Dialogue Workshops in the Field of Education

The Adam Institute staff facilitated four workshops based The Betzavta Method – Transforming Conflicts into Dilemmas, which helps participants examine their group process through democratic principles and exploring conflicts between partners in a democratic society, while transforming them into internal dilemmas that serve as a catalyst for formulating an equitable and fair solution. This method is the foundation for every democracy and peace education program offered by the Adam Institute.

“The Betzavta Method – Transforming Conflicts into Dilemmas”

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The Kerem staff facilitated two workshops. The Teaching and Learning Center focuses on the professional development of teachers within the Kerem Institute by forming professional communities of learning. These aim to examine and improve the teachers’ work. In the context of the conference, the center runs three programs of interest: The Multi-Cultural Teacher’s Lounge, which includes the Dove’s Wings program for the integration of Ethiopian-born teachers, while Teachers Leading the Way operates in two facets: First, Jewish Hebrew teachers who work in east Jerusalem schools. Second, a joint training program for Jewish and Arab teachers, who will eventually become pedagogical advisors and facilitators for various city-based groups. Teachers Leading the Way: Joint Jewish-Arab professional development and training. (Hebrew-Arabic, simultaneous translation). […]

Multi-Cultural Education and Teacher Training

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Facilitated Myriam Darmoni Sharvit, Head of Civics, Civil Education, Joint Living and Social Education, and Mazen Faraj, facilitator. This workshop provided a taste of how Jewish and Arab schools study together, using the narrative approach and drawing upon Gordon Allport‘s four conditions: equal status, institutional support, common goals, and ongoing close contact. This model was developed in Northern Ireland in an attempt to overcome the turbulent, violent history between the Catholic and Protestant communities. It has has been adapted locally, and continues to be adapted according to need. For example, in Jerusalem the training includes teachers from different sectors becoming closely acquainted (Arab, public religious, public, and ultra-Orthodox), which leads to a deeper understanding of identities, majority-minority relations, and inequality. […]

The Irish Model for Joint Studies

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Facilitated by Irena Manelis, Director, and Shlomit Shani, Counselor. This school operates within the confines of the ALYN hospital, which is a medical-rehabilitative institution serving children whose special needs require medical assistance before they can integrate into society. The school community comprises children and staff from all sectors, including Arabs, Jews of varying religious practice, new immigrants, and more. The school operates on a multi-cultural approach, which applies to both staff and patients. The workshop offered a glimpse into the creation of a multi-cultural educational staff, by creating a safe space to share feelings and thoughts, while encouraging open dialogue.

A Multicultural Staff

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Facilitated by Samer Atamneh, Director, Education Department. This workshop presented the model called Mantiqatna-HaEzor Shelanu (“Our Region” in Arabic and Hebrew), which creates Jewish-Arab partnerships based on geographic proximity that bridge gaps between tension-ridden communities, while creating an alternative characterized by equality and solidarity. The workshop explored ways to create change and build partnerships between Arabs and Jews, and surveyed the available and effective tools for creating change in a heterogeneous region. The model’s main tenets include: Addressing regional topics as a basis for learning and dialogue, to foster joint regional living. Building stable working relationships between schools, which rely on regional infrastructure supported by the heads of regional councils and directors of education departments. Joint learning of the standard […]

Joint Regional Living

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Facilitated by Laurence Rosengart and Enas Zmiro, regional communications guidance counselors, in collaboration with the Abraham Fund.   The model of joint learning is part of the Abraham Fund’s vision to create an egalitarian, multi-cultural Israeli society, in which the Arab and Jewish citizens foster joint living from an early age, at school and outside of school, by getting to know each other, bridging gaps, and overcoming cultural differences through activities of joint interest and cross-border dialogue. To create a society in which both official languages – Hebrew and Arabic – are taught, spoken, and visible, as an expression of their respective cultures and populations, while publicly legitimizing the languages and their speakers. The workshop demonstrated how Jewish and Arab […]

Jewish and Arab students jointly studying for the media and film ...

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Facilitated by Haneen Hussein and Guy Aloni, history teachers at the school. Two teachers, two narratives, one class. Participants experienced a sample history lesson, in which 9th grade students learn about the “other’s” historical narrative. The facilitators demonstrated how narrative thinking can be a tool for analyzing reality and addressing conflict, by learning about other viewpoints and coming to accept that reality is too complex for there to be an absolute truth. By breaking down the dichotomies of good vs. bad and us vs. them, participants learn to feel empathy and respect towards the “other.” All school activities are rooted in language equality – beyond facilitating communication, bilingualism allows individuals to express their own culture. The school places Hebrew and […]

Narratives in Teaching History

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Facilitated by Sarah Kala-Meir, CEO, and Nadav Schwartz, Community and Educational Coordinator. For two decades, the Jerusalem Open House (JOH) has been serving the city’s LGBT community and its allies, offering services such as education, social and medical services, youth and teen groups, and various community events, including the Pride and Tolerance Parade. The JOH aspires to foster open and deep discourse and cooperative ventures with the city’s various sectors, cultures, and religions that share the vision of acceptance and peaceful coexistence. To this end, the JOH works with various other groups and governmental agencies. The workshop comprised tolerance training that the JOH conducts in schools and other educational institutions throughout the city. What conflicts emerge between the staff and […]

Teaching Tolerance

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