Welcome to the June issue, the fourth issue of “Shared Citizenship”, MERCHAVIM's online magazine!
ContentsEditorial: Integrating Arab teachers within Jewish schools.
BY Mike Prashker, Founder and Director of MERCHAVIM
With his recent appointment as Education Minister, Gideon Sa'ar emphasized the fundamental importance of a teacher's quality to a student's achievements. Without a doubt, one cannot exaggerate the importance of this. Read More...
NEWS:
Articles:
- A conference held by The Walter Lebach Institute and MERCHAVIM Read More...
- Interview with Mr. Miky Navo from IsraCorps Read More...
- Current activities: Jewish-Religious education Read More...
Editorial: Integrating Arab teachers within Jewish schools
BY Mike Prashker, Founder and Director of MERCHAVIM
 With his recent appointment as Education Minister, Gideon Sa'ar emphasized the fundamental importance of a teacher's quality to a student's achievements.
Without a doubt, one cannot exaggerate the importance of this. Professor Erik Hanushek, an educational economist from Stanford University in the United States, recently published research that clearly highlighted this issue. Hanushek found that students taught by a teacher defined (at the conclusion of the research) as "very bad", taught on average about half of the material required for the school year. At the same time, students taught by a teacher defined following observation as "very good" learnt one and half year's worth of material in one school year. In Israel, at a time when we are told there is a shortage of good teachers and teachers in general, there exists a large group of unemployed teachers that positive experience has already shown is likely to address this shortage while, at the same time, helping to overcome one of the deepest splits in Israeli society. According to data presented to the Knesset's Education committee, there are currently 8,000-10,000 unemployed Arab teachers, who are citizens of the state. Surveys reveal that many of them are interested in integrating within Jewish schools, among them qualified Arabic, English, maths and science teachers, subjects which all lack Jewish teachers. The situation in which on the one hand, there is a shortage of teachers, and on the other hand, there are thousands of Arab-Israeli teachers, a portion of which are very good, who sit at home idly simply because they are Arab, does not make sense. Through the systematic absorption of Arab teachers within Jewish schools it is possible to improve student achievements while improving relations between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, whilst at the same time saving tax-payers' money- as unemployed citizens join the work force. In recent years, efforts have been led by the Education Ministry to integrate Arab teachers in tens of Jewish schools, when their high professional standards match their professional and personal desire to work in their chosen field and to contribute to the enhancement of the relationship between Jews and Arabs. Aside from the willingness of unemployed Arab teachers to work in Jewish schools and the impressive success in places in which they are already employed, the findings of a survey recently carried out indicates that the majority of Jewish parents are already receptive to this idea. At a time when the integration of Arab teachers into Jewish schools is a big opportunity for the education system, owing to their high numbers and proven contribution to sensitive Jewish-Arab relations, it is right and just to extend the trend even further: the successful integration of under-represented quality teachers from different backgrounds (such as Ethiopian immigrants and secular teachers in religious schools) provides the potential for significantly changing entire school communities.
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NEWS:
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We have been developing a new package for secondary schools - "Community Accessibility" together with the Didactic Team Ltd . And Access Israel . The package's main aim is to impart knowledge, to provide awareness and to encourage students to gain achievements in the field of accessibility for people with disabilities. The package is expected to be published towards the beginning of the coming school year.
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MERCHAVIM and Joint Tevet have recently agreed on a partnership. Tevet was established by Joint Israel and the government of Israel in order to cope with country's poverty phenomena. Joint Tevet's target groups include new-comers, people with disabilities, religious people and minorities. This body aims to integrate people in the workforce, to alter positions and to promise employment stability. The partnership with Merchavim focuses on the "Teaching Across School Streams" project- the integration of Arab teachers in Jewish state schools.
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Current Activities 1: A conference held at Tel-Aviv University
“Strategies of Diversity in the Teachers' Room to Promote Positive Inter-Group Relations"
"The class should prepare the child for how life will be, and not how someone wants his or her life to be or look like."
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Conference Participants, May 20 2009
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With these words, Prof. Heather Lotherington -Department of Multilingual Education, York University, Toronto, Canada. - summarized her view of Education in a diverse society, in a conference at Tel-Aviv University. The conference was held on 20 May 2009, by The Walter Lebach Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence through Education at Tel Aviv University and MERCHAVIM – The Institute for the Advancement of Shared Citizenship in Israel. The conference on “Strategies of Diversity in the Teachers' Room to Promote Positive Inter-Group Relations. A Case-Study: The Integration of Arab Teachers in Jewish Schools in Israel”, was a starting point for cooperation between the two organizing bodies. the integration of Arab teachers in Jewish schools is part of MERCHAVIM’s "Teaching Across School Streams" project, that aims to successfully integrate high-quality teachers from "other" and under-represented backgrounds (Ethiopian immigrants, secular-Jews in religious schools, physically-challenged, etc.) into the different school streams. We believe that this project holds the potential of significantly changing entire school communities . At a time when there is a shortage of good teachers and teachers in general in Jewish-Israeli schools, there is a large group of unemployed Arab teachers that, experience has already shown, can address this shortage and at the same time, contribute to positive attitude change (openness, acceptance, tolerance and more) towards the 'other', thereby helping to create a society that is increasingly comfortable with its diversity.
