Tóth, Andrea (2016) Tradicionalitás és innováció – a vallástudomány és a neveléstudomány határán – a zsidó nevelésben. PhD thesis, OR-ZSE.
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Abstract
Abstract As a teacher of Judaism and Pedagogy getting to know the culture of Jewish people and researching the nature of Jewish education is close to my field of interest. „What are those values that we should pass on to our students during their education and teaching?” I think this question is even more timely these days, since I fear for the growing up generation as a teacher and as a mother in this world full of extreme views, offering false values. I am convinced that our striving for real, true values can only be reached by education and teaching which conveys the right values. I started my research in 2003, the aim of which was to investigate the values of the traditional Jewish teaching and education in the field of today’s Jewish teaching and education; I mixed my pedagogy knowledge from the faculty of Pedagogy of Eötvös Loránd University with the knowledge obtained at Doctoral School of Jewish Theological Seminary - University of Jewish Studies. As a researcher I wanted to find the „intersection” of the pedagogical and religious scientific knowledge in favour of the noble target to investigate the presence of the traditional so-called biblical educational values in a domestic Jewish school from a new point of view. I thought I would like to contribute to the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust with dignity with this work of mine, as in my opinion we can see many phenomena which are harmful and give a false picture of Jewry for the members of the society and the growing up generation. The practical experience and knowledge gained during my fifteen years as a practising teacher, and the national and international (mainly Israeli) trainings and conferences helped in my work. I would like to explain the word innovation in the title of my dissertation. We can be the witnesses of the changing values in our changing world. There are values which disappear in our world which is full of modern technical achievements, and there are ones which survive thousands of years as pearls, and do not float away in history. I subbed in the sea of values and wanted to dredge these pearls. The Jewish religious education took place in the family for a long time, the institutional education only completed the one from home. 339 The base of the Jewish education is observing the rules of the Torah, and teaching the prayers and holidays from generation to generation. During assimilation the education of Jewish children was similar to the one of non-Jewish children. The orthodox Jews founded separate institutions to keep the religious tradition and to keep away from the gentile, non-Jewish cultures. I agree with the thoughts of Antónia Szász, which say that the traditional (the orthodox or conservative), and the progressive approach differ in values and norms in many ways, hereby the value preferences differ as well. This can be the reason that certain deeds and norms (laws, rules, obligations) can be judged and are judged by the two „groups” distinctly. This is their subjective value judgement. We cannot grade the different wings objectively, we cannot judge their norms, values, their lifestyle and deeds objectively and as a general rule. We cannot say that one of them is better or worse, as „good” and „valuable” always means some kind of parity to the requirements of one of the norms. It is the social and normative context in every case that defines what classification the deed gets.” (SZÁSZ, 2008, 103-104. p.In: Értékek és normák interdiszciplináris megközelítésben (edited: S. Nagy-Orbán), Budapest. Gondolat. 2008) Prof. István Bábosik’s definition for the notion value is the most expressive for me: Value is usually such an intellectual product which performs a double function. On the one hand it contributes to the development of the narrower and wider human communities, so it functions as a definite community developer; on the other hand it helps the personal development; so it functions as an individual developer.” (BÁBOSIK, 1999, 11-12. p.) I wanted to introduce the education principles and values according to the Jewish tradition and religion and to examine their presence in a present-day Jewish school. In my research method I found it determining to perform operations with values. According to the introductory, overview chapter I modelled a list of values. After that I assigned the value-analyzing part-conclusions of the historic („Bridges”) chapter’s sub-chapters to this list consistently. Finally I searched the existence of the elements of the list of values, and the stages of its strength and notoriety in the items of the scholastic (empirical) case-study questions. I referred the elements of these three value systems to each other in the summary. 340 The aim of this all was an exact data system for analyzing and referring to the operation of a present-day’s school (Scheiber Sándor Elemetary School of Scheiber Sándor Elementary and Secondary School) as the main, substantive and totally unique result of the research. It is easily foreseeable that there were two strands in history of the Jewry. The European, Hungarian Jewry kept guard over their moral and educational values with difficult conditions, on the other hand they strained after the legitimate possibilities of mediating these values in institutional, scholastic way and in the school system. „Keeping tradition” and the specific „freedom striving” could alternate, but they are traceable continuously. I did not intend to do source analysis and text criticism in the first and the second chapter of my work. My researcher intention was to assure appropriate background for the third chapter of my work. I introduce the pedagogic text parts of the Jewish religious tradition with the help of texts of TaNaCh, Misna and the Talmud. I took the different family functions one after another according to the different forms of consciousness from religious, legal and ethical point of view. I examined the Holy Scripture and the related books and explanations according to these viewpoints. My primary research target was to introduce texts highlighting the