Jewish Portal of
Teacher Education
The online resource of pedagogical and academic content on teaching and Jewish education
Section archive - Israel Education
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421 items
171
In the late twentieth century, numerous history museums abandoned the use of objects and created, instead, simulated environments that emphasized visitors’ experience and emotional engagement with the past in a manner known as ‘edutainment’. While these new museums were hailed as pedagogical institutions that encouraged diversity and critical thinking, not enough attention was given to their potential to become instruments of power, telling a one-dimensional narrative. This article is about the genesis of one such museum and its permanent exhibition: the Palmach Museum in Tel-Aviv, inaugurated in 2000, and devoted to the history of the eponymous Jewish paramilitary organization that was active between 1941–48.
Published: 2015
Updated: Aug. 19, 2015
172
August 5, 2015 marks the end of the 2015 Birthright Israel Excel Fellowship Program, a two-month internship program for American and Canadian college students that aims to build lasting relationships for the participants with Israel. The program is a branch of Taglit-Birthright, which sponsors free educational 10-day trips to Israel. The fellowship program – called Birthright Excel – is designed for sophomores, juniors and seniors in American and Canadian universities who want internships in the business and technology sectors.
Published: 2015
Updated: Aug. 09, 2015
173
Seventy young teachers from across North America are working with 2,500 underprivileged Israeli elementary school students to boost the students’ English skills. Meanwhile, the visiting teachers are getting a rare look behind the headlines of Israeli life. It’s all part of a novel immersive educational experience called TALMA, the Israel Program for Excellence in English, an English-immersion program for Israeli elementary schoolchildren. Operating for three weeks in July, TALMA provides a meaningful opportunity for schoolchildren who often do not have worthwhile and affordable educational options during the two-month summer vacation. In the long run, these students can leverage their enhanced English not only to bolster their educational achievement in high school and university, but also to land better jobs in the global economy.
Published: 2015
Updated: Aug. 02, 2015
174
If thousands of today’s Jewish students had experienced Israel before coming to campus, college life would be very different. With Israel travel in teen years, more will check out Shabbat meals, Jewish studies and other campus-based Jewish growth experiences. They’ll also know how to begin to respond to the numerous challenges to Israel engagement they’ll experience. The teen Israel experience can bend the trend lines, dramatically increasing the numbers involved in Jewish life on campus and beyond. The time to provide low-cost teen trips to Israel is now. The time to invest in more types of quality teen Israel trips, and advocating that every Jewish teenager celebrates this milestone event in their life journey has arrived. As a community, we haven’t done all that well preparing our children for freshmen orientation this fall. Let’s do better for their siblings in 2016.
Published: 2015
Updated: Jul. 15, 2015
175
Dr. Tova Perlmutter, lecturer and pedagogical tutor in Jewish History at Levinsky Teachers College and staff member of MOFET International's Jewish Teacher Educator Community, shares the rationale and approach of the MOFET Jewish Leadership Seminars in Israel. Every year tens of educators and educational administrators participate in seminars lead by Tova, enriching their professional & personal identities and skills.
Published: 2015
Updated: Jun. 17, 2015
176
A new approach to Israel education has emerged to counteract what has been a tendency to romanticize Israel by avoiding criticism; it presumes that Israel engagement has much to offer a meaningful Jewish identity, but only when encountered critically, taking into account Israel’s many complexities. However, prevailing scholarly trends may not provide a clear stance on which to base critique and academic criticism may raise hard questions about the very idea of a Jewish and democratic state. This article addresses these concerns by offering a conceptual framework for scholarly study of Israel called “Mature Zionism” in which to ground a critical engagement with Israel that is genuinely educational.
Published: 2015
Updated: Jun. 10, 2015
177
Naming a discipline is a key component in both the shaping and unpacking of its development. Still, little attention has been devoted to studying the ways in which this process has influenced Israel Education. Based on a long-term ethnographic study, this article presents Israel Education name choices and discusses the manner in which this naming unfolds and affects the development of this field. I claim that this process symbolizes a development beyond the classroom environment; reflects sociocultural and political changes in Israel-Diaspora relations; and exposes conceptual shifts in Israel pedagogy and transforms the place of Israel in Diaspora Jewish education.
Published: 2015
Updated: Jun. 10, 2015
178
Travel to Israel has been a central feature of Jewish and Zionist education yet it is time for this educational travel to be examined in the context of current cultural trends of travel and transnational experiences. The Jewish educational community has not yet internalized the impact of global trends on the field of travel to Israel from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives. This article lays out the underlying assumptions of Jewish travel to Israel in the context of globalization and related cultural developments. The article refers primarily to the North American Jewish community, the largest demographic source of travelers.
Published: 2015
Updated: Jun. 10, 2015
179
In this article I investigate how one group of teachers deliberated about Israel education with the intention to “modify the myth” as they engaged in curriculum reform. I begin from the idea that curriculum development should be an in-house endeavor that encourages faculty to embrace their roles as curricular decision-makers. Participants readily shared insights and suggestions from personal experiences and practices and explored goal language for teaching a critical Israel. However, moving from individual reflection to practical decision-making proved complicated due to factors stemming from personal and professional identities, school structure and culture. I consider implications for harnessing teacher potential as Israel education curriculum developers.
Published: 2015
Updated: Jun. 10, 2015
180
Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Shaliach has embodied at least one aspect of the tangible expression of the symbiotic relationship between Israel and its Diasporas. This article discusses the educational Shaliach sent from Israel to the Jewish Diaspora in Australia, and is based on a research study carried out between 2006 and 2009 using a qualitative methodology. Through in-depth interviews with 20 Shlichim, their experience was examined before departure, during their mission in Australia, and after their return back to Israel. This article focuses on one aspect that was examined: the educational message of the Shlichim and the clarity of their mission within the local Jewish community.
Published: 2015
Updated: Jun. 10, 2015