The Development of Children's Understanding of Jewish Identity and Culture

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Abstract
There are many similarities between anti-Semitism and other forms of ethnic and racial prejudice. Yet while British educationalists have in recent years given much attention to the impact of racism on people of Afro-Caribbean and South Asian descent, they have all but ignored the problem of anti-Semitism. There is no research in Britain on the nature of anti-Semitism in the primary school; and no published evaluation of an initiative to tackle this form of prejudice in any type of school. The data we present go some way towards rectifying this situation. The assumption underpinning the data is that no intervention to reduce prejudice can hope to succeed unless it takes account of children's existing beliefs and assumptions. Based on semi-structured interviews with eight to thirteen year olds, we explore the development of children's understanding of Jewish identity and culture and consider related issues. This research forms part of a wider study of the extent to which such understanding may vary, inter alia, with social class, gender, ethnicity and geographical location.

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