Teaching awareness of cultural pluralism: the Israeli experience

Author:
  • ABAmith Ben-David
    Amith Ben-David
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Abstract
Multiple waves of ethnic immigration, which have led to an increasing viability of ethnic and racial groups, are generating a cultural reform in Israel, a country that has largely tended to play down or deny ethnic and cultural differences. Social work education needs to address this phenomenon because of the need to prepare students for pluralism as the basis for practice in the coming decades. A model is presented which includes a developmental approach to training for culturally sensitive practice with new immigrants from different ethnic backgrounds. The model presents three developmental levels—initial, middle, and final—and deals with three focuses of training: the self of the worker, individual and family processes, and social/cultural issues. An examination of social work as a vehicle of cultural and ethnic sensitivity in Israel is also presented.

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