Jewish pedagogic uniquenesses. With the help of these texts we can imagine the features of the contemporary Jewish education and way of thinking. I introduce the texts chosen pedagogically „stiched on a chain”. The thoughts of TaNaCh, Misna and the Talmud have already been researched and explained in many respects. I wanted to examine these texts from a new viewpoint, from the viewpoint of education. With the help of the Sulchan Aruch edited by Joszef Káró in the 16th century and with the help of the thoughts of Maimonides I reviewed the expectations from the teacher and the student, the particularities of the method of learning and the requirements from the school. I contemplated the world of Jewish prayers and holidays from pedagogic aspect. The third, bigger chapter of my work is the result of a several months’ research period. I could interview all of my Colleagues teaching in the elementary school in April and May 2014, I had 39 interviewees altogether. I asked the librarian, the developer teacher and the psychologist of the school, as well. During the teacher interviewes I asked 41 questions from my interviewees. 341 These questions can be grouped according to their content as hereinafter: 1. General data (background variables): Questions 1-12 2. Things typical of the attachment to Scheiber school: Questions 13-33 3. Data about the attachment to the Jewry (Jewish tradition, culture, religion, the determining ideals of the school): Questions 34-41 The pupil questionnaires were filled in by the elementary pupils in May 2014. There are eight classes in the elementary school. 1-1 class from grade 1-4, and 2-2 classes from grade 5-6. There were 144 pupils present during filling in the questionnaires, 9 were absent. I examined the relation of pupils to Jewry from more aspects with the help of the pupil questionnaires. After the student and teacher survey I saw the secular director and one of the religious directors about my research results, and to ask them about these results. Thus 39 teachers, 144 pupils and 2 institution leaders got into the survey sample. The outstanding difference between the teachers’ presumable values/values they identified with and the pupils’ values/ values they identified with was in point of „values” hereinafter: The importance of the cohesion of the Jewish community and helping the members of the community got a significantly higher percentage among the teachers than among the pupils. The importance of the everyday praying got similarly low percentage in both groups. In the pupils’ values/values they identified with protection of children, respect of teachers, respect of parents, looking after old people, visiting the sick, helping the poor, donation, condemnation of defamation, protecting nature and animals got significantly higher percentage than among the teachers. It is apparent from my research that elementary pupils’ values are very colourful, very rich, it is possible to rely on them. Our pedagogic task is to make pupils aware of the fact that the values chosen by Them involve the cohesion of Jewish tradition and Jewish community. The empiric research shows the educational and pedagogic work in Scheiber Sándor Elementary School going on the right track. 342 The school Pedagogic program reflects the efforts of the maintainer and the school leadership genuinely, it pays appreciative attention to the social environment. The School Policy, Pedagogic program, Organizational and Operational rules regards passing on the civilized social values as well as the values of the Jewish religion and tradition as the primary aim of the educational work at school. The results of my research prove as well that Jewish studies is a lifestyle in fact, and it is harder to teach those pupils Judaism, too, who are not attached to religion (for religious or other reasons). This problem is caused by the receptive nature of the school (which is positive on the one hand), and this problem (which is not confined solely to Jewish teaching and education) was mentioned by more Colleagues of mine. This may also explain that: 1, everyday praying and the importance of the Jewish Holidays were not among the „first places” in the pupils’ answers. 2, furthermore, the values of the civilized society, which do not only belong to the Jewry (namely the other values on the list of values) were present in a more emphatic way in the teachers’ and pupils’ answers. The characteristic of the age-group of children, their interest and maturity (for example their affection for animals) on the one hand explains the perceptible difference between the teachers’ and the pupils’ this choice of value. I regard the difference emphasis on values between the families and the school as an important explanatory principle (as I referred to it in the hypothesis of my work). The sentences in the Pedagogic Program of the school support my remark: „In the grades 1-6 education should be founding natured, based, especially because the first four years of the elementary school operate in afternoon teaching system.” (Pedagogic Program 2.2.) The school case study is not qualifying, but analytic. Taking personailty rights into consideration I am not quoting the text of the interviews made with my pedagogue colleagues completely, I guard all the documents as well as the questionnaires in my research archives. Naturally, during the individual data collection I strived for collation at the formulation of the questions, I sign these collations in the analysis. As far as I know, this kind of work has not been made yet in the domestic Jewish school. 343 I would like to contribute to the expansion of the knowledge of the Hungarian general education, and I can contribute to becoming aquainted with the formal Jewish teaching and education. The practical result of my work could be the possible raising of effectiveness of the Jewish teaching and education at school.
| Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion / filozófia, pszichológia, vallás > BM Judaism / zsidóság |
| Depositing User: | xMihaéla xSzász |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Feb 2016 10:13 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Feb 2016 10:13 |
| URI: | http://real-phd.mtak.hu/id/eprint/351 |
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