Kibbutz Education: A Sociological Account (original) (raw)
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Kibbutz Education: Implications for Nurturing Children From Low-Income Families
2004
A natural experiment in education on Israeli kibbutzim, where investment in human capital is equal for all children, allows us to differentiate between the effect on children’s grades of genetics and home environment on the one hand and of material resources invested in education on the other hand. In addition, comparing the educational achievements we find no difference among children whose parents have more than 12 years of schooling. However, the average grade of children whose parents have 12 years of schooling or less in kibbutzim is 0.25 of a standard deviation higher than in cities. This difference can be attributed to the higher investment in human capital in kibbutzim, implying that more public resources should be allocated to the education of children from low-income families. 1.
1998
The lives of kibbutz young adults (aged 18-32) were examined in nine age cohorts, born between 1938 and 1962. There were significant differences in the behavior of the senior cohorts (born 1938 to 1947) and the junior cohorts (born 1953 to 1962). Participation in work on the kibbutz declined sharply, as there was a substantial increase in those who opted for a year off; and higher education became more widespread and prolonged while marriage and childbirth were delayed. These differences were seen as reflecting two distinct social generations of kibbutz youth that emerged within a relatively short span of time. One generation was born before the establishment of the state of Israel and reached adulthood before the Six-Day War (1967), and the other was born after the establishment of the state, reaching adulthood between 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The cohort born in 1950, which completed high school in 1968, distinguishes between the two generations. The stronger moratorial orientation of the younger cohorts was explained by the worldwide cultural surge of the youthful life style, the aspiration toward normalcy in Israeli society, and increasing individualism in the kibbutz.
In a practical mood: Studying for a profession in the changing kibbutz
Higher Education, 2004
The influence of recent social and economicchanges in the Israeli kibbutz on the prolongedstage of youth was examined with respect tohigher education. The young people on thekibbutz of the late 1990s appear lessmoratorial and more instrumental about theirfuture and commence higher education earlierthan in previous age cohorts. When starting tostudy, their educational and professionalprospects are crystalized as those of thenon-kibbutz student. Most of them opt foracademic, degree-granting studies, but a higherpercentage than among the general populationprefer vocation-oriented colleges to theresearch oriented universities. In choosingfields of study, they prefer more appliedstudies like engineering, social services andpractical arts and are less likely to choosesciences and the humanities. De-communalizationand economic instability of the kibbutz,inadequate preparation in kibbutz high schoolsfor the competitive admission to theuniversities, exposure to a restricted range ofoccupations during adolescence, and lack of acultural tradition supportive of elitiststudies may explain this practical mood, moresalient among kibbutz women.
Early Child Development and Care, 2023
The kindergarten teachers of the Religious Kibbutz movement (RK) as a unique group are connected both to the educational approaches of the kindergartens in the general Kibbutz Movement and the state religious kindergartens. A qualitative study included semi-structured interviews with 15 RK kindergarten teachers in order to explore their self-identity. The identity of the RK kindergarten was designed to be an encounter between four axes: the connection to Jewish tradition, the kibbutz community, nature and agriculture, and a constructivist approach. The study findings brought to light the RK kindergarten teachers’ unique educational approach, which includes both similarities and differences with the general kibbutz movement kindergartens and the state religious kindergartens. The study contributes to highlighting a specific group of early childhood (EC) educators, reflecting both the diverse mosaic of EC educational approaches among different groups in Israel and the potential that these groups have for enriching each other.
The Experiment That did not Fail: Image and Reality in the Israeli Kibbutz
International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1990
The kibbutzim of Israel show the world that communal living can be successful, and many observers have asked the questions: Can this success be repeated elsewhere? What are its lessons for other societies? In sociology, the validity and importance of comparative study and the intrinsic interest of the kibbutz way of life cannot be denied.
Higher Education, 2004
The influence of recent social and economic changes in the Israeli kibbutz on the prolonged stage of youth was examined with respect to higher education. The young people on the kibbutz of the late 1990s appear less moratorial and more instrumental about their future and commence higher education earlier than in previous age cohorts. When starting to study, their educational and professional prospects are crystalized as those of the non-kibbutz student. Most of them opt for academic, degree-granting studies, but a higher percentage than among the general population prefer vocation-oriented colleges to the research oriented universities. In choosing fields of study, they prefer more applied studies like engineering, social services and practical arts and are less likely to choose sciences and the humanities. De-communalization and economic instability of the kibbutz, inadequate preparation in kibbutz high schools for the competitive admission to the universities, exposure to a restricted range of occupations during adolescence, and lack of a cultural tradition supportive of elitist studies may explain this practical mood, more salient among kibbutz women.
ACADEMIC CAPITAL OR SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS? A Critique of Studies of Kibbutz Stratification
Journal of Anthropological Research 61(3): 357-380, 2005
Why have six decades of kibbutz studies failed to discover its complex stratification? This curious blindness is explained by the dominance of a scientific coalition in the study of this complex organizational field. Kibbutz uniqueness allowed this coalition perpetuating a series of partial truisms, including a lack of stratification. Its critics exposed some stratification, but evaded its main and missed its true extent. The author’s desire to solve his own society’s problems, led him to engage in a ‘long effort applied to oneself which [converted]... one’s whole view of... the social world’ (Bourdieu, 1990:16), and this view exposed the true extent of stratification. Thus, his motivation to reform the kibbutz led to scientific progress which pure academic research did not achieve, supporting Whyte’s (1992) assertion social scientists must seek social theories for action, not for pure knowl-edge.