Problems Posed by Collective Education

Abstract

A description of child rearing practices and education in the Kibbutz may be of interest in itself. We have presented the material here because the Kibbutz setting serves as a “laboratory” for testing many generalizations and hypotheses concerning child rearing and the relationship of early childhood experience to later personality development. Collective education affords us the opportunity to examine some of our notions that stem primarily from data obtained from the nuclear family of Western society. Many of our principles and conclusions about child rearing are probably culture bound, yet their universal applicability is almost invariably implied. In this chapter we shall see what some of the principles and ideas, facts and generalizations are that may be questioned in the light of the Kibbutz experience. In subsequent chapters we will attempt to deal systematically with a number of the crucial issues we are about to stir up.