KIDS4ALLL: A Collaborative-Dialogic Learning Environment From the Point of View of Educators in Formal and Informal Settings in Israel

• In Event: Constructing Possibilities for Equal and Inclusive Education

Abstract

The processes of globalization, demographic changes, and multiculturalism are present to an ever-increasing degree and intensity in formal and informal educational settings. Educators in heterogeneous classrooms are required to respond on a practical level to social, emotional, and cultural diversity. They take a concrete pedagogical approach, relate to a cultural minority, and adapt the teaching methods to the children's cognitive abilities while incorporating modern technologies.
KIDS4ALLL offers a digital learning environment that supports the cognitive and social-emotional integration of children from immigrant families and culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse minority groups. The teaching methodology at KIDS4ALLL includes three components: (1) collaborative teaching-learning processes, (2) eight key principles of lifelong learning, and (3) dialogic competence between peers.
This study is based on the qualitative paradigm that helps revealing the participants' interpretations of social reality. This method makes it possible to voice the personal views of teachers who have participated in the experimental phase in Israel and have activated, during 2023, the digital learning environment in formal and informal educational settings.
Seven educators participated in the study: five teachers and six educators in an informal educational setting. All are Jewish, aged 18-35, and speak Hebrew as their mother tongue. All teachers have experience in multicultural educational settings and working with children from other cultures. The research tool is an interview that focused on perceptions, challenges, and coping methods in the KIDS4ALLL study environment.
The research findings reveal that the educators underwent a significant pedagogical process from the shackles of the traditional concept of teacher-based teaching, which transfers knowledge in a one-way frequency, to flexible, accessible, and differentiated constructivist teaching. The words of a teacher well illustrate the process and the teacher's professional development: "As soon as we connected to the program and became enthusiastic about the study units and the teaching method, the enthusiasm also reached the children. They felt it, and it was fun to hear it from them." The experience of the teachers in the collaborative-dialogic study environment strengthened the awareness of the educators and of the children about the importance of the presence of the cultures of the country of origin and the sharing of beliefs, opinions, thoughts, concerns, and personal stories in the educational space.
It is essential to devote time in the classroom to personal-emotional dialogue, which strengthens self-confidence and a sense of competence and thus increases openness and may strengthen the learners' understanding of differences, in order to arouse curiosity and to show empathy. The dialogue allowed the students to be exposed first hand to diverse points of view. The interaction between the children established trust and an open learning space where everyone could confidently express their opinion without fear of ridicule.

Author

• Chen Sigal