[Educational Leaders Without Borders] "means that such leaders question and stand outside
and look again at how schools work to perpetuate injustice, social division and reinforce social hierarchy."
What Is An Educational Leader Without Borders?
It is a person who shares expository stories with persons around the globe.
Hamas-Israeli War: Framing the educational borders for a conversation with students
Professor Ira Bogoth
Florida Atlantic University
I will make this very short.
The topic of what is happening in Gaza and in Israel arises mostly as an extra-curricular question asked by students. Your choosing to engage at any level is a personal choice, and not all of us, as educators, are able or willing to engage. We are educators first.
Still, if the topic does come up, there are many appropriate – based on age, grade levels, etc. - educational responses:
Educator to student(s): Have you asked this question (these questions, your questions) to others, your parents, your friends? What do they say?
Educator: Do you agree with their responses?
Educator: Are you asking for my opinion [outside the lesson] because that’s all I have to offer?
Educator: We can talk about this very important topic, but we have to agree on one thing: when we speak, we speak respectfully even when we strongly disagree with what is being said and how we are hearing the words. Otherwise, what happens is that we go from discussing and debating the topic of the Hama-Israeli War to personal name-calling, which quickly leads to accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism- even when that is not what anyone was thinking or saying.
Educator: A second important rule for us is to recognize that the political leaders on both sides, as grown-ups, haven’t solved these questions/problems during my whole life and certainly not during your whole lives either. And third, these grown-ups are not educators and do not listen to children and young adults. But I do.
Educator: Are you following? What do I always say? Anybody? (Different students respond). What I say is that before you give your opinion, you have to learn and know the facts. So, my next question is to ask each of you, where do you get your facts? (Different students respond).
This lesson can go in the direction of information/disinformation/misinformation, or it can go directly to the meanings of words (i.e., definitions). For example, what do the words democracy, peace, and war mean? Once, as an educator, you believe that a solid list of facts has been mentioned out loud, the next question is how and why people who see the same “facts” still have different points of view.
When I hear different points of view, the questions that come to my mind are whether we can move the conversation/debate to reach a common understanding. I won’t say compromise because that’s not what it means to reflect on controversial issues critically. Likewise, any negotiations in an educational setting, in or out of a classroom or school building, will be among children and young adults – which means as an educator, you have to bring this back to why the grown-ups in charge haven’t successfully negotiated peace. The children and young adults are innocent, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, just like the children you are talking with.
Professor Ira Bogoth
Florida Atlantic University
I will make this very short.
The topic of what is happening in Gaza and in Israel arises mostly as an extra-curricular question asked by students. Your choosing to engage at any level is a personal choice, and not all of us, as educators, are able or willing to engage. We are educators first.
Still, if the topic does come up, there are many appropriate – based on age, grade levels, etc. - educational responses:
Educator to student(s): Have you asked this question (these questions, your questions) to others, your parents, your friends? What do they say?
Educator: Do you agree with their responses?
Educator: Are you asking for my opinion [outside the lesson] because that’s all I have to offer?
Educator: We can talk about this very important topic, but we have to agree on one thing: when we speak, we speak respectfully even when we strongly disagree with what is being said and how we are hearing the words. Otherwise, what happens is that we go from discussing and debating the topic of the Hama-Israeli War to personal name-calling, which quickly leads to accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism- even when that is not what anyone was thinking or saying.
Educator: A second important rule for us is to recognize that the political leaders on both sides, as grown-ups, haven’t solved these questions/problems during my whole life and certainly not during your whole lives either. And third, these grown-ups are not educators and do not listen to children and young adults. But I do.
Educator: Are you following? What do I always say? Anybody? (Different students respond). What I say is that before you give your opinion, you have to learn and know the facts. So, my next question is to ask each of you, where do you get your facts? (Different students respond).
This lesson can go in the direction of information/disinformation/misinformation, or it can go directly to the meanings of words (i.e., definitions). For example, what do the words democracy, peace, and war mean? Once, as an educator, you believe that a solid list of facts has been mentioned out loud, the next question is how and why people who see the same “facts” still have different points of view.
When I hear different points of view, the questions that come to my mind are whether we can move the conversation/debate to reach a common understanding. I won’t say compromise because that’s not what it means to reflect on controversial issues critically. Likewise, any negotiations in an educational setting, in or out of a classroom or school building, will be among children and young adults – which means as an educator, you have to bring this back to why the grown-ups in charge haven’t successfully negotiated peace. The children and young adults are innocent, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, just like the children you are talking with.
Share Your Expository Stories! Send them to [email protected]
Dr. Fenwick W. English - Academic Freedom Synopsis, June 2024
2023
Talking to Children and Teens About the Israel-Gaza War, 10.12.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
1-877-53-NCSCB (1-877-536-2722) www.schoolcrisiscenter.org
Talking to Children and Teens About the Israel-Gaza War, 10.12.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
1-877-53-NCSCB (1-877-536-2722) www.schoolcrisiscenter.org
Talking to Children and Teens About the Isreal Gaza War | |
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