State of Israel Ministry of Education Division of Adult Education Adult Education in Israel 14 Jerusalem, 2015 Adult Education in Israel Volume 14 Editor: Dr. Ido Bassok Language editor: Dvora Bitcover Publication date Summer 2015 Editorial board: Ms. Maggie Koren (Chair), Ms. Rina Cohen, Dr. Sara Rubenstein, Dr. Eitan Israeli, Mr. Shalom Buchbut, Ms. Tsippi Mazar, Ms. Ya'ara Seroussi, Ms. Sarah Golan Graphic design: Scorpio 88, Studio Shoshana Shahar Published by: Publications Department, Israel Ministry of Education The articles are in PDF format, per chapter headings below © All Rights Reserved Contents Editor – "He who Considereth the Poor" – Dramatic Change 6 Needed in Our Approach to Excluded Populations Inclusion in Regular Education, Academization, and Nurturing Hebrew-Language Skills to Promote Excluded Populations' Integration in the Workplace - Overview Rina Laor – Integration and promotion in the workplace: 10 What has been done? What needs to be done? Integrating 22 – ״Towards Employment״ – Gila Schwartz-Shahar Different Population Groups into the Workforce by means of Employment Programs in the IACC: Principles and Action Inclusion of Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israeli General Education and the Israeli Workforce Betzalel Cohen – The Ultra-Orthodox Community in Israel – 42 Between Integration and Segregation Rina Cohen Sutzkever – A Multicultural Approach to Adult 50 Learning – The Critical Path to Integrating the Ultra- Orthodox Population in Employment Shirley Marom – Military Training for the Ultra-Orthodox 65 Population and its Contribution to Integration and Promotion in Employment Maayan Shahaf – The Ultra-Orthodox Pre-Academic Program 84 for Men Asaf Malhi – From Skullcap to Mortarboard – Academic 104 Studies in Ultra-Orthodox Society Maayan Shahaf – Supplementing Ultra-Orthodox Education 126 – The Issue of Women Liat Kulik – Attitudes towards the World of Work and 136 Employability Strengths Among Ultra-Orthodox Working Women Pioneers 152 :״Achiya״ Roi Canaan – Training Teaching Staff in School ׳in the Ultra-Orthodox Boys Y. R. Sharabani - How to 'Make a Likeness': An Art Institute 163 for the Ultra-Orthodox Mayer Fialkoff – A Personal Reading in a Research about the 173 Emergence of an Ultra-Orthodox Middle-Class in Israel Advancing the Israeli-Arab Population's Hebrew Language Skills and Education to Promote Occupational Inclusion Shirley Marom – The Importance of Hebrew for Integrating 185 and Promoting the Israeli-Arab Population in the Job Market Sarah Golan – Teaching Hebrew to the Arabic-Speaking 214 Sector in the Adult Education Division: Changes in Syllabuses to Meet Current Needs The "New Oldsters" as a Working and Learning Population Zev Golan – Senior Citizens: Our Largest Reservoir of 231 Unexploited Resources Developments in Adult Education Zvika Amir and Haim Portnoy – Developments in Adult 268 Education – A Survey of Adult Skills in Israel and Abroad Sharon Green and Uri Marcus – A Community-Center Based 284 "Social Network" for People with Disabilities and Special Populations Adult Education in Israel N. 14, 2015 Editor's Note "He who Considerth the Poor" – Dramatic Change Needed in Our Approach to Excluded Populations This issue addresses a problem that from many perspectives could be regarded as one of the most serious dilemmas facing Israeli society, perhaps even more urgent than Israel's immediate security concerns: how to include populations in the country's economic life which for cultural, political and other reasons, make only a limited contribution to the economy. The main populations in question here are the ultra-orthodox Jews (haredim), especially males, and the Arab and Bedouin sectors, with an emphasis on women. Another, related, problem raised here is that of workplace inclusion for those who would once have been considered "elderly" – people who are past the customary working age but whose skills and abilities are potentially of great value to the economy. The fact that these significant population segments are only partially integrated into the Israeli labor force constitutes a tremendous loss with grave consequences: the majority sector loses a work cadre that, with appropriate instruction and training, could benefit the economy and raise Israel's GDP and per capita income. If required steps are not taken, the "minorities", who are unemployed or who work in unsuitable or low- wage jobs, will remain on the fringes of society, with a low standard of living and a sense of alienation and marginalization. Every sector suffering discrimination or exclusion has its own problems and specific reasons for being alienated. Until a few years ago (and to some degree even today), the haredi sector championed adherence to a lifestyle that prioritized "Torah