Secular and Parochial Education of Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish Children in Montreal: A Study in Ethnicity

The author sets out to determine whether the type of primary school that children attend has an impact on the their level of ethnicity. He studied one hundred grade six Jewish children from the greater Montreal area, half of whom received their full education in private, parochial schools while the other half attended public secular schools. Half the children were of Ashkenazi descent and the other half were of Sephardi descent. He concludes that while the type of school the children attended did affect their level of ethnicity, parochial education did not increase the level. In fact, he found that the children who attended the secular schools had higher levels of ethnicity. Furthermore, his results indicate that parental and community factors were more important determinants of a child's ethnic identity. His results also demonstrate that the Sephardi children, despite their affinity to the Jewish people, have a less positive image of the Jewish community when compared to the city's Ashkenazi majority.

PhD dissertation

McGill University

Montreal

1988

xii-204p.

en