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Confusion and uncertainty ahead of civics matriculation exams

воскресенье, 7. июля 2013 - 13:42

Teachers say Education Ministry keeps changing the study texts; revised material puts too much emphasis on Jewish and national issues.

Tens of thousands of students are to write their civics matriculation exam this morning amid teachers’ complaints of confusion and uncertainty in the study material. Teachers say the Education Ministry keeps changing the study texts, the revised material puts too much emphasis on Jewish and national issues, one of the three permitted textbooks has no teacher’s manual and one of them hasn’t been translated into Arabic. In addition, Arab teachers have difficulty teaching the subject to their students.

Many teachers hope the new Education Ministry leadership will take a different approach to civics, both in the Jewish and Arab schools.Civics teachers say that for a long time the subject, which deals with current affairs and the state’s character, has turned into a political battle field. Many teachers complain of confusion and difficulty in teaching civics for the matriculation exams.

About a year ago the Education Ministry fired its civics studies coordinator Adar Cohen, raising outrage and furor among hundreds of teachers. Cohen has not been replaced yet. Also last year the ministry banned a new civics textbook, “Starting Out in Citizenship,” after students had already started studying it.

Only three textbooks may now be used to teach civics. One, “To Be a Citizen in Israel,” is in a process of alteration. Eight of its chapters have been updated and teachers can download them from the ministry’s Internet site. The others are “Israel, a Jewish and democratic state” by Dr. David Shahar and “Government and Politics in Israel” by Prof. Avraham Diskin. Many teachers choose not to teach Diskin’s book for matriculation as it has no teacher’s manual.

“Throughout the year there was no certainty as to what and how to teach,” a civics teacher from the north told Haaretz. Speaking about the updates in one textbook, he said they consist of “all kinds of hybrids that are difficult to teach.”

One of the teachers’ complaints about the new material is that it puts too much stress on Israel’s being a Jewish national state. A veteran teacher from the north said “the attempt to alter the curriculum quickly resulted in issuing the revised chapters dealing with the Jewish state issues only in September-October, after the beginning of the school year.”

“I taught these chapters in the old version already last year, in 11th grade, and now I’ve had to teach them again in their new version for the exam. The desire to make quick changes with a national emphasis has caused the students harm.”

The book “Government and Politics in Israel” was not translated into Arabic and the revised chapters of “To Be a Citizen in Israel” were only translated into Arabic in recent months.

A civics teacher in the Arab community said “I have to prepare students for the exam from the Education Ministry’s material, but I disagree with much of it and it’s difficult to teach it to my students. I’m trying to find more suitable examples of current affairs, but it’s difficult when you only have two hours a week.”

The Education Ministry said the manual for Diskin’s book is due to be published in the next school year, adding that the ministry held workshops for civics teachers throughout the year about the new texts.

Yarden Skop

Источник: 
www.haaretz.com
Тэги: 
matriculation exams
schools
study texts