Inclusive Curriculum? Challenges to the Role of Civic Education in a Jewish and Democratic State

Abstract

Against the backdrop of growing conflicts in Israeli society and concerns about its democratic character, the current curriculum guidelines and official textbook for civic education in Israel were set to offer a more inclusive civic education that would stress ideas such as pluralistic and democratic citizenship. However, this curriculum does not operate in a vacuum, and despite the language of inclusivity implied in the curriculum guidance, a discursive analysis of the curriculum materials and interviews with 13 officials in the Ministry of Education revealed the complexities and the competing messages that emerged from contemporary civic education in Israel. This article explores the ways in which Israeli citizenship and membership in the civic collective are defined by the official curriculum and textbook for civic education. In particular, it is concerned with the tension between inclusion and exclusion and the ways in which civic education acts as a space for both nation building and state formation.