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the challenges of the twenty-first century in terms of knowl-

edge, pedagogy, technology and multiculturalism.

However,

due to the complexity in the current Israeli society, dealing with

such diversity is not an easy task. Many proposals have been

prepared by experts in the field, and none of them was fully

implemented to include all segments of society. The existing

civic education is still based on the nature of the state, a Jewish

democratic state, which promotes patriotism to Zionist values

rather than to democratic principles that strengthen citizenship.

Despite the fact that the proclamation of independence guar-

antees the social, political and religious rights of all citizens of

Israel, some minority groups, mainly Arabs, are discriminated

against as well as oriental Jews and Ethiopians.

After signing the Oslo agreement between the Palestinians

and Israel in 1993, an atmosphere of tolerance and cooperation

started to prevail in Israeli diverse society. However, after the

assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995,

the right-wing parties resumed power. Consequently, a discourse

of discrimination and racism started to be loudly heard from

highly influential politicians and even ministers. Recently, more

activities have been recommended by the Ministry of Education

aiming to strengthen the Jewish heritage and traditions. Schools

are required to launch educational tours to Jerusalem and other

Jewish sites. In addition, the Bible quiz has been restored at the

national level. In contrast, launching meetings or programmes

that would foster understanding among Arabs and Jews is

restricted to local initiatives that usually come from interested

school staff members and educators. For example, three bilingual

schools called ‘Hand in Hand’ were established in Jerusalem, in

Kfar Karaa’, an Arab town in the centre of Israel, and in Misgav,

a Jewish community in the northern part of Israel. All subjects

are taught in Arabic and Hebrew by an Arab teacher and a Jewish

counterpart. These two narratives, the Jewish as well as the Arab

one, are included in the curriculum. Hand in Hand’s success and

longevity demonstrate that children, families and entire commu-

nities of Jews and Arabs can live and work together with mutual

respect and friendship. Beit Berl Academic College, a leading

teacher training college in Israel, could be another example that

promotes cooperation, tolerance and respect through a variety

of projects and activities like the Tunnel of Time project. As part

of the project, students re-enact the life of Arabs and Jews in the

Holy Land from the 1940s to today. Life is modelled in booths

that include music, dancing, traditional costumes, ethnic food,

games, plays and movies.

Following Doler’s report, the qualification of teachers in the

twenty-first century is based on four pillars of education: learn-

ing to know, learning to do, learning to be and learning to live

together.

Learning to know refers to the mastery of learning

tools to understand the world around them, lead their lives

with dignity, develop their occupational skills and commu-

nicate with other people. The second pillar is learning to do,

which means how to adapt education in order to equip people

to do the types of work needed in the future. It also includes

the needed technological skills, which means the ability to

locate, assess and represent appropriate information quickly.

Learning to be includes equipping people to develop their own

independent, critical way of thinking and judgement, so they

can make up their minds on the best courses of action in the

different circumstances in their lives. Learning to live together

as the fourth pillar promotes cross-cultural understanding. It

is expected to teach pupils and students about human diver-

sity and to instil in them an awareness of the similarities and

interdependence of all people. It requires working on projects

to enable people to transcend the routines of their personal lives

and attach value to what they have in common rather than what

divides them. Therefore, there is a need to develop curricula to

introduce people to collaborative projects such as project-based

learning and involvement in community activities.

Human values are an important aspect in education since

they determine human beings’ behaviour in society. They

would ultimately help in producing ethical and responsible

members of society. Therefore, teachers should not care only

about the academic level and improvement of their students,

but also about their personal growth as human beings. Moral

education in pluralistic societies is necessary to educate

pupils in their rights and duties, discussing differences and

making informed decisions. Global human values including

truth, honesty, love and sacrifice would contribute to peace.

Including human values in the curriculum would help learn-

ers develop social responsibility and global citizenship.

Respect, tolerance and cooperation are three main humanistic

values that promote collaboration and peaceful living as well as

the acceptance of cultural or religious diversity and individual

differences. Respect is an intangible but essential aspect because

it is crucial to an individual’s welfare and well-being. Moreover,

it is also an important factor as far as human beings’ participation

and involvement within their communities’ activities and affairs.

Tolerance guarantees the acceptance of differences and

disagreements. Being tolerant means being able to control

feelings of anger, disagreement, discomfort and dislike. It can

describe feelings, attitudes and states of mind. People need

to work together with willingness to cooperate, to help out

or get involved. It means encouraging, sharing and working

together. The more cooperative the group, the greater is the

fitness for survival which extends to all of its members.

Since English is one of the official languages of interna-

tional organizations and bodies like the United Nations, it is

advisable to carry out projects that are in line with the values

of such an international body for intercultural understand-

ing and cooperation to foster global education, cross-cultural

Learning to Live Together

This book was used by student teachers during a project to promote

respect, cooperation and tolerance in the classroom

gree

iffer