4 Hamelaha St.
Lod 7152010
Israel
- Youth and education
Mission Statement
Merchavim’s mission is to help Israel’s young citizens of all backgrounds to learn about the other, value diversity, and create fairer classrooms, schools and communities
Vision
To be a leading Israeli shared citizenship education organization, in order to help all of Israel’s 8 million citizens to live together in a fairer society by providing everyone with equal opportunities, respect and a sense of belonging
Core Values
Fair treatment of employees, suppliers and partners.
Respect for diversity among our staff and our target populations, as an expression of our shared citizenship vision.
Professionalism and steadily improving quality of programs and services.
Partnership with various organizations to promote our vision, on the basis of shared values.
Responsibility, trust and transparency in all partnerships.
Learning and continual improvement as an organization and as individuals – we aspire to be the best organization in our field.
Identification and commitment to our shared citizenship model – along with a continual ambition for its improvement.
Major ProgramsSeminars and Workshops - A variety of seminars for teachers (e.g. teaching kindergarten, English or Physical Ed. classes), that provide them with the tools to promote fairness and acceptance of the ‘other’ among their students. The courses are held in diverse groups (religious, secular, immigrants, natives, Arabs and Jews etc.), and are experiential. Additionally, we assist organizations and municipalities to hold meaningful encounters between different groups within diverse communities.Art - This program engages over 50 schools, 100 art and homeroom teachers and 1,600 of their students, across the country. The program includes a training seminar for teachers, weekly art lessons for students - focusing on the beauty of diversity and the other’s culture and heritage - and creative museum encounters between schools and students from different identities (religious, secular, special ed., mainstream, new immigrants, natives, Arabs and Jews etc.). Teaching Staff Diversity - Merchavim works with the Ministry of Education through a joint initiative to integrate 500 Arab teachers (of math, science and English) in Jewish schools. Each year, 15,000 students are taught by teachers in the program. It enables meaningful encounters between Arab and Jewish citizens while ensuring that every student is taught by the best possible teacher without regard to his/her identity.Communicative Arabic and Arabic Society - In the framework of the “Let’s Talk” program, 10,000 Jewish elementary school students study communicative Arabic and shared citizenship. The program is accompanied by two additional packs: “Let’s Meet”, for encounters between Jewish and Arab pupils, and "Let's Get Acquainted", for the study of the Arab and Islamic worlds and communicative Arabic in Jewish middle schools.