'The Jews Are Just Like Any Other Human Being.’ Cover Image

'The Jews Are Just Like Any Other Human Being.’
'The Jews Are Just Like Any Other Human Being.’

An Attempt to Measure the Impact of Informal Education on Teenagers’ Views of Intergroup Tolerance

Author(s): Bori Simonovits, Ráchel Surányi
Subject(s): Ethnic Minorities Studies
Published by: MTA Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont Kisebbsegkutató Intézet
Keywords: informal education; inter-group tolerance; controlled field experiment; mixed methods

Summary/Abstract: Our paper presents the results of a study which was conducted between 2016 and 2019 in a high school in Budapest. The research attempted to measure the impact of the Haver Foundation’s activities on high-school students. The Foundation implements activities about Jewish identity, thus we intended to see whether the different activities of the Foundation changed the attitudes of high-school students, and whether they affected the formers’ level of knowledge and the associations they make with Jews. In line with the sensitivity and complexity of the research topic, and in order to create the broadest analytical framework, we followed several classes in a longitudinal setting by triangulating our methods. Results confirm the importance of these activities, especially with regard to the increase in the level of knowledge about Jews and Judaism. They also indicate that there is a need for such informal settings in high-school education. However, more extensive research needs to be carried out to obtain more accurate results about the reduction of prejudices.

  • Issue Year: 5/2019
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 79-109
  • Page Count: 31
  • Language: English