Poverty-aware education

Joint development of poverty-aware practices in the education system

The Problem

A high proportion of children and adolescents in Israel live in poverty, affecting both their lives and their experiences within the education system.

“Poverty is the worst form of violence,” said Mahatma Gandhi—and children and adolescents are among those most severely affected by it. In 2022, 1.98 million people in Israel were living in poverty, including 873,000 children and adolescents, according to the National Insurance Institute’s Poverty and Social Gaps Report.

An international comparison shows that in 2022, Israel had the second-highest poverty rate among OECD countries. These figures point to the considerable proportion of students living in poverty and to the need for the education system to address this reality both systemically and pedagogically.

The Challenge

Addressing the educational, social, and material disparities resulting from poverty.

In 2015, the Ministry of Welfare introduced a program to support and rehabilitate families living in poverty. The program is based on a critical approach that understands poverty as the result of state policies and practices that have compromised citizens’ right to live with dignity and well-being.

This approach also exposes the common social tendency to blame people living in poverty for their circumstances, attributing their situation to personal characteristics such as irresponsibility, idleness, or laziness. Instead, the critical approach calls for structural changes that reduce poverty and for social critique that restores the dignity of people living in poverty. To date, no comparable initiative has been implemented within the education system.

To address the material and social disparities arising from poverty, as well as the challenges they create for educational teams, the Branco Weiss Etgarim School Network and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev formed a collaborative partnership.

כדי להתגבר על הפערים הנובעים מעוני והשלכותיו החומריות והחברתיות, ולהתמודד עם האתגרים העומדים בפני הצוותים החינוכיים הנובעים מפערים אלה יצא לדרך שיתוף הפעולה בין ברנקו וייס—רשת בתי הספר האתגריים, ואוניברסיטת בן-גוריון.

The Research

Developing an educational approach and practices for addressing poverty and social exclusion within the education system.

The partnership used critical thinking to identify and conceptualize these challenges and to develop educational capabilities tailored to addressing them. It mapped the educational challenges arising from poverty and social exclusion and engaged teachers in reflective processes examining their perceptions of and interactions with students living in poverty.

The partnership focused on exploring different understandings of poverty and its consequences and identifying key issues affecting students experiencing poverty. It also worked collaboratively to refine and develop educational practices for addressing pedagogical challenges among students living in poverty and social exclusion.

Partnership Outputs

Knowledge generated
within the framework of the partnership

Resource Binder for Educators and Teaching Staff (Color)

Resource Kit for Educators and Teaching Staff (Black and White)

Summary Research Report

Research Report – Printable Version

Presentation about the partnership

Presentation video about the partnership

Prof. Michal Krumer-Nevo

Conversations about poverty awareness, education, social structures, insights, and action within the already challenging web of roles of classroom educators.

Podcast – Inga Danilov

Sharon Avni, a cluster manager in the network, interviews teacher Inga Danilov about a project she initiated. Inga is also among the teachers who participated in the "Trailblazing Teachers" program, an initiative of the Center for the Study of Pedagogy - academia-field partnerships, in collaboration with the Atid Education Network. The story is about creativity born from necessity, and how a real solution is found within, not outside.

Listen

Podcast – Moshe Bachar

Sharon Avni, cluster manager in the network, interviews teacher and principal Moshe Bachar about the initiative and the process he went through in the education system. Moshe is among the teachers who participated in the "Trailblazing Teachers" program, an initiative of the Center for the Study of Pedagogy - Academia-Field Partnerships, in collaboration with the Atid Education Network. From his position as a father, he understood that parent-teacher meetings are built on a problematic model, and thus decided to create a new model.

Listen

Aviv Orner’s TED Talk

The lecture was given as part of the Azrieli Fellows Program

By vote only: A female student and a male student participated in class – whose opinion was heard first?

Column in "Time for Education"