The Decline of the Ideal of Humanistic Education: The Ethos of Excellence in Israeli Education in the 1950s and 1960s

Abstract

This article discusses the changes that took place in the young State of Israel with regard to academic excellence in secondary education, changes that reflect the profound ideological and cultural developments in Jewish-Israeli society during that period. The question of what is desirable in secondary education was perceived by the government and education circles alike as key to the optimal training of the nation's future leadership and intelligentsia toward an exemplary Israeli society. The article points to the gradual transition in Israeli education from a long-established European approach to an American approach regarding the ideal of excellence in education. It analyzes this process as it comes to light in records of contemporary public debates over academic excellence vis-à-vis a variety of educational models for secondary schools.