Activity type: Working group
Activity coordinator: Eran Barak-Medina
Activity period: 2019-2020
The average
classroom in Israel is highly diverse in terms of its students’ cognitive and
emotional characteristics, and often includes learners of widely varying
academic, social and personal abilities.
Some are students with diagnosed difficulties, such as attention
disorder, behavioral difficulty, emotional difficulties, or physical disability; others may have
difficulties which have not yet been formally diagnosed. There are students for
whom the school receives supplemental resources, such as an aide or remedial
hours, and there are those not entitled to additional resources. The teacher
and the school need to provide fitting educational solutions for this wide
range of students in order to advance each child academically, socially and
personally.
This degree of
diversity is likely to increase even further with the approaching
implementation of what is referred to as the Mainstreaming and Inclusion Law, a
recent legislative reform that gives parents the right to choose the educational
framework for their child.
The Ministry of
Education unit overseeing the implementation of the new policy reached out to
The Yozma – Center for Knowledge and Research in Education with a request to
establish a working group on the topic of inclusion in the education system. The
objective of the Ministry of Education is to implement inclusive pedagogy,
which helps each child to realize their potential and to develop positive
self-worth, as well as advancing students with greater difficulties. The spirit
of inclusive pedagogy is “essential for some – good for all,” that is, creating
the conditions wherein the education framework provides a solution for all
students, advances them, and provides the necessary support for those who
especially need it.
The working
group will gather knowledge from education professionals working in the field, policy-makers
at the Ministry of Education, and academic experts. It will collect and
organize pedagogic knowledge and policy knowledge, propose interventions and
examine ways of promoting inclusion in the education system. The working group
will address several areas:
- Pedagogy – how do inclusive
schools and inclusive classrooms operate?
- Professional development –
what type of knowledge and abilities should teachers acquire and develop? What
kind of professional environment should they be provided with?
- Policy and resource
allocation compared to similar processes around the world – where should
resources be invested in order to promote inclusion in the education system?
Group
coordinator: Eran Barak-Medina
Working
Group on the Topic of Inclusion in Israeli Schools
List
of Members (In alphabetical order):
Yael
Bachar, Pedagogical Affairs, the Ministry of Education
Ph.D Ori Eyal, the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem
Hadar
Gafni, Teaching Personnel Administration, the Ministry of Education
Ravit
Goldner-Lahav, The department of inclusion law implementation, the Ministry of
Education
Ph.D
Tom Gumpel, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Orna
Kerstein, Psychological
Counseling Service, the Ministry of Educatio
Vered
Malihi, The department of inclusion law implementation, the Ministry of Education
Miri
Navon, The department of inclusion law implementation, the Ministry of
Education
Sarit Poserino, post-elementary
education, the Ministry of Education
Oddette
Sela, chief scientist
department, the Ministry of Education
Vered
Tabul, The department of inclusion law implementation, the Ministry of
Education
Moriya
Talmor, Elementary education department, the Ministry of Education