Thông tin tài liệu
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
Published by HSRC Press
Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
www.hsrcpress.ac.za
© 2006 Human Sciences Research Council
First published 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
ISBN 0-7969-2114-8
Copy editing by David Merrington
Typeset by Jenny Wheeldon
Cover design by Karen Ahlschläger
Print management by comPress
Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver
PO Box 30370, Tokai, Cape Town, 7966, South Africa
Tel: +27 (0) 21 701 4477
Fax: +27 (0) 21 701 7302
email: orders@blueweaver.co.za
www.oneworldbooks.com
Distributed in Europe and the United Kingdom by Eurospan Distribution Services (EDS)
3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8LU, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7240 0856
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7379 0609
email: orders@edspubs.co.uk
www.eurospanonline.com
Distributed in North America by Independent Publishers Group (IPG)
Order Department, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 60610, USA
Call toll-free: (800) 888 4741
All other enquiries: +1 (312) 337 0747
Fax: +1 (312) 337 5985
email: frontdesk@ipgbook.com
www.ipgbook.com
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
Contents
Foreword v
Acknowledgements vii
1 Introduction – Jewish education at the crossroads 1
2 A bird’s-eye view 15
3 Globalisation, managerialism and communities 26
4 The global and local contexts 81
5 The cost of saving the Jewish community schools 161
6 The McDavid Schools for Jewish education 212
7 Coercion, consent and contradictions 275
8 Explaining change 303
Abbreviations 322
Glossary 324
Bibliography 326
Index 344
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
v
Foreword
The system of Jewish education in South Africa has often been described
as the jewel of the community. While the system has been analysed in
previous works, Chaya Herman has produced a study of Jewish schooling
in Johannesburg which combines careful research with a fine theoretical
understanding of the context in which the Jewish community and its
schooling system is located. Until recently, Jewish schools such as the subject
of this study, the King David Schools, reflected the moderate orthodoxy that
was hegemonic in the community. While the community both built and
maintained the school system, the educational direction was piloted by the
professional staff. However, as Herman’s study so tellingly shows, by the end
of the last millennium two powerful forces, both associated with globalisation,
had blown the very system itself in a different direction.
The first force was that of managerialism, with its emphasis on corporate
principles and the concomitant efficiencies of scale, cost reductions and the
replacement of the educational professional with the accountant. Business,
rather than education, became the foundational principle of the school
system. Simultaneously, a surge towards identity and community permeated
the schools. A new hegemonic force, the ultra-orthodox, shaped the form
of this identity. As Herman shows, the possibilities offered by the politics
of difference were replaced by the grinding restrictions of a myopic world
shaped in a Europe of 200 years ago. Authenticity was equated with the charedi
worldview and became embraced by a significant segment of the business
community, who seemed to gravitate to this intellectually light but halachically
formalistic mixture. The circle was squared – the corporate and the ultra-
orthodox met. Ironically, as pointed out by respondents cited in the book,
the majority of Jews were forgotten and became marginalised through either
ignorance, apathy or lack of an alternative political structure.
This book serves as a warning to all who are concerned about educating
their children to walk both in the ways of Jewish tradition(s) and as citizens
of South Africa within a globalised world. It unmasks the sociology which
governs the Jewish community and hence its present educational system. If it
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
vi
is correct that the community can see no other way forward than that offered
by the market, and only one truth, one way of practising religion, then it is
most fortunate that this book is published now – in ten years’ time there may
be almost no Jewish readership capable of reading such a rich text.
DM Davis
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
vii
Acknowledgements
Prophets and Profits is based on my doctoral dissertation and is the culmination
of four years of in-depth research, extensive reading and discussions. This was
a long, emotional and arduous journey from which I finally emerged with a
better understanding of educational change, the research process, the Jewish
community and myself.
Many friends and colleagues supported and encouraged me throughout the
long process of researching and writing this book, and to them I am most
grateful. I owe a special debt to my mentor Jonathan Jansen – without him
this book would not have happened. Special thanks are also due to Judge
Dennis Davis for his insightful Foreword, and to Michael Apple for endorsing
the book.
