Educational psychologists tackle the challenges of working in the Bedouin society through drama and reading workshops during a two day retreat

Senior psychologists and directors took part in a study retreat in the framework of the Mandel Center project, "The Challenges of the Psychological-Educational Service in the Bedouin Society".  The two-day retreat focused on the concept of "authenticity", and the relation between authenticity and the psychologist's work within Bedouin society. 
The retreat, titled "Being an Educational Psychologist in the Arab-Bedouin Society in the Negev," was held at Kibbutz Mashabey Sadeh on April 12-13.  In the course of the seminar, the participants engaged in joint study and exploration with the purpose of reaching new insight, ideas and methods that would help educational psychologists dealing with the unique challenges they face in their work within the Bedouin community.
The opening lecture was given by Nitza Raskin, a faculty member at the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev, and dealt with Authenticity and Professional Identity. The talk served as a point of departure for the seminar's various workshops, which  included a personal-professional mapping workshop, a drama workshop as well as a reading workshop.
The participants left the retreat feeling that a meaningful working group was formed, and they expressed a desire to continue working and thinking together regarding the challenges that lie ahead.
The retreat was planned and organized by the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev together with Chief District Psychologist Dr. Ilan Vertzberger, head of the Psychological-Educational Service and supervising psychologists in the Bedouin community.