Education for a shared society
The education for a shared society department at aChord develops and implements models, training programs and pedagogical intervention tools drawing on social psychology – lesson plans, curricula, learning aids and workshops – to diagnose, develop and evaluate programs of education for a shared society. We provide initial and ongoing guidance to teams of educators, policy makers, teachers, and teachers-in-training to help promote effective, research-based activities in this area.
We work in both the formal and informal education systems, with all educational sectors and with all age groups. Our partners in this endeavor include schools, local authorities, the office for civic education and shared society at the Ministry of Education, other ministry officials, school networks, the President of Israel ("Israeli Hope" project), civil society organizations, the Israel Association of Community Centers, youth movements, and others.
The Ideal Graduate Model in Education for a Shared Society
One of the greatest challenges in education for a shared society is arriving at a clear, succinct definition of the educational objective, in terms of a description of the ideal graduate. The ideal graduate model in education for a shared society we developed at aChord, together with the President, the Lautman Foundation and the Ministry of Education, offers an answer to the most basic question: What would the ideal graduate look like upon completing a successfully operated program of education for a shared society? The model enables us to derive concrete content for training, measurement, educational objectives and work plans in the field of education for a shared society. On this foundation, we develop educational programs and processes and provide guidance for their optimal implementation, with the goal of fostering a shared society and equal, tolerant and respectful relations between different groups.
The ideal graduate model has facilitated our development of the Index for Shared Society Progress in Youth (ISSPY). This index maps the entire spectrum of psychological barriers and opportunities for promoting optimal relations between groups and creating intergroup partnership among young people from the four educational sectors in Israel — secular, national religious, ultra-orthodox and Arab.