On October 29, 2008, the Partnership for Social Change held a day-long seminar for the faculty of its community engaged courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The seminar was attended by university professors from across Israel, as well as by community activists and representatives of organizations for social change.

 

The day began with a joint presentation by Dr. Roni Strier of the University of Haifa's School of Social Work, community activists Saki and Hava Ram, and former student Guy Feldman. The four talked about their experiences in the "Haifa project for combating poverty." The project brought together the academy (Haifa University), the municipality (Haifa's dept. of social services), and the community (local activists from poor neighborhoods in Haifa) in a partnership aimed at promoting the rights and welfare of poor communities in Haifa. The speakers spoke of the challenges in building such a partnership and the efforts made by all parties to achieve true equality between members. All speakers stressed the importance of developing a relationship between the academy and the community and the successes that the partnership achieved on the ground, especially with regard to educational rights. Residents of Haifa's poorest neighborhoods spoke of how for the first time, the university seemed accessible to them and important in their fight for greater equality.

 

 

In the second part of the day audience separated into groups for two parallel workshops. The first was led by Dr. Dalya Markovich, who teaches informal education at Beit Berl College. Dr. Markovich talked about the community engaged course she has taught for the past three years, where learning takes place both in the classroom and in social activism in the community. She spoke of how such a course opens a new window of opportunity for the students, and teaches them to think critically about education and social change. Many of the students continue to work at the organizations where they volunteered even after the course ended, testifying to its success.

 

The second workshop was led by Dr. Galya Zalmanson-Levi of the Kibbutzim College of Education. Dr. Zalmanson-Levi presented a three-level model of social change, at the pedagogic, organizational, and systemic level, and spoke of how the experiences of students in her community-engaged course on education for peace, social and environmental justice demonstrate the importance of pursuing change on each level.

 

After the workshops, the group reconvened to hear a talk by Mr. Moshe Aharoni and Prof. Faysal Azaiza of Israel’s Council of Higher Education. The two speakers addressed the growing field of service learning, both in Israel and abroad, and spoke of the Council’s commitment to promoting and expanding student engagement programs in institutes of higher education across Israel.

 

In all, the day provoked stimulating and enriching discussions about what it means to teach community engaged courses, and how the experiences of faculty and students in these courses can be further developed and improved. The next faculty seminar is due to take place in the winter of 2009.

 

For invitation in Hebrew, press here.