On the Map is a curricular resource and activity guide designed to make enduring change regarding how Israel is taught to middle and high school students. On the Map is organized thematically around seven units with accompanying materials. On the Map has been used successfully in congregational and day schools in the Bay Area and around the United States.
On the Map is available as a digital download which includes a PPT presentation and PDF document. The materials include descriptions of maps, reference texts, and suggested learning activities; they are designed to be adapted to your educational context. Jewish LearningWorks staff will work with you to determine the best type of support to offer you and your team in using On the Map, which might be one or two stand alone consultations for an individual, or a longer training series for a teaching team.
For more information, or to access On the Map resources and support, please contact Jenni Mangel jenni@jewishlearning.works.
Our Israel Education Stance
Exploring Israel with learners of any age has perhaps never been more difficult. When we teach about Israel, each of us in the room – whether teacher or learner – comes with our own knowledge, experiences, and assumptions. It is in this context that Jewish LearningWorks has developed our Israel education offerings for 2024-25.
We acknowledge that no teacher, and no topic can be value neutral, and we have chosen partners that we believe will create a safe, learning environment for participants. We embrace an approach Rabbi Laura Novak Winer recently termed Yedidat Yisrael/Knowing Israel as we work together to sharpen our content knowledge, and develop the tools required to reach learners with divergent ideas, experiences and positions. Rabbi Novak Winer writes: “Yediat Yisrael more accurately reflects the type of knowledge, understandings, and connections our learners need. Yes, it may lead to ahavat Yisrael, but that is not the primary objective. Yediat Yisrael aims for learners to find and navigate their own meanings and connections with Israel, as the historic homeland, as a global, diverse Jewish community, and as the modern State. Yediat Yisrael aims to build understanding.”
Ultimately, meaningful Israel education (in fact all education) depends on educators bringing themselves to the work. We are committed to taking an intentional, and learner-centered approach to this topic, and remain always open to your feedback.
What “On the Map” Users Are Saying
“They loved it. When the students don’t want to leave the class and they want to talk about it more and more and ask so many questions... OTM brought up a lot of interesting things. There are provocative, unusual maps that are so different from what they usually see. It is so out of the box that it is a great way to enrich the way they look at maps.”
Day School Educator“At the school, we can celebrate and love Israel. But this is a class. It is not an advocacy class. It’s not a propaganda class. It’s an academic subject. In the class, we study Israel rather than blindly follow Israel. Study means struggle. It means not accepting Israel blindly. The students now know how to say, ‘There’s more to the story.’”
Day School Educator“I was shocked at what my students didn’t know. We studied the territories last year and they didn’t remember anything. It’s so important for us to be reviewing. Maps are so concrete; it’s accessible to them.”
Day School Educator“This should be a national curriculum. It is multi-disciplinary. It has politics, history, art. It is nuanced. The curriculum is set up so you can use the material in a surface way or in a deep way. It is so needed.”
Day School Educator
