Developing Modernized Curricula on Immigrants Lives

The aim of DEMO.IL is to increase attention to migrants' lives in academic training in applied social professions such as teachers, counselors, social workers, psychologists in Israel; develop knowledge about migrants' lives and integrate their voices into study programs of these professsions in HEIs and in the general social discourse. The aims we propose to achieve by the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative courses on the lives of immigrants. DEMO.IL will pilot and disseminate 12 new courses (26 class hours) and 5 short modules (1.5-3 class hours) to be incorporated in existing courses. The syllabi will be developed by bi-national teams in collaboration with local NGOs working with immigrants . Novel teaching methodologies will be applied: Participatory strategies, Community Oriented Projects, and Art based learning. These methodologies will enable students, many of whom are immigrants or children of immigrants to undergo a meaningful personal learning process. As they engage cognitive, emotional and non-verbal processes, such methodologies are likely to create deep and long-lasting effects. DEMO.IL products will include: video recorded narratives of immigrants, syllabi, methodological instructions, teaching kits, reference lists, links etc. These will be available to teachers and students in print and on an on-line platform. The short modules will be demonstrated in HEIs. Conferences, meetings and mentoring will be organized. We envisage that during and after the projects lifetime, courses on the lives of immigrants will be taught to hundreds of students in Israeli HEIs, refining their professional skills and employabilty in a multicultural society and improving societal attitudes towards immigrants.