UNESCO Chair for Multiculturalism in Teacher Training

As a college that focuses on training professionals for careers in education in both the Jewish and the Arab system, and that relies on its team of both Arab and Jewish professors, it is evident that multi-culturalism and equal opportunities are an everyday reality at Beit Berl College. Indeed, Beit Berl College exemplifies a unique model in Israel of “living together” in a collaborative and supportive manner – a positive, constructive model that demonstrates the feasibility of establishing a multi-cultural environment from ethnic, religious and social points of view.

These values and practices won Beit Berl the UNESCO Chair for Multiculturalism in Teacher Education in 2004. Our college embodies the essence of Israel in general and of Beit Berl in particular, as a melting pot, entwining different cultures, religions, traditions, languages and values. We believe that tolerance, knowledge and the willingness to accept the differences between people are the key to bringing together our students. It is our vision that the values we foster at Beit Berl ripple through to an ever-growing circle of Israeli citizens.

For that purpose, the Beit Berl the UNESCO Chair for Multiculturalism in Teacher Education continually initiates and supports activities which celebrate and implement these values to assist teacher trainees in dealing with the complexity of modern Israeli society. Here is an example of some of these activities held over that past few years:

 

• Support for “The Time Tunnel Project” which is a contemporary history program that was initiated in Beit Berl College and teaches Arab and Jewish students to become gatherers of oral histories, focusing on the history of everyday life: where people worked, the tools they used, the food they ate, the medical care they received or created for themselves. By sharing the stories and the history of the two communities and the region, students learn the realities of one another’s life in a narrative framework.
• Organization of a conferences for national coordinators of the schools associated with UNESCO.
• Involvement in organization of conferences dealing with human rights, shared society and multiculturalism.