© via Netzwerk Israel
Our scholarship recipient Maayan Shalem, together with her mentor Shaked Cohen, was able to complete a several-week internship at the 7xJung Museum in Berlin. Both are part of the artist and educator collective Tarbut Movement in Israel, which promotes democratic education through art and dialogue.
Education in times of crisis
The starting point for their stay was the search for new methods of democratic education in times of crisis and war. In Israel, Maayan and Shaked work in an education system that has come under pressure due to the ongoing war, attacks on fundamental democratic rights and structures, racism, and extreme public discourse. Teachers are faced with questions to which they often have no answers.
The 7xJung Museum in Berlin seemed to them to be the ideal place to learn: an institution that not only preserves the culture of remembrance, but also develops a new language from it. Through art, play, and dialogue, the museum enables young people to engage with history and connect it to contemporary issues.
At the same time, Maayan and Shaked wanted to bring their experiences in Israel into an international discussion. They see strengthening democratic forces not only as a local task, but as a global responsibility.
Meeting educators and artists in Germany who are also dealing with the rise of the extreme right, racism, and how to deal with historical guilt was a double opportunity for them: to learn from each other and to build a network of support.
Maayan and Shaked gained insights into the work of the museum team and how programs can be adapted to the needs of teachers. They learned how the history of the Holocaust can be made relevant to young people in very different contexts and how creative practice opens the door to authentic dialogue.
To deepen their experience, they participated in various youth workshops and observed how facilitators lead sensitive and courageous discussions. They conducted interviews with educators and students who shed light on the process from different perspectives. At the same time, they developed initial ideas on how methods could be translated into Hebrew and adapted to Israeli classrooms.
What they took away
Maayan and Shaked had a key experience during their stay: art can be a way to start conversations about difficult topics. Maayan and Shaked found it particularly moving to see how openly and positively students responded to creative work and how it helped them find their own way of expressing their thoughts and feelings.
The feeling of hope was particularly formative for them: meeting educators and artists who address and discuss difficult topics such as responsibility, guilt, and fear on a daily basis without losing their confidence. Equally important was the experience of being part of an international network of democratic educators who face similar challenges and support each other. This knowledge gave them time to take a deep breath and continue their work in Israel with renewed strength.
Challenges and outlook
However, the challenges remain great: in Israel, the education system is exhausted by the war, young people are increasingly resorting to extreme language, and many teachers are losing confidence in their ability to shape democratic dialogue.
For the future, Maayan and Shaked plan to return to Berlin to deepen their collaboration, continue to observe, learn, and develop new methods, and bring a small delegation of teachers from the Tarbut Movement to Berlin—not as visitors, but as colleagues with their own results and experiences. At the same time, they are working on an article about their experiences and on educational materials in Hebrew so that the methods they have learned can soon be applied in Israeli schools and youth groups.
Conclusion
For Maayan and Shaked, their stay as part of the Israel Network Scholarship marked the beginning of a larger process: building an international network of educators and artists who understand that the commitment to democracy, freedom, and an open society is a shared, courageous, and ongoing one.
