The Case of Samantha: A Child’s Understanding of the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian Conflict
Discussion Questions
- Please share with the group: What is your name? Where do you work? What age students do you teach and/or want to think most about today?
- At what age does Samantha say she first began thinking about the conflict? At what age does Samantha first begin to share her thoughts about the conflict aloud?
- If time: What are the educational implications of Samantha’s earliest reflections on the conflict?
- How does Samantha talk, think, and feel about the conflict in kindergarten and 1st grade?
- To what extent do her words support and/or challenge your prior beliefs about young children?
- How does Samantha’s understanding of the conflict evolve from early (grades K-1) to middle elementary school (grades 2-3)?
- To what extent do her words support and/or challenge your prior beliefs about conflict education?
- How does Samantha’s understanding of the conflict evolve, and how does remain constant, from middle elementary school (grades 2-3) to late elementary school (grades 4-5)?
- To what extent do her words support and/or challenge your prior beliefs about peace education?
- How does Samantha frame her thoughts on the conflict and her education about the conflict in middle school?
- To what extent to her words support and/or challenge your prior beliefs about Jewish education?
2021 Sivan Zakai Children’s Learning About Israel Project of the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University
Please do not reuse or distribute without written consent from the Children’s Learning About Israel Project