Welcome to the classroom where worlds collide

Chelsea Channing

By Chelsea Channing
Published October 21, 2016

It's July 2014 and Israel has launched an attack on Gaza City. In a fourth grade classroom in Jerusalem, an Arab student erupts into tears, fearing for the welfare of his relatives in Gaza, who have been out of contact for 24 hours. Next to him, his Jewish classmate nervously awaits news of his big brother, a soldier in the Israeli army.

This is a classroom where worlds collide, but against all odds, prejudices are overcome, contentious and divisive issues are discussed ...

This story appeared in the November 2016 edition of Australian Teacher Magazine.

Teaching Assistant

Veritas Blackburn

Teaching - Primary / Nov 25, 2024

Teaching Assistant

Veritas Blackburn

Teaching - Primary / Nov 25, 2024

Veritas Preston

Teaching - Primary / Nov 25, 2024

By Chelsea Channing

Staff

Chelsea is a staff member of Australian Teacher Magazine, Student Guide, EducationHQ Australia and EducationHQ New Zealand.

@Chelspress1

Similar news

STEM / Lost in space: classroom learning is getting out of this world School news / Classroom welcomes refugees School news / The World Is Your Classroom

Latest comments

This was a very insightful piece and true to my experiences. I taught for 20 years. Teaching was a big part of my ide...

— Felicia Mizgorski on Going, Going, Gone: Is The Grass Greener For Teachers Who Leave?

Top events

Professional Development / August 23, 2024 / 2025 Filmmaking Summer School

We teach the kids how to talk even when they disagree, how to live with disagreement and not necessarily find a solution to agree – we aim to teach them to see the other side’s point at all times.

— Erfat Meyer, arts teacher at Hand in Hand School

…they don’t go out and suddenly discover, ‘oh my god, Jews and Arabs don’t like each other at all’, they’re very much aware of whatever is going on because they feel it all the time.

— Gaby Goldman, Hand in Hand School

Given we’re so isolated geographically, education is paramount. It’s the only way you can stop that racism cycle and that xenophobic cycle and beat that ignorance.

— Kym Wilton, teacher at Palmerston Senior College

Leadership / Career education and guidance a whole school responsibility now: expert

Helping senior students make a positive transition from school into the workplace takes more than just the efforts of a dedicated careers advisor.

School news / Social media ban draws international condemnation amid push to bring it forward

Teenagers could be facing a social media ban sooner than expected under a push to bring it forward, as the world-first mandate draws condemnation from international free speech and human rights advocates.

School news / Going, going, gone: Is the grass greener for teachers who leave?

Are teachers who quit the profession more satisfied in their careers outside the classroom? The answer, generally speaking, is yes – but there’s something quite profound missing from their new working lives, research has found.

School news / Aussie kids need equity guarantee to avoid widening digital divide: new report

As the threat grows of a digital divide that is further entrenching inequality for students experiencing disadvantage, the good news is, it can be prevented, but only if clear steps are taken to harness the opportunities that educational technolog...

Leadership / Addressing climate change anxiety in young people, one action group at a time

Climate change anxiety is a growing threat to young people’s mental health, with three-quarters of 16-to-25-year-olds surveyed in 2021 saying “the future is frightening”, and more than half agreeing “humanity is doomed”.

Leadership / Aussie principals show high levels of instructional leadership, PISA analysis reveals

Australian school leaders hanging out for a good news story about their work and impact in schools have come to the right corner of the web.

School news / Whopping fines for platforms breaching social media age ban

Platforms that breach Australia's world-leading ban on children accessing social media could be fined up to $50 million under proposed new laws.

School news / Vocation vision: the Toowoomba school upping the ante in teacher preparation

Practical placements have long been a conundrum for Australian education, with last year’s Strong Beginnings report revealing ‘a spectrum of experiences’ relayed by frustrated preservice teachers and a distinct lack of consistency at play across t...

Community / Getting ready for 2025: Building strong readers in the early years through a structured approach to literacy

Over the past 20 years, average reading performance has been stagnant for Year 5 students with fewer high-achieving readers among the cohort than there were in 2001 or 2005.

School news / Loved Aussie doco links with AI platform to revolutionise music ed

With recent research by the Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) revealing a sharp decline in the availability of high-quality music education in Australian schools (from 23 per cent in 2010 to only 16 per cent in 2021), innovation and cr...

Comments