History, identity and memory of past images in Israeli education
Eyal Neve
Avner Ben-Amos (editor). Education and Society, Ramot Publishing, Tel Aviv University, 172 pages, NIS 52.40
About three years after the outbreak of the stormy debate on the way history is taught in Israel, and more than a year after the Minister of Education disapproved the use of a textbook, the collection of articles "History, Identity and Memory: Images of the Past in Israeli Education" appeared. The media and political debate, which rose to high pitches and included insults and accusations, takes on an additional, theoretical dimension here, with an interpretive research orientation, which tries to rise above the drama and upheaval typical of us and offer interesting insights into the very existence of the debate. The editor, Dr. Avner Ben-Amos, collected articles by seven researchers and scholars, who, along with commentary and analysis, also expressed a reasoned opinion and thus became part of the debate itself.
The teaching of history is a hot topic in many countries of the world. Gone are the days when the educators of the generation instilled in young people a sublime and uplifting heritage of the past that it would be unthinkable to grow up without it. In a dynamic and open world, with many voices and identities, it is very difficult to continue using history as a sealed and uniform mythology that establishes a collective identity through the construction of an eternal memory that passes from generation to generation. Indeed, the representation of the past changes from day to day because it is influenced by a dynamic and diverse context in the present, and by different points of reference towards what is worthy of learning and knowing. Accordingly, study programs, textbooks, teacher training methods and learning skills change.
Unfortunately, there is a big gap between these transformations and the classroom routine,
which should respond to the nature of anachronistic matriculation exams that emphasize memorization and recall,
With questions along the lines of "Give two reasons for giving the Balfour Declaration", or "Give two."
Examples of the weakness of the Ottoman Empire". The answers to these questions are found
Of course in the teacher's notebook, who dictates them to the students so that they will succeed in the exams. and so,
There is no choice but to admit that the insights and ideas emerging from the collection of articles are indeed
Enlightening, but it is doubtful whether they are relevant to what is done in the classroom.
The articles were written by academics, who take it for granted that the history profession shapes
the learner's identity but also develops in him learning skills that are often undermined
and question this identity. Another tension exists between the image of the uniform national past and
The multifaceted reality in Israeli society. And so the question arises as to whether the Jewish story
The Zionist integrated into general history, which is mainly a history of Europe, is
The story of the past that can give meaning to this whole mosaic, which includes the Jews of different countries
The East, Holocaust survivors, ultra-Orthodox, immigrants from the Commonwealth of Nations, or non-Jewish residents such as
Arab citizens or foreign workers; And if this is not the case, is it possible and legitimate to cultivate
Different stories in different groups? Then the question arises what will be the fate of the denominator
the commonality, and what will be the collective future of the generation being educated.
The tension between the history class as a memory district designed to connect the learner to his past on the one hand
Gisa, and as a critical reflection designed to cultivate thinking and independent young people on the one hand
Gisa, did not disappear from the eyes of the writers of the articles, and they referred to him at different levels, as
which the editor states in the introduction. They paid less attention to the problematics of the discipline
In the academy in recent years: the subject of history moves on a very wide spectrum at the edge
One is the positivist position, which advocates the possibility, or at least the need, to row
For the discovery of truth, and on the other hand, recognition of perspectivism, renouncing any claim to truth
and accepting the historical narrative as a record and as a personal text.
The changing nature of the educational process also did not receive due attention in this file,
dealing with history and the education system. I did not find any reference to the contradiction between
The traditional education aimed at the inheritance of iron sheep assets and societies adapted to values
and the norms of society, and the challenge of critical pedagogy, which sees such education
An ideology of control and therefore demands the educator to demonstrate constant subversion: instead
To help students achieve what society wants them to be, set them the
The question "What do they not want to achieve from what society wants them to be".
Despite what is missing, the discussion in most articles is important and fascinating to any educated person, and is a piece of equipment
Indispensable for historians, educators and teachers, teachers' devices, teaching staff
and for students. The file begins with Joshua Matias' article on the nationalization of education
State and reviews the development of the construction of the study programs in history for the stream
State in Israel. The reader becomes aware of the tensions and dynamics of the state plan
For history in the State of Israel for its central claims: creating a national history
One and united, highlighting the continuity of Israel's history from its beginnings to the present day, highlighted
The early periods when the people of Israel lived in their land, highlighting the physical connection to the Land of Israel
and providing faithful representation to the various denominations in the Jewish nation. By the way of ascertaining the acceptance of
The first state plan and the changes that took place in the first decades is coming
The author concludes that the aspiration for the homogenization of historical consciousness has not been realized.
"The national community that the Israelis studying in the education system imagine does not exist
is inherent in the image of one culture, and its borders are also not completely agreed upon."
