TITLE:
Does Multicultural Education Affect the Druze Heritage Curriculum?
AUTHORS:
Janan Farajh Falah
KEYWORDS:
Multicultural, Education, Druze, Heritage, Curriculum, Israel
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.6 No.1,
January
30,
2018
ABSTRACT: Recent researches on the subject of education, the process of educational modifications, educational autonomy and school effectiveness, prove that the great importance of multicultural education in Israel, for the State of Israel is a mix of ethnic heterogeneity with varied national groups and religious beliefs and cultures, which take an active part in developing dialogue and mutual acceptance of the “other”, assuming that there is no “monopoly” on the truth (Gladi, 2009) [1], namely, the State’s majority does not control the minority’s educational processes. The current research focuses on the unique legacy of the Druze. The aim of the research is to identify the teachers’ attitudes towards the subject of the Druze heritage and multiculturalism in the Druze school system. The research question is how multiculturalism program embedded in the Druze education system. For this purpose, 5 teachers who teach the subject of Heritage were interviewed. The findings indicate that the subject of Heritage is a dual tool that enables implementing the curricula under certain circumstances. In the past, the subject was aimed to develop the new “Israeli Druze identity”, while at the present, it is aimed to elaborate multiculturalism in school. In addition, at the period of globalization and the massive media, the subject of heritage is balance and braking method for Druze youngsters, in order to strengthen their relations to the Druze values and beliefs.