Activist Pedagogy and Shared Education in Divided Societies

Collaborative engagement between activist academics from Israel and Northern Ireland highlighted the challenges and potential of working through education to promote shared learning and shared life in divided societies. Following these initial explorations, the volume brought together educationalists from Europe, the United States and South Africa to widen the range of experience and insights, and broaden the base of the conversation. The result is this book on the role of shared education, not only in deeply divided societies, but also in places where minorities face discrimination, where migrants face prejudice and barriers, or where society fails to deal positively with cultural diversity. Together, the contributors challenged themselves to develop theoretical and practical paradigms, based on practical knowledge and experience, to promote activist pedagogies. Their shared purpose was to work for more humane, just and democratic societies, in which education offers genuine hope for sustained transformational change.

The four main themes around which the book is organized are: educating for democratic-multicultural citizenship, models of shared learning, nurturing intercultural competencies, and reconciling dialogue in the face of conflicting narratives. The book draws on a wide range of international perspectives and insights to identify practical strategies for change in local contexts.

Dafna Yitzhaki, Ph.D., is sociolinguist and teaches at Kibbutzim College of Education, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Her current research interests include multilingualism and multiculturalism in education. Together with A. Yuval, she co-edited the book Education and the Jewish-Palestinian Conflict in Israel (forthcoming).

Tony Gallagher is Professor of Education at Queen’s University Belfast, former Head of the School of Education, and Pro Vice Chancellor. He authored ten books, and over 100 book chapters and academic journal articles.

Nimrod Aloni is a Professor of Philosophy of Education at Kibbutzim College of Education, Israel. He holds the UNESCO Chair in Humanistic Education and authored ten books and many articles and book chapters in the area of humanistic education.

Zehavit Gross holds the UNESCO Chair in Education for Human Values, Tolerance Democracy and Peace and is Professor at the Faculty of Education, Bar Ilan University, Israel. She is the former president of the Israeli Society for Comparative Education (ICES) and currently participates in four international research projects.