A Critical Analysis of the New Elementary School Curriculum / ביקורת תוכנית הלימודים הממלכתית

A detailed critical analysis of the principles underlying the new elementary school curriculum, prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The author's main objections to the curriculum are as follows: The uniformity of the curriculum does not take into account the individual and group differences between the children; an official curriculum elaborated in detail leads to mechanization in the teacher's work and prevents him from freely using his pedagogic judgment; the curriculum was prepared by people working in the sphere of elementary education alone, and no trace can be found of the opinions and attitudes of educators working on the secondary and university level, nor of men active in public affairs; the curriculum is designed for an eight-grade elementary school, thus tacitly assuming that this structure is the best one, when, as a matter of fact, the possible superiority of a six-grade school has not been sufficiently investigated; each of the subjects within the curriculum is unduly crammed with material, while the conjunction of all the subjects together fails to reflect a central educational guiding line; the curriculum abounds in "nationalistic" phraseology which impedes a truly civic education.