The bilingual school - hundreds of students and parents who live in practical coexistence

(live here in education) - 11 years that the Yad Yad community believes in practical coexistence and realizes the vision. Haifa is considered a city, which is a successful example of coexistence, and yet is there a real connection between the Muslim, Christian and Jewish residents of Haifa?

In Haifa, in the month of December, almost every year, all the residents of the city go down to the German colony and buy from the sellers what they offer. You can also enjoy the central square, which has a cross, a moon and a menorah in one bow, but there are people who believe that coexistence is really getting to know the other, their culture and language, and not just buying hummus from them.

Jews and Arabs raise their children together

"My parents' community Hand in hand Haifa It is a growing community," said the community coordinator of Yad-Bid Haifa today. Rebecca Salem-Singer. "זו קהילה של הורים יהודים וערבים, המגדלים את ילדיהם ביחד במערכת החינוך הצומחת, ומבטיחים לעצמם נקודות מפגש ועשייה רבות ומגוונות, שלא רק סביב הגן ובית הספר.

In its eleventh year, the Yad Yad community already numbers about 350 adults and already has a tradition of doing and diverse activities. As every year, the community will open the school year by participating in the ceremonies of the education system and carrying out an operation to collect and distribute donations of educational equipment to families with little means.

From our point of view, the model of a joint Jewish-Arab community has a real role and importance in strengthening and strengthening acquaintance, trust and the pursuit of equality between Jews and Arabs in the city, and we hope that many families will choose to join us and that other joint communities will see us as a model that demonstrates how this is possible and actually happens."

How did it all start?

The Yadi Yad community started in the kindergartens, where the children talked in Hebrew and Arabic and celebrated the Jewish and Muslim holidays. As soon as the first grade finished the compulsory kindergarten, it was necessary to prepare and open the first grade.

The municipality found a solution for the Yad Yad community and for 4 years the children attended the Ahmadiyya school in the Kabbir neighborhood. Each class has two teachers, one of them speaking Arabic and the other speaking Hebrew. Not only did the Jewish children learn to speak Arabic over the years and made friends, but some of them actually picked up the accent.

The fact that the Arab children learned Hebrew is a little less impressive, since almost every Arab child in the State of Israel learns Hebrew from the beginning of elementary school and their mastery of the language is immeasurably higher than the Jewish students' mastery of Arabic.

The parents were very satisfied that the classes of the bilingual track were at the school in the Kabvir neighborhood, since the studies at Ahmadiyya are held in Arabic and thus the children integrated well. The only problem was the overcrowding in the school, which could not accommodate both the students of the Ahmadiyya school and the classes of the bilingual track. The municipality had to find a solution, since the school structure could not accommodate the bilingual track.

Dr. Marev Ben Nun: When I hear my son speak Arabic and Hebrew with his friends in a natural way, I am happy about the path he is studying

Dr. Marev Ben Nun was among the founders of the community. Her son Asaf is studying at the school and started the bilingual route from kindergarten.
"For me, as a Haifaite who grew up and matured in the city and decided to start a family there, I was very saddened not only by my lack of familiarity with the Arabic language, but also and above all by the lack of familiarity, over many years, with my Haifaite and Haifaite Arab neighbors," explains Ben Nun, "the reality That of a city whose children grow up without knowing, meeting, building trust and a bridge through the two languages ​​and through multicultural dialogue, the school I founded with my friends and classmates.

Today, when I hear my younger son speak Hebrew and Arabic with his friends in a natural, non-hierarchical and egalitarian manner, I am very proud of him and happy that I was able to pave an educational path for him, which not only enables a challenging and growing bilingual study experience, but also the ability to listen, accommodate diverse opinions and recognize and to express his and our unique identity in a mature and cohesive manner."

He has fun with his friends, the Arabs and the Jews

When Ben Nun's son Assaf is asked about his studies at school, he doesn't quite understand what is special about this form of study, since he has never experienced any other form of study.

For him, he has fun with his friends, the Arabs and the Jews, who accompany him since kindergarten and speaking in Arabic and Hebrew in class is the most natural thing in the world. Ever since Kindergarten he has been celebrating holidays of the three religions in class, and this is not a special thing for him either. What is true is that he loves the school and loves his friends, who study with him, and perhaps this is something that cannot be found among many students in public education.

You can't achieve anything without some struggles and demonstrations

The building at the beach school

The solution was the Hufit school on Hinanit Street in the Shaar Aliya neighborhood. The beginning was not easy. Parents and some residents of the Shaar Aliya neighborhood staged demonstrations against the integration of the bilingual track in the school, and the parents from the bilingual track were also not enthusiastic about sending children from grades 1 to 5 to a place where they felt the children were not welcome.

The parents from the school were concerned that the Yad Yad community also celebrates the Muslim holidays and did not know how it would affect the school children. In the end, the children from the bilingual track became part of the school and studies went on without interruption.

Starting middle school

This year, the senior class of the bilingual track children start studying in the 7th grade.
"This year, a 7th grade will open, which will form the basis for a post-primary division," she says Slam-Singer, "The track will open at Urban School A in Kiryat Eliezer and will include a unique educational and learning system based on the principles of bilingual education, in accordance with the overall vision of the school.
The elementary students will continue to study at the Hofit school in the coming year and in September 2023 they will move to their own school - the Mazor school in Kiryat Eliezer.

The collaboration between the director of the first urban school, Yifit Cohen, and the professional staff of the bilingual education system, succeeded in producing a model that offers the students and the students of the class a study plan led by two educators - Guy Aloni and Doaa Odeh, both experienced educators in the bilingual model.

In addition to being led by two educators, a Jew and an Arab, the track also offers a deepening of the studies of both languages, in unique study programs based on models of advanced pedagogy and above all in a personal relationship, a dialogic approach and a multicultural approach."

"This year, 20 XNUMXth grade students are going to start the track, and the intention is to establish and establish a growing track, to which the bilingual elementary students, Jews and Arabs, will go, naturally, along with the absorption of additional students of grade school age, in accordance with the characteristics of the unique model."

Institution number of the Ministry of Education for the school of the bilingual track

Another struggle that ended successfully is the struggle for a school for the community. The Ministry of Education claimed that in order to get an institution and school number only for the bilingual track, the number of students the Yad Yad community has is not enough. The people of the community claimed that they have many more children who want to enroll in the school, but there is not enough room in the classrooms and therefore the wrong impression is created that they do not have enough students. In the end, the Ministry of Education informed the community that in a year, September 2023, an independent school will be opened for the Yad Yad community.

The principal of the school, Giselle Esbaoui: thanks to the support of the Yad Yad community, in a year we will have our own school

An emotional conversation with each and every student

"We have 168 students from grades XNUMX to XNUMX," said the director of the bilingual track at the Hufit school Giselle Absaoui, "Our educational concept puts the student at the center. That's why we have two female educators in each class and an emphasis on emotional dialogue with each and every student.

Each student makes a reflection (personal observation) on his progress. Our way of studying allows each child to express his abilities and strengthen his self-confidence. Part of the learning is done through pbl, project-based learning. We also work with place-based pedagogy (pbe).

There is an emphasis at the school on knowing the culture and tradition of both sides.
In the last year, the 6th grade in the bilingual track did a joint activity with the 6th grade at the Beach school spoken word (poetry) and both groups really liked the unique and joint activity.

We are very excited about moving in a year to a school that is only intended for the bilingual track at the Mazor School in Kiryat Eliezer. This would not have happened without our community, which supports and helps and encourages all the way, and of course the Ministry of Education and the municipality, which take responsibility for bilingual education in the city of Haifa.'