Israel’s Education Minister: Schools Can Discuss Judicial Overhaul in Class
At the instruction of Education Minister Yoav Kisch, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, the ministry added that teachers would not be allowed to express their personal opinions in class, and only serve as moderators during class discussions with their students. This conflicts with a memo distributed earlier by the ministry’s director-general who allowed teachers to express their opinions.
A memo from the director-general disseminated in 2016 asked teachers to encourage class discussions of public matters and political disputes, and to express their own opinions regarding these issues. “As part of the expression of political opinions in class, a teacher can also take a stand and criticize in a balanced manner the Knesset and its committees, on condition that they express this in a non-insulting or non-hurtful manner,” says the memo.
The guideline adds that “the teacher is responsible for the way the discussion is conducted and for its aims. As the ones leading the discussion, teachers can express their personal opinions and prefer one position over another, while remaining aware of their status, setting a personal example of respectful conduct without imposing their positions on their pupils, allowing them to use critical thinking (addressed to themselves as well), while giving voice to diverse opinions and positions.”
Up until now, the ministry has followed an undeclared policy which prevented any class discussions of the judicial overhaul and its implications. The new policy has been inspired by local initiatives across the country, which started without waiting for instructions from the ministry. It is also an attempt by the government to calm tensions after passing the law repealing the use of reasonableness as a judicial review tool, and ahead of the approaching municipal elections.
Kisch has now instructed professionals in his ministry to formulate guidelines for discussing social polarization, adjusted to every age group. The ministry is expected to disseminate instructions for facilitating discussion circles in class, with an emphasis on listening to and acknowledging the diversity of opinions. Kisch also told the ministry to add topics such as “social cohesion” and “leadership under crisis situations” to the curriculum.
In recent months, several local initiatives have arisen dealing with the political crisis in classrooms. The most prominent one is in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. The municipality independently announced that city schools would devote the opening of the school year to discussions about the social rift and its social and emotional aspects. The study of democracy, the judiciary and secular Judaism will also be fortified in the city’s school network.
The head of Tel Aviv’s Education Department, Shirley Rimon Bracha, sent a message to teachers saying that the “relevance of the school system is being put to the test.”
“Deciding how disengaged we are from what’s happening outside school and to what extent we will teach children within the context of their lives and that of the state. For us, there is no question. School is a part of life, and learning is a part of the wider context of reality,” she wrote.
The expected guidelines set by the ministry come on top of Kisch’s efforts to calm emotions within the education system. Last week, he declared that he would maintain the academic freedom of universities after sharply assailing the heads of universities last May.
In response to Kisch’s demand that teachers not express their personal positions regarding the overhaul in class, members of a protest group consisting of teachers who oppose the judicial overhaul said that according to the director-general’s memo, teachers can express their positions. “It’s regrettable that the Education Minister is not familiar with the law regarding state schools and with the principles of democracy,” they said. “No teacher waits to receive an annual topic laid down by the minister,” they said. “We’ve chosen to place the issue of democracy at the center. We won’t allow this country to become a dictatorship.”
The forum of education for human rights at the Association of Civil Rights in Israel noted that “teaching political awareness is one of the main components in the formation of students’ intellectual curiosity, independent thinking and initiative. We will continue to teach democracy as educators, using any possible subject, in history, civics, bible, literature, and art lessons, and certainly in education classes and during social activities. This is our right and our obligation, and this is what we’ll do.”
Lior Dattel