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Interview With Ms. Daphna Gruber
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Date Published:
7/16/2008
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Last Updated:
11/3/2008
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Category:
The Educational Program
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To mark the end of the 2007-2008 school year, we met with Ms. Daphna Gruber, head of IDI's Educational Program, to sum up the progress that has been made and the challenges that lie ahead.
Q: What does the Educational Program mean to you?
A: To me, personally, the Educational Program makes it possible to inculcate schools with IDI's democratic vision, which is based on the belief that if we wish to live in a better, more just and more democratic society, we must invest more to deepen knowledge about democracy and democratic processes in schools. One of the very important issues we have been working on is that of active citizenship: activities that are clearly related to the curriculum and more directly teach students about democratic values such as equality, promoting underprivileged social groups and human rights. I believe that the Israel Democracy Institute, as an institute with a significant social and public charge of promoting democracy in Israel, is committed to active involvement in this field. The Institutes' publications are, in my eyes, a brimming treasure that can easily be translated into wonderful teaching material for homeroom and Social Studies teachers. They must be simplified, made more accessible, clearer and pedagogic. One of the tasks I took upon myself from the start is to make IDI's materials more interesting and more relevant to students. One of the main issues social studies teachers must deal with is that the subject they teach is assigned only one matriculation unit, and despite all their good intentions, they do not have a real opportunity to go into detail or raise dilemmas. When we teach deomcracy in the context of our projects, the children not only take more interest, they enjoy it. They begin to read newspapers and to listen to the radio, which they had never thought of doing before. I think it is very important to adapt IDI's general message to Israeli society, to the field of education, to daily life and to students.
Q: One of the Educational Programs main projects is "Living Democracy." What exactly is "Living Democracy"?
A: In the earlier years, we focused on broader programs – countrywide and countywide – in which we coordinated our work with teams of leading teachers and principals. They studied with us and then used our curriculum in their schools. The schools that we closely guided and instructed serve as a working model that I would be glad to see implemented in other schools. When the Rashi Fund began working in cooperation with us, it was a new challenge for me and for the Education Program to attempt to intervene at the local level and to build a curriculum for students of all ages from 1st through 12th grade. This is what led to the Living Democracy Project. Living Democracy is not just a "dry" academic subject that students study in school. It is an educational process in which the students learn democratic concepts and values in school in a spiral process, advancing to a higher level year after year in every aspect, and which instills the skills and knowledge of active citizenship and creates a unique school environment – this is the reason we chose the name "Living Democracy".
When a student wishes to initiate an activity in the locality, he or she turns to the mayor, who in turn listens to what the student has to say and agrees to make some kind of change in class, at home, or in the locality; when the student gets encouraging feedback from his or her parents and educators, he or she experience the unique thrill of civil contribution. Over the years, the child is the same child and if we see him or her through the process of maturing, he or she will be able to acquire more and more as the years go by, until it becomes a way of life. In addition, we can feel something forming in the locality – something in the language, terminology, and democratic literacy. The processes the school goes through were defined by us together with the leading team, the municipal steering committee – which includes principals, coordinators, the director of the department of education, and the mayor. The leading values that we chose have become like a lighthouse showing the way for activities and projects the locality wishes to promote.
Q: Living Democracy was active in three localities over the past year: Tamra, Horfeish, and Netivot. What was it like to be working with three localities that are so different from each other?
A: Our choice was definitely an interesting one, and as far as I'm concerned each municipality is beautiful in its own way – it’s like going on some different journey with a group from Israeli society, an extremely challenging journey which may be difficult at times. The three municipalities are traditional communities, to which democracy does not come naturally. Netivot is a traditional Jewish city; Tamra is Muslim with a large traditional population; and Horfeish is a traditional Druze village. It was important for us to identify a local leader – the mayor, principals, or one leading school that could act as a driving force. We were looking for principals who believed in the project, were committed and ready for an adventure, and yet, at the same time, knew when to pause and check for difficulties and dilemmas and work out solutions together. Another issue that contributed to the success of the program was that we didn’t start out with one single model or a closed mindset. We didn't know what we were up against, and therefore we only set very general guidelines. We gave the professional support necessary to set the project on its way, but it was very important for us that they take over very quickly. Once they fell in love with the program, they were in fact the ones that made it significant. In Netivot, for example, most of the schools are religious so we stressed the importance of using religious instructors, because we thought it was very important to be sensitive to their needs, and be flexible in the implementation of the project – so long as its running successfully, it doesn't have to be according to any particular specifications.
Q: What does "Living Democracy" contribute to the locality?
A: I think the project boasts the locality's self-esteem and sense of cohesion and belonging. It creates an educational forum of principals. The local steering committee turns the teams into an educational group that leads the local educational processes forward. The teams from different schools have formed collegial supportive groups that promote local issues and assist each other in school dilemmas. They transform into a team that is part of a broader and more significant process. In Netivot, for example, we held a mock trial in the tenth grade. Two years after learning about democracy, these youngsters dealt with legal terminology and material and preformed in front of former Justice Dalya Dorner, who was actually very impressed. The parents watched and were very proud, which raises the level of expectation of both the child and the parent, creating a feeling of capability. In schools where there are young teams, one can see a sparkle in their eyes, and when a teacher chooses that profession his real goal is to become a guide for his students in the broader sense of the word, to broaden his or her horizons, and to expose him or her to what's going on in society.
Q: The 2008 school-year has come to an end after many achievements. What is your projection for the future of the Educational Program?
A: As for "Living Democracy" – there is definitely a desire to expand and deepen the program. In addition, we wish to strengthen the connection between the theoretical and practical aspects of active citizenship and the initiatives, to create projects such as a local newspaper, a discussion forum, and other projects outside of school walls. We want visitors to arrive and feel that things here are different, that there is a different kind of discourse, and students from these places are ambitious and strong. As for the Educational Program, in the coming year we are going to invest a lot of energy in national crosscutting processes. We have joined forces with the Political Education project, directed by Prof. Eyal Naveh, in an attempt to bridge the gap between academic research and practical fieldwork. We have offered schools that have worked with us before to join forces and develop curriculums on the topic of political education. On the one hand, we are working with principals to create unique school atmospheres, and, on the other, we are working with teachers who will develop expertise on the theoretical side, and plan a unique curriculum. In addition, we are going to start working with the ORT network, and try to ascertain the unique aspects and needs of vocational schools. We are going to publish a book based on the Democracy Index, which has enormous potential as an educational tool that can help teachers ask key questions and develop critical thinking. I would like to think about the development of a curriculum in another field IDI researches – Political Corruption. I think that the recently published book on the topic, by Doron Navot and Prof. Kremnitzer, is a very important educational tool. We will continue to work together with HaKfar HaYarok, and with another school that is different from all the other schools we work with – the Ilan Ramon School in Hod HaSharon – a school with students from a strong socioeconomic background, to whom we'd like to offer the added benefit of our program.
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