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Teacher Education
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Search results for: Ginsparg Klein Leslie
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Prior to World War I, traditional Jewish parents in Eastern Europe provided their daughters with, at the very most, a few years of formal religious education. If girls received any schooling beyond that, it would be at a secular institution; it was common, in fact, even for prominent Orthodox rabbis to send their daughters to secular schools. This all changed thanks to a Galician Jew named Sarah Schenirer, who founded a network of girls’ schools—known as Bais Yaakov—that grew rapidly in the 1920 and 30s; today, most ḥaredi girls attend Bais Yaakov institutions. Schenirer has since become a hero in ultra-Orthodox circles. But the popular version of her story muddles some key details.
Published: 2017
Updated: Aug. 30, 2017
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For American Orthodox Jewish girls, Bais Yaakov schools became the primary location of socialization. School administrators clearly articulated curricular learning as secondary to the primary goal of socializing girls to embrace Orthodox Jewish roles and observances. In the 1960s–1980s, disturbed by new trends in society, school leaders imposed new rules and policies, redefining proper Orthodox girlhood. They emphasized modest dress, and restricted coed fraternization and popular culture. Girls engaged in this socialization process and expressed agency in different ways. This resulted in the creation of a hybrid American Orthodox youth culture. While at times they resisted, ultimately girls accepted the values and observances school leaders advanced.
Published: 2016
Updated: Mar. 30, 2016