“The Elephant in the Room Is the Role Model”

School attendance, which has become one of childhood’s defining experiences, not only exposes children to academic knowledge and skills but also to a “parallel” curriculum that helps to socialize the young by exposing them to a broad set of cultural values and expectations. This chapter examines the informal socialization that takes place in ultra-Orthodox Jewish classrooms as teachers seek to foster and internalize community identity and gender expectations in their students. It analyzes how female teachers manage their pregnancy and convey lessons to their female students in sexual modesty, maternity, and gender hierarchy.