Untitled Document

in conjunction with: The Israel Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport Ministry of Education, Israel

Key Theme for 5757 and 5758:

"The Centenary of the first Zionist Congress
&
Fifty Years since the Establishment of the State of Israel"

Director-General Circular

5. Curricular Structure / II Thematic Breakdown

There are many ways of organizing and constructing a thematic breakdown of the theme. Over recent years, our coordinating office has found that staffs can and do put together interesting and unique programs on the annual theme, as a team. The collaborative effort and thought, custom-designed to suit a specific population of teachers and students, ultimately generates special, highly creative models of planning for working on the subject.

Please find below a list of subjects which could act as a useful catalyst for a "different" approach. Some of these can be studied chronologically, using a theoretical / historical approach. The overall recommendation, however, is to seek out contemporary aspects and to identify those issues and facets which will spark student interest.

A. Year One - Subjects for 1996-1997 (5757)

These appear in no particular order:

Zionism and Zionists up to 1897
Immigration to Eretz Yisrael
Forms of settlement which developed in Israel and their underlying ideology
The image of the pioneers and their ethos
The struggle for land between the peoples living in Eretz Yisrael
Zionist leaders - including text analysis
The first Zionist Congresses and the Zionist Organization
Utopias in Zionism and their patterns of realization in Eretz Yisrael
The growth of Zionism against the background of other national movements throughout the world
Different trends in Zionism (religious, political, practical, socialist, revisionist, intellectual and cultural Zionism)
Movements which opposed Zionism
Different views on maintaining the continuity of the Jewish people
Zionism's attitude to religion, and religion's attitude to Zionism
Israel-Diaspora relations
Zionism's attitudes to the Arabs, ways of relating to the Arabs in the Jewish community in pre-1948 Palestine, and suggested solutions in the face of the confrontation between Jews and Arabs in Mandatory Palestine
Defense organizations in the history of Zionism up to the establishment of the IDF
Zionism and the Holocaust
Industry as Zionism - past and present
New and old definitions of Zionism
The Declaration of Independence as an expression of the Zionist ethos
Zionism in the world of modern concepts: democracy, liberalism, socialism, universalism
Zionism in the era of peace
The post-Zionist approach
Religious Zionism - viewpoints and achievements
Stories of places
Zionism in countries of the East
The Israeli national anthem and the flag - their place and standing in national life
Zionism as expressed in Hebrew song, music, literature, dance, contemporary journalism, art, memoirs and diaries, theater, and the development of the Hebrew language
How the Israeli/Jewish educational system reflects Zionist values and forms of the Zionist ethos

B. Year Two - Partial list of the topics for 5758

Waves of immigration (aliya) since the establishment of the State to the present
Forms of settlement, areas of settlement following the establishment of the State
Changes in forms of settlement: liberalization on the kibbutz, community settlements, mitzpim ("observation points"-cum- community settlements)
Israel-Diaspora relations following the establishment of the State
Industrial development
Agriculture in Israel
Minorities in Israel
Religion and State
Emigration (yerida)
Israel's wars
The peace process
The press and media as mirrors of an era
Relations between different ethnic groups in Israel over the years
Political parties in Israel - changes over the years
Non-party political organizations and their influence on the government in Israel
Legislation in Israel - what does and does not exist, and why
The development of the Hebrew language as a reflection of states of mind in Israeli society
Changes in the educational system as a reflection of the forms of ethos and states of mind in Israeli society
The special culture evolving in Israel -
music, plastic arts, theater, literature, film, dance, architecture
Characteristics of Israeli culture -
the "hevre" (social group), community singing, the culture of "miluim" (army reserve duty), the struggle between "oriental culture" and "western culture", Israeli slang...
Children's literature as a reflection of the messages and different states of mind of Israeli society
Special characteristics of Israeli society -
absorption of waves of immigration; the IDF and army reserve duty; a state under siege, life under fire (Northern border) and the threat of terror; rites of passage in Israeli society - IDF service, the post-army trip abroad
The youth movements
Israel as a hi-tech society