Multicultural Dialogue of Jewish and Arab Education Students

Multicultural Dialogue of Jewish and Arab Education Students along and together with Education Students from other countries Ruth Bar-Sinai David Yellin Academic College of Education

n the David Yellin Academic College of Education in Jerusalem Studying 20% Arabs Separate tracks and courses An opportunity for a significant meeting with “the other”, a partner who shares both the “home” and the profession

Multi-Cultural International Seminar Mixed group with an equal number of Arabs and Jews

The Dialogue in the group is along and together with Education Students from other countries conflicts in multi-culturalmulti-national issues

Each country has a different focus Norway Vestfold College Israeli- Palestinian conflict The Netherland Inholland university Combining the Muslims into the educational system Belfast- Northern Irleand Protestant -Stranmillis University College Catholic- St. mary’s university college The Protestant- Catholic conflict

The Seminar is non-compulsory Individual and Group Selection 5 Jews 5 Arabs (Muslim and Christians) Co-facilitating (Arab and Jew) In Israel and the partnering country Only in Israel – with Norway since 2004 In the two countries – with The Netherland since 2008 This year – the third time with Northern Ireland

The Program Rational The meeting with the European students who deal with questions of identity, living in a conflict, multicultural education and the impact of the peace agreement on the daily life (Belfast), use as a catalist for the enlarging and digging deeply into the dialogue and it’s topics

The Jew and the Arab talk “via their partners”, the Protestant and the Catholic

Searching for the similarities in the differences The differences in the similarities The Human Being “The place” Conglomerate of Identities Integral part of the wholeness of the conglomerate of Identities

Why have a dialogue out of your own country? *Allow the participants to get away from their collective-political-cultural identity that embraces them, far away from their family, friends, the country and the “official flag” that they are supposed to hoist *Disconnecting from their usual life-frame, pushes them into self-analysis and self-clarification of the questions *The seminar members are the partners for the experience and the dialogue

*Living together enable to see how similar we are, and also to conduct dialogues on the conflicts, throughout the day *The daily shared group life strengthens friendships and invites a deep, daily and on-going informal dialogue

The shared life starts in the preparation and building the “common and safe space”, and gets more powerful upon leaving the country

*Enlarging the Dialogue **Realizing the conflicts and multi-culturalnational and education issues exist in other places **Mutual visits in sensitive places

Exhibitions in Amsterdam The museum in the Jewish ghetto East-Jerusalem children’s dreams

**Meeting key-people **projection and insights from “the other case” **Presenting a model of a mixed group, unlike the presentation in the media

**School’s visits Special Educational programs Conflicts in the Educational System

**Visits in Prayer Houses

Deep Dialogue in a safe environment, which is detached from the daily life Deep discussions that can’t take place in Israel Mainly continuous non-formal dialogue Workshops Dialogue * Discussing a major planned topic * Discussing & processing issues that evoked by the events

The major parts of the program which runs in both countries in close time, are identical The students join the program in their own country Continuing and deepening the formal and non-formal dialogue

The preparation Building the group *The “common home” - college “The Place” *Student’s homes Nes Amim Based on the common profession (Teaching and educational vision) Includes widening the knowledge about the multiidentities of the participants (more then their collective national identity) and the life in a multi-cultural society

Creating the common and safe space- which enables creation of inter-personal dynamic, that occurs at various meeting points between the multi identities which present in different forms

Learning about the partner country focusing on the conflict Starting the connection via the internet Personal voyage diary

Summary of the seminar Describing the personal learning process Widening the circles: family, friends, class mates, new students Creating a visual exhibition for the whole college community Presenting the seminar in different forums including the college staff

Participating in the seminar led to these processes 1. In light of receiving the knowledge and having a dialogue with “the other”, there was a personal and group clarifying of the essence and the different modes of the conglomerate of identities. It occurred while checking personal and group’s opinions, ideas and beliefs.

2. Living together and clarifying the identity conglomerate, enabled deep learning of the variety of the college’s students, especially those with the other nationality. They developed tolerance and learning and working abilities in a mixed group of Arabs and Jews, creating a mutual team

3. Deeper understanding on their own conglomerate of identities , enabled the understanding of their pupils’ conglomerate of identities which led to a better understanding and solving of the multicultural conflictual issues at school

4. Improving the students’ quality of teaching, enriching their philosophy of education and their values, right from starting to teach as students and especially when they become teachers and educators (implying ideas from the school’s visits)

5. Learning from the successes and failures in the partner-country’s conflict. 6. These processes empowered the students and projected on the mutual lives of all the group’s members at the college, and widens to other circles of these groups to all communal life of the college (everyone sees the religious Muslim and Jewish students who embrace each other in the corridor) and also on the schools’ communities where the group’s alumni teach.

7. The friendships among the group members will continue between some of them, but will have to stand firm during the many crisis that our life in Israel bring (calls after a terror attack or during the war in Gaza war) 8. The seminar’s alumni are joining the dialogue workshops with the students who come to the college from all over the world

Thank you