​Project Summary

The project aims to reduce hostility by creating an across-the-board program of teacher trainings to instill values of shared society and build capacity to change the prevalent discourse in schools and classrooms. Teachers, as role models and pace setters for the next generation who can spearhead change in society, are the key actors in this project. To reach as diverse a population as possible, Givat Haviva employs a strategy of creating and implementing these trainings over a range of teaching arenas – new teacher trainees, veteran teachers, teachers in informal education, and cross-sector teachers.  

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The first course offers Shared Society Training for Veteran Teachers, delivering capacity building while also creating a support network for existing teachers to apply the skills and attitudes they acquire in their schools and classrooms. Seven courses were carried out in 2022, and training was recognized by the Ministry of Education for Continuing Education Credits.

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The second course trained 10 Jewish and 10 new Arab educators in the non-formal sector, following which they will have opportunities to practice and hone their skills in Jewish-Arab encounters in 2023 in the 60-hour Shared Society Training for Facilitators.  

 

Objectives

​Increase familiarity with professionals in the field of education who are in geographical proximity:

• Cultural familiarity with the “other’s” culture

• Familiarity with topics that concern the “other”

• Familiarity with professional issues that concern the other side

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Increase knowledge of education for a shared society:

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• To see Shared Society as a field in itself. It is currently a field that is being researched and developed all over the world. Even countries that are not in conflict and in countries that have immigrants.

• To give a global perspective - to understand the global context and the value Shared Society education can bring to the world.

• To understand the field of Shared Society is evolving, and there is no one approach to this work and there aren’t concrete answers to the best way to cultivate a Shared Society in the classroom. Teachers can influence education for a Shared Society, by discussing and creatively engaging with current issues.

 

Develop the ability to have a dialogical and inclusive discussion on sensitive political and social issues:

• Engage in respectful discussions with their peers and colleagues.

• Facililtate respectful discussions in their classrooms

• Communicate the importance of Shared Society work and instill Shared Society values in their students

 

Towards the future

The course is a significant milestone on the way to establishing a shared society. The course created a meeting point between the societies through the actual meeting between the participants themselves. In addition, facilitators were trained to guide emotionally and politically charged encounters.