Education

INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION PROGRAM 'SPACE FOR CHANGE'

SPACE FOR CHANGE is an intercultural educational program using art as a platform for communication between youth and adults from the Jewish and Arab communities from the Galilee region in the north of Israel. SPACE FOR CHANGE will bring together young people from different cultures to meet in a space free of prejudice, misperceptions, or fear in order to establish an educational base for coexistence for all the communities that live in the Galilee region. This program will serve as a place providing growth and development opportunities and promoting cooperation between young people from the Jewish and Arab communities. Space for change program will serve as a meeting, learning and art workshops center for young people aiming to facilitate personal growth and development and foster collaboration among young people from different cultures providing opportunities to know the other through art activities developing the understanding and the importance of cultural diversity and cultural heritage in contemporary life. Cultural diversity is a manifestation of the diversity of life in Israel. Cultural diversity and cultural heritage in the Galilee area are important to the survival of cultures and knowledge in a global context. The Intercultural education program that we propose has an important role to play in ensuring their continued vitality. The program will be a meeting place for the Arab and Jewish youth and adults through art activities that will take into account the needs, abilities, comparative advantages of each of the youth and adults communities in an effort to integrate them and create synergies on the basis of the relative merits of each side based out of necessity, desire and shared interests.

The program is an Intercultural program for the analysis of issues dealing with education in plural societies through the language of art. Language is one of the most universal and diverse forms of expression of human culture, and perhaps even the most essential one. It is at the heart of issues of identity, memory and transmission of knowledge. Art language diversity is likewise a reflection of cultural diversity. Art activities are also fundamental for the empowerment of the individual in democratic and plural societies to promote access to other cultures and encourage openness to cultural exchange. Topics covered include: terminological issues, education and multicultural society today, intercultural communication, human rights and anti-racist education, pluralism and diversity in a democratic frame work.