Visions of Israeli education that respond to conflicts that lay between the traditions of Zionism, Judaism and Western Democratic Humanism:
In this area, VU focused on the vision of Mordecai Shalev as reflected in his master curriculum Galut U’Geulah and published Safa Lenemanim: Machshavot al HaMasoret or Language of the Faithful: Thoughts on Tradition, an anthology of articles authored by Dr. Meir Buzaglo that posit a traditionalist response to these conflicts. VU also developed three field demonstrations of visions of Israeli education in this area:
• Milat Hashavua: Tarbut Ivrit Lagil Harach or Weekly Word from the Bible: Hebrew Culture for Israeli Early Childhood Education applies the ideas of Chaim Nachman Bialik and Yehezkel Kaufmann to contemporary kindergarten education. This curriculum was developed with VU’s Daphna Yizrael in 20 kindergartens all over the country and has been taken over by the TALI Foundation for its system of 100 kindergartens. VU will be publishing a first edition of the curriculum in the fall of 2009.
• Limmud Halimmud or Learning Learning is a handbook for leaders of pluralistic adult education study groups developed in collaboration with the leadership of Hamidrasha Center for Jewish Renewal in Israel. Situated at the Oranim College in the Galilee, Hamidrasha’s vision extends the founding ethos of Israel’s labor movement into the field of textual study and cultural practice. This vision is reflected in the handbook, which, being the first of its kind in Israel, was presented and distributed at the recent conference for Batei Midrash programs in Israel.
• Meachorai Hakelaim shel Horut Yisraelit: Chagim U’tekasim or Behind the curtains of Israeli Parenting: Holidays and Rituals is a monograph that was written by Yael Bar Lev based on a field experiment with home schooling parents in Rosh Pinna in the upper Galillee. The article makes the case for developing programs and pedagogies that encourage and support Israeli parents to develop their own visions of education and to implement them at their homes.