Against this dynamic picture, Amnon Raz-Karkotskin presents a different picture of my studies
A history that relies on the memorization of one historical version that assimilates the view
Zionist history and presents it as objective. According to Raz-Karkotskin, all
The debate over the new textbooks is essentially much ado about nothing, since
that the books are not critical at all and the whole new program is nothing more than
Rhetorical trickery that aims to preserve the existing consciousness. It seems to me that Raz-Karkotskin
He set a high standard, advocating for the proliferation of post-Zionist narratives as befits any state
its citizens. In his eyes, any program and textbook that does not reach this level preserves the
The Zionist, old, Ashkenazi and monolithic consciousness, therefore they are flawed.
Eli Fuda, on the other hand, presents a completely different picture, based on careful research
and emphasizes changes over time. In his article "History and memory in the system
Education: The Israeli-Arab conflict in the light of history textbooks in Israel
" 2000-1948 (a reduced version of a book published in the USA), Fuda points to three
Generations of textbooks, reflecting the spirit of the time in which they were compiled. first generation,
Known as the generation of children, full of pathos and self-righteousness, it was written in the fifties; The generation of books
The second, Adolescent Generation, written in the seventies, opens a first and limited opening for understanding
The position of the Arab enemy, while the third generation, the coming-of-age generation, which was written in the atmosphere of Oslo,
Presents a more balanced picture of the conflict and avoids a stereotypical presentation of the Arab
as an enemy
In Poda's opinion, the process of changing the narrative has not yet been completed and is even being delayed as a result
The renewal of fighting with the Palestinians. However, it is no longer possible to return to the old narrative.
Fuda also points out that the Palestinians are now in the stage of writing books in the style of the generation
The first, a phase that Israel was in more than fifty years ago, and therefore far away
Still the way to create a culture of peace and mutual reconciliation is through new textbooks.
"If the Palestinian textbooks are destined to go through the process of 'demythologizing'
The long and tedious one that went through the Israeli textbooks, then the road to mutual reconciliation
may, unfortunately, be long," Poda concludes his article in the spirit of these days.
The next three articles in the book deal with one sector in the education system and its dealings with
The changing historical narrative. In an excellent article, Shlomo Fisher shows how women are represented
The history of the Jews of North Africa and the Middle East in the history textbooks.
According to him, the presentation of the Mizrahi Jews as "without history" and "frozen" is sinful
to the modernization process that took place among these populations, although it was different from a process
Western modernization, and therefore was not understood, nor was it presented by program writers
Studying the news. These continue to present the Mizrahi Jews in a one-dimensional manner
And superficial, without the processes of modernization, a representation that actually serves my perpetuators
Mizrachi sectoralism version of Shas. "A discussion that takes into account the different experience of
Jewish kibbutzim in modernization processes - a discussion that exists in the existing historiography
- does not exist in the textbooks in question... (the discussion in these books) highlights two
Only poles: one, modernization along the lines of Western Europe and the other, religion and tradition."
Israel Bartel examines the textbooks in the state-religious stream and reaches an encouraging conclusion
For him, because in this sector the historical discourse is modern and scientific and similar in essence
to what is happening in the state stream. The books show, for example, that the action of Rabbi Yohanan ben
Zakhai is the result of rational human decisions in the face of destruction, and that the Talmud is
A product of development and not of mere delivery. The books construct historical national identity
in essence and do not emphasize a religious experience of an irrational or mystical nature. Costs
From the essay there is an optimistic note regarding the ability of the national-religious educator to instill
His students have a collective memory that is also built on developmental historical terms and thus
to continue to maintain the common denominator of this current with the state national being.
A much less optimistic tone emerges from Majed Alhaj's article on plans
History studies for Arab schools in Israel. the message emerging from programs
He refers to the studies aimed at Israeli Arabs as "controlled multiculturalism". despite
Slight changes over the years, the writer points out that the curriculum reflects its essence
the ethnic culture of the Jewish majority. It follows from it that the State of Israel is a state
Jewish and there is no attempt to cultivate a civil culture that sees the Arabs as a unique and equal part
inside her "The Arab student is required to accept this state of identification with the state as its character
It is still unclear about him and when... he is not called to take an active part in it."
The file ends with a thought-provoking article by Neely Keren about the relationship between museums
and institutions for the commemoration of the Holocaust and the teaching of the Holocaust in the State of Israel. This article also presents
A dynamic dealing with the tension between memory and critical history, between commemoration
and meaningful learning, between the emotional-experiential side of the subject and the parts
His moral and behavioral cognitive. The article criticizes a position
The commemorative institutions, especially Yad Vashem, the fighter for the uniqueness of the subject and its removal from the aspect
The universal and the disciplinary of human history.
This is an important file that deals with a complex and fascinating matter in a diverse and non-confrontational way, in the process
Clarifying critical positions on the part of the writers and constantly challenging the readers.
The articles shed light on interesting issues and open the door to further references. I am
I hope that in the books and collections of articles that discuss this topic in the future, the proportion of
The women, who, after all, constitute the absolute majority among those engaged in the profession of teaching
in general and in the teaching of history in state schools in particular.
* Prof. Eyal Neve teaches history at Tel Aviv University and the Kibbutzim Seminary. His book "Histories - Towards a Dialogue with Yesterday" (in collaboration with Dr. Esther Yogev) was published by Babel Publishing
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