Grant amount
NIS 830,000
A Public Campaign Demanding To Raise The Education Level Of Math And Science
'Let Us Learn': Amplifying the Public Voice of Middle School Students Demanding to Raise the Bar in Mathematics and Science Studies
'Let Us Learn': Amplifying the Public Voice of Middle School Students Demanding to Raise the Bar in Mathematics and Science Studies
At the threshold of a new endeavor in middle schools, the foundation commissioned studies and surveys among students, teachers, principals and parents. We were surprised to learn that, although achievements are low and gaps are widening, adults are not very concerned with student learning. Parents prioritize middle schools to deal with fostering significant relationships and friendships among students. Teachers perceive middle school years as a very difficult age and see their role as to offer a ‘tasting menu’. They want their students to build an appetite for further learning in their areas of emerging interest.
We were even more astounded to hear a very different voice arriving from students. Many middle school students appear to be highly focused on learning. They point specifically to the study of mathematics and the English language, which seem to them more important than other subject areas to their future adult lives. They acknowledge that achievement requires effort and persistence and they claim to be willing and determined to make such an effort. They are furious at their parents and teachers for not pushing them and portray their years in middle school as ‘a waste of time’.
In discussing these findings with the foundation’s international advisory council during its meeting in November 2018, members of the council recommended that we carefully listen and then publically amplify these voices. By giving students a stage and a seat at the table, the hope is that they will serve as the initial driver to change current perceptions of parents and teachers. The goal of such effort would be to raise public awareness regarding the complexity of the issues and for the immediate need to solve them.
As a first step to fulfill this goal, we approached LEAD, a veteran partner of the foundation in creating Teacher’s Day in Israel, and a renowned operator of a youth leadership program. LEAD proposes to organize in the coming 3 months a grassroots effort to amplify students’ voices surrounding excellence in Israel’s middle schools. The immediacy of this activity is driven by the need to be relevant to a new government in Israel, as it shapes its educational agenda, and to the foundation’s emerging portfolio in middle schools.
The program will be led by a professional taskforce, comprised of Roi Tzikorel and Michael Shurp, social movement consultants, as well as Noy Perry, the foundation’s new creative media officer. They will be joined by a project manager who will be enlisted to orchestrate the activities on the ground. The taskforce will prepare the campaign, its branding and materials (films, posters, ads, etc.) and will disseminate them through social and traditional media and via public events. It will also create and work with a ‘core leadership team’ and a group of ‘ambassadors’ comprised of middle school students.
The core leadership team will be a small group of ten students who will be carefully selected to be the face and voice of the campaign to their peers and the adult public. The team will meet intensively, online and face-to-face, with help from the project manager, to jointly develop and clarify their standing regarding middle school studies. They will jointly prepare a list of requirements for change in middle schools, which they will ask to present to the new Minister of Education.
The ambassadors group will be comprised of 100 students which will receive the campaign material and will be expected to distribute it. They will do so by convening local events and by sharing the material via social media. They will engage their peers in a vibrant discourse around the theme and increase the reach and participation.
The ultimate goal of these efforts will be to amplify a call for action coming from youth, to raise the bar and expand the circle of excellence in mathematics and science studies in middle schools. It is hoped that this will provide the new Minister of Education with public backing in planning a designated policy. For this to happen, we aim for the effort to go viral, with high organic engagement and dissemination across social and traditional media. This will require to reach at least 250,000 middle school students, encouraging them to participate and express their authentic voice.