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In the wake of the widely publicized complaint<\/a> and disciplinary actions undertaken against a high school teacher in Kiryat Tivon who was accused of expressing “extreme leftist views,” the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)<\/strong> has sent a letter<\/a> to Education Minister Shay Piron urging him to support teachers who undertake their educational mission responsibly by engaging with topical subjects, presenting a range of opinions and viewpoints, and dealing with controversial subjects in the classroom.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the letter, Sharaf Hassan<\/strong>, Director of ACRI’s Educational Department, expressed criticisms of the educational system voiced by many in Israeli society: the diminution of the teacher’s role into that of a mere conduit of information and test-preparation; the assessment of educational efficacy mainly via grades and metrics; and most important of all, the systematic neglect of “values education”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Values education requires teachers to engage in topical and controversial matters, and as we all know, in Israel there is not a single question that is not part of a political, ideological or social controversy. The avoidance of working with values and current events is also a form of values education \u2013 although its meaning is to conform to the values of society’s hegemony. If teachers don’t feel that the classroom provides a safe space and the freedom to deal with essential questions\u2026 schools will have abandoned the vision and even the dream of being an influential factor in society.”<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Additional Materials<\/span><\/p>\n The complete letter sent to the Education Minister (Hebrew).<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the wake of the widely publicized complaint and disciplinary actions undertaken against a high school teacher in Kiryat … Read more