30 Shmaryaho Street
Haifa
Israel
- Youth and education
Hewar aims to establish a model for alternative education in the Arab community in Israel, focused around the principles of democracy, dialogue, diversity and sustainability. Through such alternative, democratic education, it wants to offer the young generation of Palestinian Arabs in Israel the tools which allow them to pursue lifelong and independent learning, and develop critical thinking and creative problem solving skills. As such it provides these youth with the skills and confidence required to pursue active leadership and promote long-term social change and sustainable development in their society.
A total of 183 children are enrolled at Hewar today, from preschool children aged 3 until 8th grade. While the basic curriculum taught at the Hewar School follows the national curriculum determined by the Israeli Ministry of Education, the teaching methods and environment differ greatly from other schools, in that students are encouraged to independently investigate and critically reflect on content and subjects. In addition to the standard curriculum, Hewar children also learn many supplementary subjects each year - such as arts, music and drama - and engage in long-term research projects, which helps them acquire the skills and confidence to enable lifelong, self-motivated learning. Other projects at Hewar include training for teachers in alternative education methods, running active parents' groups, and operating a school library.
In addition to its day-to-day activities in the school and kindergarten, Hewar has a long-term plan of establishing an alternative education centre which would gather information and resources on alternative methods of education and offer training for teachers and other institutions in the country. We are therefore keen, not only to learn from other organisations, but also to share our experiences with local partners in order to promote lasting change in the way of thinking about and carrying out educational activities.
Introducing alternative methods of education in the Arab school system in Israel is a groundbreaking endeavour. Due to its novelty, the Hewar school is faced with many challenges. For example it is sometimes difficult to find partners locally and there is a great lack of professional training for teachers in alternative methods. Hewar therefore wishes to look beyond the local community and build up regional partnerships and open up a dialogue with others who have expertise in this field or who wish to share their experiences.