SHARED LIFE EDUCATION DATABASE
Class Exchange Program
Age Group: 9-10 year old students.
Annual No. of Participants:
20 Arab students / 20 Jewish students.
Region / Location: TLV-Jaffa.
Duration: 1 school year.
Frequency: 2 sessions per month.
Session Length: 4 hrs.
Organization Staff: 6 Facilitators.
Professional staff training: 4 preparatory 6-hour meetings.
Evaluation: External evaluation, results upon request.
Program Description
2 Arab and 2 Jewish classes of students meet for 4 hour sessions of various cultural activities, including dance and theater, music, and social sessions. Activities engage participants in creative and interactive exercises that emphasize teamwork and problem-solving in order to encourage collaboration and positive interaction. Students also participate in facilitated dialogues in both bi-national and uni-national groups to help them cope with emotional reactions to the program. Cultural tours expose participants to outside cultures to promote cultural sensitivity. Campus visits to participating schools allow participants to see their outgroup peers in a normative environment outside of the program. Field trips and campus visits reinforce inter-group cohesion and camaraderie. Finally, weekly homework assignments review students’ weekly lessons.
Parents are invited to all sessions and trips, and must complete homework assignments with students. Teacher training sessions offer educational tools for dealing with potential conflict. The training sessions encourage teachers to incorporate peace education into course curricula and equip them with the basic means to do so, thereby building a more skilled workforce to teach peace education.
Budget
Fees: 15%
Ministry of Education / Govt. Allocation: N/A
Philanthropic Contribution: 85%
Total Program Cost: 579,694 NIS