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Comments on: Democratic schools and social gaps https://www.didyoulearnanything.net/blog/2012/12/04/democratic-schools-and-social-gaps/ An archived blog about education, language, peace, and other fine things Mon, 26 Jun 2023 19:09:16 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 By: Michael https://www.didyoulearnanything.net/blog/2012/12/04/democratic-schools-and-social-gaps/#comment-1956 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 16:02:01 +0000 http://www.didyoulearnanything.net/?p=2361#comment-1956 In reply to Shoshana.

I gather that for many of them, the children were unhappy in the religious official schools and their unhappiness there also caused them to distance themselves from the religion. The one thing all Sudbury Jerusalem parents tend to have in common is caring a lot about their children’s happiness, and being able to put it above other things which deter them from sending their kids there. Over time we saw many kids from Orthodox families rediscover Judaism in a non-coercive way while at school. In addition, parents who cared a lot about their children’s religious education took it into their own hands, and I recall some of them being very pleased with the connection this formed between them and their children, as well as their children’s reconnecting to Judaism through it.

]]> By: Shoshana https://www.didyoulearnanything.net/blog/2012/12/04/democratic-schools-and-social-gaps/#comment-1954 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 09:18:30 +0000 http://www.didyoulearnanything.net/?p=2361#comment-1954 Michael, thank you for your answer. That is great to hear. I can’t really imagine how this works – since in Orthodoxy hirarchy and obedience are strong issues – and it would be wonderful to hear more about it. Maybe you have time one day to interview some orthodox people from Sudbury or to write more detailed about it.
Thank you!
Shoshana

]]> By: Michael https://www.didyoulearnanything.net/blog/2012/12/04/democratic-schools-and-social-gaps/#comment-1953 Mon, 09 Jun 2014 16:21:03 +0000 http://www.didyoulearnanything.net/?p=2361#comment-1953 In reply to Shoshana.

Actually, at least during my time at Sudbury Jerusalem, a small *majority* of the students were from orthodox and modern orthodox families.

]]> By: Shoshana https://www.didyoulearnanything.net/blog/2012/12/04/democratic-schools-and-social-gaps/#comment-1952 Mon, 09 Jun 2014 16:14:58 +0000 http://www.didyoulearnanything.net/?p=2361#comment-1952 I just wonder if it would be possible to go to a democratic school as a dati person. Not as a conservative or reform jew – for them it shouldn’t be a problem – , but if you are orthodox. Of course no Haredi kid will find his way to Sudbury, but did there ever send MO parents their children to your school?

]]> By: Michael https://www.didyoulearnanything.net/blog/2012/12/04/democratic-schools-and-social-gaps/#comment-1930 Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:23:24 +0000 http://www.didyoulearnanything.net/?p=2361#comment-1930 In reply to David.

Obviously, I agree that it is possible to get ahead with education considered unusual. The point is rather than when you are labelled with an underprivileged background, people judge you in a different way. I get the impression that this causes underprivileged groups to aspire towards social stamps of approval in the form of achievements, academic and otherwise, which are broadly and easily recognized by mainstream society as desirable and/or impressive.

Two years before we started Sudbury Jerusalem, I started going to the “experimental school”, which is far, far less radical in the freedom it gives students. (From a Sudbury perspective, it’s just a traditional school.) Nonetheless, I remember people around me talking about that school with disdain, as though allowing students freedom means giving up on any chance of their achieving anything in life. These attitudes are out there, and I think they are part of the picture.

And of course, tuition is a very important piece of the puzzle as well. Thanks for bringing that back into the discussion! :)

]]> By: David https://www.didyoulearnanything.net/blog/2012/12/04/democratic-schools-and-social-gaps/#comment-1929 Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:12:05 +0000 http://www.didyoulearnanything.net/?p=2361#comment-1929 Welcome back homeland, Michael.

Sudbury schools are not so unusual as to not attract families from disadvantaged backgrounds — or any other background.

The problem by now is Democratic schools in most cases are private schools. You have to pay tuition to attend. So far as the state “pays” for education, who wants to pay twice for sending their kids to school ?: first, to the state, and then, to the private school.

I am sure you can get ahead in society without socially-approved education. Watch Sir Ken Robinson’s “Do schools kill creativity?” http://youtu.be/fnzTHB2G6cE or the whole lecture: http://youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY (starting at 15:08), about Gillian Barbara Lynne, choreographer and dancer, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Lynne#Early_life_and_education .

Check also this (in Hebrew):
http://haifademocratic.org.il/
http://www.facebook.com/haifademofratic
http://www.atzuma.co.il/haifademocratic
http://cafe.themarker.com/topic/2559230/
http://cafe.themarker.com/topic/2848671/
http://cafe.themarker.com/topic/2892615/

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