Creating a Social Movement of Middle School Students Demanding to Create More Opportunities for Excellence Studies in Mathematics and the Sciences
Israeli adults still do not have high expectations of middle schools. In surveys, parents report they are satisfied with the quality of their children’s schools and with the level of their teachers. They see social relationships as the main goal in middle school, rather than learning and academic achievement. Although parents want their children to take five-unit classes in high school, they do not expect the regular middle school study track to prepare them for this, unless they complement it with a special excellence track or private tutors. In focus groups, middle school teachers also reported that they do not perceive themselves as part of the relay race whose objective is to prepare more students for the five-unit level in high school.
It seems that students are the only ones that are highly focused on learning and excellence, as they report about themselves. They are very much aware of the importance of mathematics to their future and perceive themselves as ambitious. Students acknowledge that success requires effort and according to them, what goes on today in middle school is a waste of their time. They say that the material is irrelevant, the pace is slow, and teaching methods are old-fashioned. They also say that they wish their parents and teachers would encourage them to succeed, and emphasize that they expect their investment in their studies to pay off in the present, as well as in the future.
In light of these findings, the foundation’s Advisory Council recommended we forge a deeper connection with students. The goal of this connection is to increase their motivation for excellence in mathematics and science studies, and to give expression to their voices calling on the adults around them not to give up on them. With the focus on the students, and by relying on their authentic voices, the council suggested we build public awareness regarding the depth of the problem in middle school and then create a momentum intended to recruit parents, teachers, and the education system to address it.
In order to begin moving in this direction, and to seize on the opportunity of an upcoming new government, we approached Roi Tzikorel and Michael Shurp – two social movement experts, who specialize in working with teen audiences. Under the umbrella of LEAD, a not for profit organization focused on young leadership, Tzikorel and Shurp recently organized a grassroots campaign entitled “Let Us Succeed”. So far, they have created online pages that are managed by students, attracting the active involvement of 92,000 students as well as reaching over one million exposures. These pages included asking Jewish and Arab students to report on the existing reality in their classes as well as the changes they would like to see implemented.
In a recent gathering in Tel Aviv, the more active students drafted a position paper aimed at the new Minister of Education, listing their expectations from middle school. The position paper is based on a survey conducted among 10,000 students, and it states the following demands: focusing the curriculum on English, mathematics, science and Hebrew; requiring excellent teachers that teach at a high level and are attentive to students’ needs; and developing assessment methods that are focused on deep understanding and high order thinking, rather than rote learning. A group of the students met with the new minister on his first day in office and presented him with these requests, a meeting that was broadcasted on the Channel 12 evening news.
Now, LEAD is proposing to take these activities to the next level. They are planning to create a social movement for youth, which will translate their desire to succeed into a specific call to action. They will organize the children to demand the opening of additional excellence classes in mathematics and science in middle schools throughout the country. Currently, there are approximately 700 excellence classes in Israeli middle schools, offered to only 10%-15% of the students, typically in one class at each grade level. The goal of this program is to create a demand for an additional 100 excellence classes.
LEAD will work toward these goals by engaging in several activities, including:
These activities will be amplified through social media campaigns in order that 80% of middle school students in Israel will be exposed to them. In addition, the plan is to collaborate with traditional media (television, radio, websites and newspapers) in order to bring the message to parents, teachers, school principals and policy makers.