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Conference Participants
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Prof. Heather Lotherington -Department of Multilingual Education, York University, Toronto, Canada |
The conference discussed theoretical and comparative perspectives of diversity in the teachers' room, together with practical perspectives and policy considerations of integrating Arab teachers in Jewish state schools. During the session exploring practise, Ms. Naomi Weisblatt-Aviva -Chief Supervisor of Arabic-language teaching in Jewish schools in the Central School District of the Ministry of Education- who seasoned her talk with Arabic – explained that: " In the beginning it seemed exotic to have an Arab teacher in a Jewish school, but soon it became natural both for students and teachers and this experience has contributed to every body, teachers, students and the system as a whole". Ms. Liora Yermiahu - Principal of Ben Gurion Primary School, in Ramla.- emphasized this contribution by saying: "At the beginning I was fearful and suspicious of the idea myself, but all fears waned and were replaced by our teacher's success and the students’ achievements". At the same session Ms. Iman Abu Zaied – the first Arab teacher at Ben Gurion School- shared her success story and ended her talk by talking about the way children’s attitudes to diversity are formed: "I think children are like a blank sheet, and the question is who scribbles what on it, and I want to scribble first".
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| Session II – The Integration of Arab Teachers in Jewish Schools in Israel – Practical Perspectives |
In the policy session, Dr. Ibrahim Mechajnah - Department of Research, Beit Berl Teacher Training College. – explained that Merchavim's success lies in the way it avoids challenging the Ministry of Education’s preferences, but rather works with the Ministry to promote teachers’ professionalism and students’ achievements.
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Session III – The Integration of Arab Teachers in Jewish Schools in Israel – Policy Perspectives |
Mr Iman Saif - Prime Minister’s Office.- who presented employment, social and economic features of integrating Arab citizens in Israel’s public sector, reinforced the importance of the project: "The project has an important educational and multicultural aspect, which enables students to know the "other" from a completely new angle – not as a weaker “other”.
The conference, and the issue have received considerable Israeli and international exposure as well as electronic media coverage in Hebrew, Arabic and English, below:
Conference transcription
Conference_invitation
Reflections on my brief trip to Israel - Professor Heather Lotherington
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Interview with Mr. Miky Navo from IsraCorps.1. Can you tell us about yourself and how did you establish and manage Isra corps ?
My name is Miky Navo, I was born in Metspi Manof in The Galilee. I am married and a father to four kids. 12 years ago I chose to transfer from the high tech field which I have worked in as a programming engineer and a project manager into education. I took the decision after I became convinced that computing is not a satisfying career for me, and I wanted to work in a field where my personal world-view would impact the contents. Due to this decision – I studied 2 years of educational leadership in The Mandel Center - then I worked as a principal of a secondary school in The Galilee. I worked with school staff on a project at the end of which around 50% of school graduates worked as volunteers in Israeli society before army recruitment, (this was a unique project in the education system). After that I worked in Israel’s periphery at the IVN and Rashi Funds, and in this position I was asked to investigate the phenomena of social and economic inequalities in Israeli society. Then I prepared an NGO intervention model and after 3 years of work in this field, I had in fact developed, with the help of friends, a model of leadership and voluntary work in rural areas – IsraCorps.
2. What are the main activities of "IsraCorps"?
IsraCorps was established in 2004 in order to create a significant change in Israeli society using the framework of a year-long volunteering service by young high school graduates. This phenomenon in our opinion opens various opportunities for the development of personal growth and local leadership, through three basic subjects: professional volunteer work, training for leadership and education. IsraCorps recruits hundreds of 18 year old volunteers every year, mostly from the Israeli periphery- that didn't have any previous opportunity to play a role in volunteering and leadership in the country. The centre establishes unique and optimal frameworks for this activity, training and guidance of the volunteers as part of their year-long volunteer service in Israel's periphery. IsraCorps’ ethos is one that demands high standards and the taking of personal responsibility. We believe that this will make it possible to create a new reality that offers more choices for the individual and the community. This year (2008-2009) IsraCorps is training over 750 young volunteers from various backgrounds across Israeli society – Jews, Arabs, orthodox and secular from both marginalized and strong communities. All volunteers play an equal part in working for the community through different programs. Specific programs include: Eitan Youth Groups - for young people in the periphery, Achva Preparatory Program - for girls in the periphery as part of their National Service, Ofek Groups - for volunteers from the Arab Community, and the Gal Preparatory program – a pre-army program in Acre.
