Stagnation and Change in Israeli Education

Abstract

The past few decades have seen profound and extensive changes in the social, cultural, economic and political life of Israel. The changes in the educational system have been correspondingly extensive. However, there exists a widely held view that the changes in secondary education are relatively minor. It is thought that these changes do not adequately reflect urgent social needs, such as the need to promote the educational advancement of children of underprivileged background, the need for social integration and for the increased involvement in the culture of the children of Asian and North African immigrants [1]. The reasons for this state of affairs are generally to be located in the secondary school itself. It is the aim of this paper to examine some of the social, cultural and political factors in Israel which affect the direction of change or obstruct change in the secondary school system. The change we refer to is mainly in the structure and in the educational and social orientation. Finally, we shall pose the question as to whether changes more extensive than those hitherto seen are imminent in secondary education as a result of social and other input. An examination of the relation between social variables and variables connected with the educational system presents certain difficulties. For example, it is not possible to point to a direct relation between processes of general and particular social change and changing processes in educational organisations [2]. Furthermore, even when structural changes are made in educational systems for the purpose of achieving with their own tools a reconstitution of orientations and needs relating to values, and to political and economic aspects of society, there is no clear evidence that these structural changes are indeed in line with the change sought. Thus, any discussion that seeks to learn of changes in the school system on the basis of social, cultural, political and economic changes is subject to certain limitations. From another point of view this situation-namely the fact that there is no structured theoretical field-requires that hypotheses be formed concerning the relation between social and educational variables. Our general hypothesis, which will be discussed in detail below, refers to a defined area of a subject formulated in terms of modernisation processes, particularly in education. This is the area where central groups in a pluralistic society join forces with the educational system in order to promote social equalisation. Before we turn to the hypothesis we will consider some of the relevant aspects of educational modernisation.