Reported schooling experiences of adolescent Jews attending non-Jewish secondary schools in England

Abstract

This article explores the reported schooling experiences of 28 adolescents attending non-Jewish English secondary schools who self-identified as Jews. Their reported school peer-interactions suggest Jews attending non-Jewish schools may face several challenges from members of non-Jewish peer groups, including anti-Semitism. Their reported experiences of classroom worlds, on the other hand, suggest that curricula and pedagogical methods could be perceived to exacerbate these challenges. These findings are discussed in relation to two on-going educational debates: the provision of state-funded faith schools, and the debate about the nature and purpose of the curriculum subject Religious Education in non-faith schools.

Keywords:

• Jewish identity
• identity negotiation
• secondary schooling
• anti-Semitism
• faith schools
• religious education

Acknowledgements

The larger study from which this article emerged was conducted as a UK Economic and Social Research Council funded doctorate in the University of Oxford between 2009 and 2013. The author would like to thank the Religion and Civil Society Project at the Institute for Culture and Society in the University of Navarra, Spain for supporting the completion and dissemination of this research. The author would also like to thank Ingrid Lunt, Nigel Fancourt and two anonymous referees for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.