, James Jasper argues, craft "lives worth living" (1997).…