Gad Marcus
Ono Academic College, Education and Society, Faculty Member
Background: This paper explores K-12 interdisciplinary learning in the humanities (IL-Humanities), an area that, until now, has seen limited research focus compared to its STEM counterparts. We asked: (1) What are the outcomes of... more
Background: This paper explores K-12 interdisciplinary learning in the humanities (IL-Humanities), an area that, until now, has seen limited research focus compared to its STEM counterparts. We asked: (1) What are the outcomes of IL-Humanities in terms of interdisciplinary competences? (2) How do learners in these environments engage in cross-disciplinary knowledge building and transdisciplinary identity work? Methods: We assessed the efficacy of IL-Humanities across ten Israeli middle schools through a pre-post intervention/comparison design, utilizing the novel Interdisciplinary Competences Assessment (ICA). Qualitative insights into the learning processes within classrooms were derived using discourse analysis methods. Findings: Students' interdisciplinary competences were found to increase following the IL-Humanities interventions. Qualitative analyses offered "thick descriptions" of the process: Students leveraged cross-disciplinary transfer of knowledge to deepen their understanding of complex phenomena and used personal narratives to engage in identity work. Contribution: This study enhances interdisciplinary education research by: (1) providing and operationalizing a model of interdisciplinary competences as an assessment tool; (2) demonstrating the effectiveness of IL-Humanities environments in developing these competences; and (3) advancing our understanding of learners’ engagement with cross-disciplinary knowledge
building and transdisciplinary identity work.
building and transdisciplinary identity work.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As we hear nowadays so much about ongoing discrimination, whether based on sexual or racial stereotypes, I have decided to devote this paper to show how education as formation-or Bildung-can and should constantly serve as a reminder that... more
As we hear nowadays so much about ongoing discrimination, whether based on sexual or racial stereotypes, I have decided to devote this paper to show how education as formation-or Bildung-can and should constantly serve as a reminder that all human beings, even in all their differences, are equal. While I truly believe that there should be no need to have to present an argument for this, I will do so, based on my understanding of Bildung in accordance with Heidegger and Buber as well as Jewish Thought.
Research Interests:
IntroductIon When Hannah Arendt writes about a gap between the past and the future, her main concern is our inability to dwell in this gap, that is, in the present. She writes that a gap between the past and the future has become “a... more
IntroductIon When Hannah Arendt writes about a gap between the past and the future, her main concern is our inability to dwell in this gap, that is, in the present. She writes that a gap between the past and the future has become “a tangible reality and perplexity for all,”1 yet “that we seem to be neither equipped nor prepared for this activity, of settling down in the gap between past and future.”2 Furthermore, Arendt writes about the thinking that occurs in this gap. Describing how our present thoughts are influenced by the past and future she suggests that both, the future and the past, “whose origin is infinity,” should be understood to produce “a third force.” This third force, which she describes as “diagonal force, whose origin is known, whose direction is determined by past and future, but whose eventual end lies in infinity, is the perfect metaphor for the activity of thought ... [it] remains bound to and is rooted in the present.”3 What leads Arendt to this suggestion is ...
Research Interests:
The aim of this part of the chapter is to describe the main trends of an educational philosophy within the Jewish community of the Middle Ages. To do so, we first examine general ideas on education in the Jewish tradition that derive from... more
The aim of this part of the chapter is to describe the main trends of an educational philosophy within the Jewish community of the Middle Ages. To do so, we first examine general ideas on education in the Jewish tradition that derive from biblical and Talmudic sources since they provide the fundamentals to any Jewish philosophy of education. We then provide a sketch of the Jewish community in the Middle Ages so as to illuminate the educational system that was in place during that particular period. The next section is an analysis of the Jewish concept of Torah lishmah (i.e., study for its own sake). In the Jewish tradition, this has always been the highest aim of a mode of study. Finally, we consider the thought of Moses ben Maimon (aka Maimonides or the Rambam) who, beyond being perhaps the best-known Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages, was a philosopher of education too.
To explore how one can settle and think in the gap, I have decided to draw on the Jewish tradition. Although this article brings Arendt’s thought into conversation with education, the specific focus of inquiry within the Jewish tradition... more
To explore how one can settle and think in the gap, I have decided to draw on the Jewish tradition. Although this article brings Arendt’s thought into conversation with education, the specific focus of inquiry within the Jewish tradition is, more specifically, on studying. The Jewish notion of “study for study’s sake” will serve here as an example of how to settle and think in the gap. Furthermore, it will unveil some interesting connections and parallels to Arendt’s thoughts on education and our overall duties towards society. Ultimately, by suggesting further directions for research, this article serves as a starting point for a reevaluation of whether thinking and settling down in the gap may after all be possible, even without necessarily being connected to tradition.