My gratitude goes to Yael Shalem, Leah Gilbert, Venitha Pillay, Eve Gray, Tracy
Seider, and to members of the HSRC Press: Garry Rosenberg and John Daniel,
who managed the peer review process, as well as Inga Norenius and David
Merrington, who nurtured the book throughout the production process.
I would like to thank my husband Tony, my children Tanya, Guy and Daniel,
and my parents, Sarah and Zwi Agassi, for their love, encouragement and
patience. I would like to give a special ‘thank you’ to Daniel who coined the
title of this book.
Most of all, I am indebted to the members of the school community who
generously gave of their time and entrusted me with their stories – your
experiences and expressions animated and enriched this text.
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
1
Introduction – Jewish education
at the crossroads
‘When I’m short of a headline, all I have to do is put in “Jewish community
at the crossroads” because the Jewish community is always at the crossroads’
1
were the insightful words of an editor of a Jewish journal. With the transition
from apartheid to democracy in South Africa the community has found
itself once again at a turning point as a result of it having to adjust to the
all-encompassing transformation that engulfed the country after 1994. The
restructuring of the Jewish community schools in Johannesburg, at the
beginning of the 21
st
century, tells the story of a community struggling to
come to terms with the changing environment of the new South Africa.
Yet, to tell the story of the restructuring of Jewish community schools
solely from a local perspective, without paying attention to the globalised
context within which the change occurs, will obscure more than it reveals.
The reorganisation of educational systems worldwide has been affected by a
combination of global economic restructuring and reduced social spending –
both manifestations of neo-liberal thinking or what might be called the
ideologies of the market (Ball, 1998). Market-led restructuring tends to be
associated with a set of techniques, values and practices that has come to be
referred to as ‘new managerialism’. This concept rests on two distinct claims
about educational change: one, ‘that efficient management can solve almost
any problem’, and two, that ‘practices that are appropriate for the conduct
of corporate enterprises can also be applied to the public sector’ such as
education (Rees 1995: 15).
Another by-product of globalisation has been the resurgence of ethnic and
religious communities in the search for identity. This is often perceived to
be a response to economic globalisation and its homogenising tendencies, a
reaction which has been described by Hargreaves (2003) as the ‘paradox of
globalisation’. In this view, people are impelled to look for alternative sources
of meaning and attachment as a result of the diminishing of national borders,
1
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
PROPHETS AND PROFITS
2
the increase in transnational interactions, the uncertainties of flexibility
and contractual work, and the absence of trust, care and commitment
experienced in the corporate world. The notion of community provides a
sense of belonging and security. Community is perceived as a ‘warm circle’, a
cosy and comfortable place to be in (Bauman, 2001a). However, communities
have a ‘dark side’: their tendencies for parochialism, exclusivity, intolerance
and coercion. There are morally questionable groups, such as gangs and
fundamentalist religions, which often abuse the notion and the language of
communities (Noddings, 1996).
At face value, religiously affiliated schools fit well with the ideal notion
of community by virtue of their being built on the principles of shared
understanding or common tradition, dominant goals and practices. This
implies that faith-based community schools, such as Jewish community
schools, could be well positioned to counter the perils of the global economy.
There is, however, hardly any research testing this assumption. Grace (2003)
argues that, in the growing literature of globalisation and education, the role
of religion is generally ignored. Grace (2002) challenges the ‘secret garden
of Catholic education research’ by exploring the dilemmas that Catholic
schools face in an increasingly secular and consumer-driven culture. Apple
(2001a) analyses the tense alliance of contradictory forces that have impacted
on public education in the United States and the United Kingdom, namely
the neo-liberals who are committed to markets, choice and privatisation,
the neo-conservatives who yearn for strong state control and a return
to traditional knowledge and values, the authoritarian populist religious
fundamentalists who are concerned about secularisation and want to return
to (their) God, and a faction of the professional and managerial new middle
class who may not totally agree with the other three, but are dependent on
them for professional advancement. This latter group supplies the technical
knowledge for the alliance; that is, the notions of accountability, efficiency and
management procedures. While Grace examines the impact of managerialism
and secularism on the spiritual and religious mission of Catholic schools, and
Apple examines the working of the power bloc that has increasingly turned
educational policies towards the ‘right’, this study expands the context of
inquiry by exploring the nature of the synergy between managerialism and
religion and its impact on the broader social and cultural fabric of faith-based
community schools.
Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
[...]... restructuring was an attempt 3 PROPHETS AND PROFITS to impose a narrow extremist solution to the ongoing conflicts between Judaism and Zionism, religion and democracy, and Orthodoxy and Reform Judaism.2 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za This study explores what was considered to be the ‘first stage’ of restructuring – a stage that aimed at ejecting the past, establishing new management and designing a blueprint... observing it from a position of detachment, and I had an interest in the way that the restructuring would unfold This raised a strong potential for bias, which I tried to neutralise by self-questioning, by reflecting on my motives and assumptions 9 PROPHETS AND PROFITS and disclosing them in my personal journal, by triangulation of resources and informants and by constant searching for disconfirming... initiative of the chairperson and the vice-chairperson of the Board, an anonymous entrepreneur and the Chief Rabbi, and was supported by unidentified ‘top brains and talents in the Jewish community – from business, the law, fundraising and philanthropy’.2 The CEO’s brief, arrangements and plans were not revealed, except for the fact that he would be given a free hand in all financial and educational matters... that, if the schools were to be managed like a corporate, better and sustainable structures should be put in place, and the organisation would become ‘lean and mean’ A sense of relief spread throughout the community, accompanied, however, by many concerns and rumours regarding the CEO’s secretive engagement and agenda 15 PROPHETS AND PROFITS Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Following the employment... existence and who are able to participate in this knowledge society, mainly because it demands flexibility and adaptability to unpredictable changes The unintended consequences of the knowledge society are job and pension insecurity, the collapse of welfare safety nets and the erosion of supportive communities and relationships Taking part and winning in the global economy therefore creates anxieties and. .. about the origin and nature of the restructuring process and its intended and unintended consequences, as well as the experiences of the stakeholders in this process The local expression of global forces is dependent on national and institutional conditions and realities Chapter 4 therefore provides the ideological (Judaism and Zionism), national (South African), local (Jewish community) and institutional... that exemplified the tensions between democracy and religion, Zionism and Judaism, and Orthodoxy and Reform Judaism This chapter explores the way that the process impacted on teachers and parents and the way their initial consent to the restructuring process was transformed – owing to the autocratic mode of change – into anger, frustration, lack of trust and ultimately into sheer rejection I end Chapter... created and which found expression in resistance to the middle school policy, and in the eventual departure of the CEO 13 PROPHETS AND PROFITS Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Chapter 7 explores the global, national and local conditions that supported the autocratic mode of change as described in the previous chapters It attempts to explain the support given to the restructuring from the financial and. .. community values and new managerialism is particularly pronounced in this context as, on the one hand, there are forces in the wider society that pull these schools towards democracy and the construction of a national identity based on inclusivity and tolerance, while, on the other hand, the schools are facing economic and identity crises which seem to lead to a narrowing of their borders and impel them... research process and appeared in many forms They emerged when I tried to achieve a balance between my intentions, on the one hand, to know and expose the hidden processes at work in the restructuring of the Jewish community schools and, on the other hand, to protect the privacy of individuals and the schools While the system is identified, I tried to ensure maximum confidentiality and anonymity for . www.hsrcpress.ac.za
PROPHETS AND PROFITS
4
to impose a narrow extremist solution to the ongoing conflicts between
Judaism and Zionism, religion and democracy, and Orthodoxy. like to thank my husband Tony, my children Tanya, Guy and Daniel,
and my parents, Sarah and Zwi Agassi, for their love, encouragement and
patience. I would
Ngày đăng: 15/02/2014, 16:20
Xem thêm: Tài liệu Prophets and Profits pdf, Tài liệu Prophets and Profits pdf