"LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE OTHER": ACADEMIC INTERVENTION PROGRAM FOR DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL AWARENESS FOR STUDENT- TEACHERS

This article examine the impact of the academic intervention program "listen to the voice of the other" for development social awareness for student teachers. At the core of the intervention program is the concept that transformative training is needed to foster teachers with social-political awareness in response to the educational institutions subordination of the laws of the free-market, and to narrow standards of knowledge as part of New-liberal economic fundamentals. The student teacher is expected to pass a process of de-socialization, meaning, a process of moral and intellectual passage from an oppressive reality to a critical way of thinking towards the societal injustices. To raise students' awareness of social-moral issues and give them the ability to be critical, the facilitator may change the "point of view" about many aspects of learning, Experiential learning is one of the most basic theories and practices upon which "The Voice of the Other" is based, as part of the teacher training program. Experiential learning is a pedagogic belief and practice that has to be expanded in teacher training programs so that students experience their studies in an authentic, internal manner, thus applying and promoting this way of teaching when their time comes to teach. Critical pedagogy views experiential learning as the only way that enables personal and professional development. Research questions: 1. What is the impact of the program, "The Voice of the Other" on the attitudes of the student's teachers towards the Other? 2. What is the impact of the specific tools of this program to the process that the students undergo? 3. What was the impact of the program on students in a professional level? