“Glocalisation” doctrine in the Israeli Public Education System: A contextual analysis of a policy-making process

Abstract

In 2016, the Israeli Ministry of Education (MoE) issued a policy document recommending six new doctrines for pedagogical development at schools. Amid those is ‘Glocalism’, aimed at addressing the global/local mix within the schooling system. Given the lack of a declared internationalization policy in Israel and its highly nationalistic curricula, this direction may constitute a first attempt by the MoE to internationalize school curricula. Public participation, including third-sector organizations actors, constituted a fundamental element in the development of this policy. Examining why this is, and what impact it had on how internationalization was conceived of is critical in this era of pluri-scalar policy-making. Our findings highlight the crucial role played by various non-governmental actors in this process. We also reveal that certain voices were in effect silenced – whether from marginalized constituencies or those suggesting directions contradicting the MoE’s intentions. The policy offers a vague definition for ‘Glocalism’, which appears to eliminate possibilities for marginalizing those communities who feel most challenged by this policy move. Yet, this open-endness in the conceptualization of internationalization is likely to further increase current inequalities within the education system. We argue that such public participation processes can therefore easily become pseudo-participatory, marginalizing and excluding particular constituents.

Teaching history in Japan and England: exchanging ideas and comparing knowledge

“…The, perhaps increasing, evidence of attention being drawn towards the importance of the “local” (i.e. regional and national) in debates about global citizenship education, suggests to us that our approach has some value (Dvir et al , 2019). The more enthusiastic response from the school in England and the more reserved response on the part of the Japanese is interesting in that it may reveal attachment to the pre-existing styles of teaching and learning.…”