Introduction to IKAR
Introduction to IKAR
A High School Teaching Program at Work
The IKAR program—Israel: Knowledge, Advocacy, and Responsibility—is the American Jewish Committee’s Israel education and engagement program. IKAR was originally created by AJC and the Solomon Schechter High School of New York, and piloted at Solomon Schechter from 2002-2004.
The goals of IKAR are threefold: to help create a sense of connection to Israel among high school-aged Jewish students; to give the students a sense of confidence in speaking about Israel through familiarity with basic concept of contemporary history; and to help students develop the tools to speak on behalf of Israel if they so choose.
IKAR is structured as a teacher’s guide, complete with lesson plans, lecture material, visual aids, handouts that can be reproduced for students, and suggested activities. In addition to familiarizing students with the current debates surrounding Israel and with some themes of Israeli history, IKAR also focuses on developing speaking and presentation skills, and on involving students actively in the process of questioning and learning. IKAR is not meant to replace full courses in Jewish and Israeli history.
In this sense, we encourage educators to pick and choose from IKAR, in the certainty that they know their audiences and their educational settings best, including the amount of time that can be allotted to the material introduced through IKAR.
The IKAR program is made up of several parts:
A suggested introductory lecture addresses the question of why young American Jews should take the challenge of engaging with Israel today. It sets the stage for IKAR by motivating students, and can also help to bring parents, educators, and community members together if it is used in the context of a larger inaugural event. Subsequent break-out sessions focus on individual student reaction and personal connections to Israel. In addition, a survey quiz of knowledge and attitudes about Israel, which can be given to students at the outset, may also be used at the conclusion of the IKAR program for purposes of program evaluation.
A set of five workshops examine key issues of controversy today and use them as starting points to delve into broader issues of history and politics in Israel and the region. The workshops are intended to present their subject matter as complex, not shying away from difficult issues. While they cannot be comprehensive in the ground they cover, the workshops familiarize students with the discussions in key areas.
A sample one-month classroom unit undertakes a more in-depth examination of the development of modern Israel. It includes lessons on the creation of modern Zionism as well as the struggle to build a democratic Israeli state. The unit touches on some of Israel’s external and internal challenges today, and includes longer-term writing and research assignments as well as in-class discussions, quizzes, and group projects.
Finally, a DVD with four video segments accompanies IKAR’s written materials. The first segment introduces the IKAR program.
All of the IKAR material attempts to deal with difficult but important subjects of modern Israel and the Middle East in a responsible, moderate way—reflecting recent research on issues of controversy and attempting to show a broad range of perspectives, when appropriate.
IKAR is a unique partnership between Jewish professionals and Israel experts, parents, administrators, and educators. We are grateful to our Advisory Board, made up of distinguished educators, academics, and Jewish leaders, for providing valuable input and guidance on the content and distribution of IKAR. These include: Rabbi Robert Abramson, Rabbi Ramie Arian, Mitchell Bard, Rabbi Barry Chazan, Abigail Chill, Sharon Hod, Professor Paula E. Hyman, Jonathan Kessler, Charles McLean and Dr. Kenneth W. Stein.
We also express our thanks to those who participated in creating and teaching the IKAR pilot seminars and those who made substantial contributions to this project: David Bernstein, Dorothy Bowser, Carol Kekst, Jessica Lautin, Adam Shapiro, and Lori Skopp, as well as Rolf Behrens, Aron Di Castro, Ben Fishman, Joshua Gutoff, Adam Janvey, Noam Marans, Rachel Sassoon, Kara Stein, Cara Suvall, Avigail Sugarman, Ari Fridman and Leora Niderberg.
If you would like to own and implement the IKAR program, contact Rebecca Neuwirth at (212) 891-1403 (neuwirthr@ajc.org) or Meredith Katz at (212) 877-7747 (2mlk@netzero.com).
