2023-10-16 16:37:00
At the request of the Minister of Education Caroline Désir, a sheet which addresses the question of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will soon be made available to teachers. This sheet, written by four organizations (Enobel, Amnesty International, RTBF and the Higher Council for Media Education) will be available on the e-classe platform in the coming days.
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This guide on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be added to the many current topics which have already been addressed within the framework of “hot questions”, burning subjects likely to raise questions among students. In this series, we find a file on Olivier Vandecasteele, Chat GPT or even the war in Ukraine.
“The starting principle of the Questions Vives project is that there is a series of subjects which affect young people and can raise a large number of questions which touch on the values conveyed by society. In this case, what we are proposing to teachers is not to be journalistically accurate but to address questions like: ‘Why does a people want to have a territory?’ more philosophical and moral questions,” explains Laurent Deutsch, head of activism and human rights education at Amnesty International Belgium.
Elements of historical context will also be discussed.
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Since the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, many teachers feel helpless when faced with questions from their students. “There are teachers who decided to address the issue spontaneously and presented things in the most neutral and objective way possible. But others are afraid of broaching the subject and of having negative reactions from students or of not being able to manage the debate in the class,” explains Elisabete Pessoa, president of the Appel teachers’ union.
“Teachers are not sufficiently equipped to tackle this complex and very divisive subject which combines questions of ideology, culture and religion and can resonate strongly with students. I think we should not force teachers to address the subject if they are not comfortable,” she adds.
For MP Stéphanie Cortisse, providing resources to teachers is essential, as long as they are “neutral and objective”.
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“Teachers must not evade students’ questions, but they do not have all the means to answer them with objective and neutral data. These subjects have their place in schools but teachers must have reliable educational resources to address them. and there are fears about the development of a guide which must absolutely remain neutral. We see, certain expressions do not pass. They should not be put in difficulty or have the same problem as with the EVRAS guide,” she believes. “We will have to ensure that this tool is not oriented. I plan to question Minister Désir on this subject,” adds Diana Nikolic, also an MR MP.
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