“Hear, Israel” The involvement of Jews in education of the deaf (1850–1880)

During the last two centuries there has been a methodological struggle over teaching the deaf. Do deaf people learn to communicate by means of gestures and signs (the “manual method”) or is it important for them to learn speech and lip-reading (the “oral method”)? In the second half of the nineteenth century, many schools for the deaf made the transition from the manual to the oral method, which the Milan conference of teachers of the deaf decided to promote in 1880. In this conversion, Jews played an important role. Yet there appears to be a clear link between their efforts and Jewish tradition, including its perception of the deaf.     

Freedom of Education and Dutch Jewish Schools in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

In the Netherlands of the mid-nineteenth century a political debate took place concerning the desirability of denominational schools. Roman-Catholics and Protestants opposed the current law of 1806, which defined the new state subsidized Dutch primary schools as denominationally neutral, but with an overall Christian identity. They wanted their own schools, in which they could teach doctrine. The new constitution of 1848 and its implementation in the Education Act of 1857 met their demands by allowing freedom of education for all denominations. Quite different was the situation of the Jews. Contrary to other denominations, Jews were supported to set up their own schools, in which doctrine was taught, even after 1817. For them, the freedom of education made a constitutional principle in 1848 meant the freedom to send their children to regular public schools. The result was the disappearance of almost all of the forty-eight authorised Jewish primary schools. In this paper we explore the motives behind these Jewish actions and their meaning in the context of political and social debates that took place in the mid-nineteenth century, motives, which were directly related to matters of emancipation, acculturation, and their desired – or unwanted – affects.     

The longitudinal impact of a job crafting intervention

This study examined the impact of a job crafting intervention based on job demands-resources (JD-R) theory. We hypothesized that the intervention would influence participants’ job crafting behaviours, as well as their job demands, job resources, and personal resources. In addition, we hypothesized a positive impact of the intervention on work engagement and self-rated job performance. The study used a quasi-experimental design with a control group. Teachers (N = 75) participated in the job crafting intervention on three occasions with 9 weeks in-between the first and second measurement, and 1 year in-between the second and third measurement. Results showed that the intervention had a significant impact on participants’ job crafting behaviours, both at time 2 and time 3. In addition, the results showed a significant increase of performance feedback, opportunities for professional development, self-efficacy, and job performance 1 year after the job crafting intervention. Participants’ levels of job demands, resilience, and work engagement did not change. We discuss the implications of these findings for JD-R theory and practice.