Is public engagement with science deliberative and evidence-based? The public is often perceived as underprepared to use data and susceptible to partisan and emotional manipulation. Consequently, educational efforts focus on the ability to identify reliable information. We posit that effective engagement with science goes beyond this and hinges on…

This study explores how homeroom teachers construct meaningfulness in their work and in their professional identity, and how this meaningfulness serves them as they interpret and react to public criticism of their profession. Our study relies on interviews with 95 teachers working in Israeli elementary-, middle- and high schools, and draws on the…

Although science presents ethical challenges to society, little is known about the ways in which adults express ethical concerns in everyday science-related situations. This study analyzed the ethical expressions in 1079 reader comments to online news coverage of animal experimentation and climate change in Israel. Some forms of ethical concerns…

Facilitating students' chemical literacy is a focal point of current science education. This study examines views of chemists and chemistry teachers on chemical literacy and, more broadly, on scientific literacy of four kinds of stakeholders: scientists, teachers, STEM students, and the educated public. We explored the views of 347 participants,…

This study maps, characterizes, and conceptualizes the media discourse and coverage of non-governmental organization--school interactions within public education in Israel, while depicting the evolving dynamics and framing of this ever prominent phenomenon. The authors employed two complementary methodologies for the analysis: critical discourse…

A Jewish-Israeli identity incorporates two identities--Jewish and Israeli, and various philosophers suggest different ways to view the combination or separation of these identities. Agasi and Samucha come from different approaches to suggest ways of integrating both identities. They speak about the existing division between the two identities, in…

This article presents and analyzes two examples of peace education practices in the Israeli-Palestinian context. "Zochrot" is an organization dedicated to raising public awareness of the Palestinian Nakba, especially among Jews in Israel. "The School for Peace" is a Jewish-Arab organization that conducts encounter activities…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of three influential groups toward homework: parents, teachers and the public. Specifically, attitudes toward reducing and eliminating homework, as well as creating alternatives to conventional homework, are examined. The first hypothesis is that the attitude of teachers and parents toward…

Stigma associated with seeking help has been found to be a key help-seeking barrier, however its role is less clear for: (a) adolescents, (b) groups outside the United States and (c) different types of therapy. This study addresses these omissions by examining the relationships between perceptions of public stigma of mental illness and the…

Today, science is a major part of Western culture. One advantage of informal learning environments is that they are (potentially) open to a wide range of populations with varying levels of interest and knowledge. Because of their informal nature, documenting learning has proven challenging. Studies that assess learning in museums, therefore, must…

Mathematics continues to be an enabling discipline for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-based university studies and related careers. Explanatory models for females' underrepresentation in higher level mathematics and STEM-based courses comprise learner-related and environmental variables--including societal beliefs. Using…

This article deals with a pioneering project currently being developed, namely, the Exhibition on Testing and Measurement. This interactive traveling exhibition will be presented in science museums in Israel, the United States, and other countries. It has been conceived as an innovative means of familiarizing the public with educational…

This article proposes a typology that conceptualizes a chronological approach to Holocaust Education and suggests that we focus on identifying the stages and shifts in the development of the curriculum and the scholarship. I attempt to organize existing knowledge on the subject by conducting a meta-analysis of the foundations and basic premises of…

Teachers often embed their labor demands within a broader context to claim high moral ground and build community support. We analyze a recent teachers' strike in Israel, looking at how the strike played out in a country where the challenges of globalization collided with a socialist legacy in the face of an existential threat. The analysis reveals…

This article deals with mass media in modern democratic societies, using the example of Israeli news reports in German television (TV) news. Central to this interest are processes of mediating politics: political socialisation and education; that is to say, empowering citizens via TV news to participate in democratic processes. The article…