3. You recently invited Mr. Mike Prashker, Founder and Director of MERCHAVIM to introduce the shared citizenship model to your staff. How do you see the importance of this model for IsraCorps in particular and for Israeli society in general?
The model that Mike presented forms the basis and starting point for dialogue among different groups in Israeli society. IsraCorps reflects the social mosaic of Israeli society: Bedouins, Christians, Muslims, Druze, Caucasian, Russian, young people from marginalized communities, religious and secular. The model provides a common language of values representative of and accessible to everyone. The shared citizenship model provides a common language - presenting it to IsraCorps provided new tools to examine our paradigm and think critically about our work as a social-change organization. For instance: to what extent does IsraCorps provide equal access and opportunities to volunteers from all parts of Israeli society, and how can we expand this access etc?
4. In these current challenging times, there is increased importance on cooperation between NGO’s. How do you see the prospects for cooperation between IsraCorps and MERCHAVIM?
- Building a comprehensive model that integrates theoretical knowledge provided by MERCHAVIM with IsraCorps' volunteerism model.
- Integrating the language and core concepts of the shared citizenship model in the meetings of our volunteers.
- Integration of MERCHAVIM’s shared citizenship programming content in study days for volunteers and for IsraCorps staff, as a tool for integrating the shared citizenship idea in their work and in their daily lives.
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Current activities 2: National Religious Education
| "The question of fairness is what talks to me: it relates to the most fundamental aspects of our Jewish identity". |
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Rabbi Yuval Sherlo, Merchavim Rabbis' conference, Ramat Rachel. |
This year we have expanded our educational activities in the National Religious Education System by working in three areas
- Conferences for religious Zionist Rabbis.
- The development of study materials.
- Facilitator training.
Conferences for religious Zionist rabbis
During the year we held two conferences which were attended by 40 rabbis, at the Zuba Hotel and the Hotel at, Ramat Rachel. At the conferences we discussed: The Merchavim shared citizenship model, and its significance in a Jewish State examining practical and "Midrash" perspectives on it.Mike Prashker, founder and director of Merchavim, presented the shared citizenship model and upcoming challenges to it. Rabbi Baruch Efrati, Head of religious Zionist education at Merchavim and Rabbi Samuel Hershler, a community rabbi in Jerusalem examined the model from a religious Zionist perspective: "Shared citizenship is not just an option, but rather a religious imperativefor us to deal with and examine how a Jewish State could create a fairer atmosphere for its non-Jewish citizens as well".
The discussion was widened in the second conference. Among the conference speakers was Rabbi Yuval Sherlo who set out his perspective on the shared citizenship model: "A large proportion of attitudes to the Arab minority in Israel, stem from ignorance. When it comes to such a central issue that concerns 20% of our state, one cannot relate to the Arab minority without knowing, without a full and deep understanding of the situation In conclusion, Kamal Agbariyeh, Ajami Community Chairman in Jaffa and coordinator and facilitator at Merchavim, described his ownl experiences as an Arab- Palestinian citizen of Israel growing up in the heart of the Jewish State.
Following these two conferences, we plan to publish a collection of articles relating to the different issues discussed.
Facilitator training for shared citizenship in the religious-Zionist education system
The training was coordinated by Rabbi Baruch Efrati, and focused on understanding the the shared citizenship model and the challenges of teaching it in the Jewish-religious school system. As part of the training, a meeting was arranged with Rabbi Yuval Sherlo- Head of Petah Tikva Yeshiva and member of Zohar Organization for ModernOrhtodox Zionist Rabbis who offered his opinion on shared citizenship in a Jewish State.
The carefully selected participants (from 140 applicants) in the training program were: Rabbi Daniel Rivkin- lecturer and facilitator of the conversion program "Beit Ha'Midrash L'Yahdut", Mrs Vered Gilber- Educational Psychologist, Mrs Avital Ben-Hur- Lecturer at Talpiot College in Holon and Mrs Ruth Madar- lecturer at "Midreshet Nishmat".
Study Material Development
We are nearing completion of the development and publication of study materials for Jewish-religious high-schools.. The 10-unit teaching pack deals withthe issue of shared citizenship in the State of Israel, using the terminology and values of the State religious education system. Topics covered include: The multiplicity and fluidity of human identity,' Jewish responses to diversity, a range f social justice issues – such as wheel-chair access, the status of women, management of seep social disagreements and the transition from moral judgements to social action in Jewish thought.
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Selected Events, May 2009
13.05.2009
Final meeting of "Heritage studies in a diverse society" teacher-training.
20.05.2009
Conference held by Merchavim and Walter Lebach Institute at Tel-Aviv University: "Strategies to promote diversity in teachers-room to improve in-group relationships- case study: integration of Arab teachers in Jewish schools in Israel".
Selected Events, June- July 2009
09.06.2009
Final meeting of social coordinators and educational counselors, Arab secondary schools, Taybeh.
02.07.2009
Annual meeting, Merchavim team.
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