study" and entrenchment behind a wall of insularity. The extravagant benefits, grants and allowances that Israeli governments had showered upon them during the preceding decades reinforced these self- limiting tendencies. The Arab sector, for its part, suffers discrimination 6 Adult Education in Israel N. 14, 2015 with regard to financial resources and the development of employment centers, transportation networks and municipal infrastructures. For a variety of reasons, scholastic achievement in the Arab sector is lower than in the Jewish sector, while Arab society's conservative religious-cultural outlook limits women's participation in the labor force. Regarding the third population with which we are concerned in this issue – people over the customary working age – the primary barrier to their inclusion in the workplace is outmoded perceptions of older people's ability to function. In this issue we discuss the main tool with the capacity to remedy the socioeconomic problem of exclusion: educational development at all levels and across all types and spheres of learning. After two general articles, by Rena Laor and Gila Schwartz-Shahar, on basic programs for workplace inclusion, the issue proceeds to focus on the haredi population. Bezalel Cohen addresses the major dilemmas associated with the entrance of the haredi sector into the Israeli labor force, military service and other social structures: should one adopt an approach of strict segregation, or strive for co-existence while maintaining the haredi-religious identity? Shirley Marom writes about the near-obligatory "channel" for haredi labor force entry: military service with an element of occupational training. Asaf Malhi gives an expert and nuanced overview of the process of raising academic standards that is currently taking place in haredi society. Maayan Shahaf is a creative educational entrepreneur who has developed an array of proposals, some of which have already been implemented, for easing the entry of haredi men and women into higher education by means of preparatory programs (mechinot) and specially- designed frameworks for completing matriculation exams. The haredi population's potential and talent for learning are huge; should these qualities be channeled into productive professional activity, it could raise both the Israeli economy and society to new heights. Attention is also devoted to the special status and outlook of working haredi women as compared to non-working and non-haredi working women (Liat Kulik). 7 Adult Education in Israel N. 14, 2015 No less compelling are the articles that deal with training programs oriented toward the haredi sector; study frameworks that represent no less than a revolution in this sector's mentality. Roi Canaan writes about a framework for training teachers and education personnel of a kind previously unknown, while Y.R. Sharabani writes about a haredi school of the arts. Meir Pialkoff reviewed for us an interesting book on our main focus of interest: the haredi middle class. The issue of Arab sector exclusion is discussed here mainly from the perspective of fostering Hebrew language skills, a highly decisive factor in workplace inclusion (Shirley Marom and Sarah Golan). On the topic of the "new elderly," those people in their sixties, seventies and beyond who are generally in good, or reasonable, health and capable of contributing to the economy as salaried or volunteer workers, we present here an informative, in-depth study by Zev Golan, whose calculations show that the Israeli economy could grow significantly if it drew on the currently for the most part untapped resource of older workers. Zvika Amir and Haim Portnoy are the OECD's Global Adult Skills s emissaries " to Israel. f. This survey evaluates the degree׳Survey Project to which the participating countries' education systems are teaching the literacy, numeracy and computer skills that today's world requires. Amir and Portnoy find that in the United States and the developed countries of southern Europe what is being taught in the schools is far from relevant to the needs of current economic life. By contrast, the Japanese, Koreans and Scandinavians are doing much better at teaching and learning. The present issue also offers a glimpse of the new approaches being developed by Israel's Association of Community Centers to serve people with various kinds of disabilities (Sharon Green and Uri Marcus). !s to enjoyable reading׳Here The Editor 8 Inclusion in Regular Education, Academization, and Nurturing Hebrew- Language Skills to Promote Excluded Populations' Integration in the Workplace - Overview Adult Education in Israel N. 14, 2015 Integration and Career Advancement in the Workplace: What has been done? What needs to be done? Rina Laor Employment in Israel: the Main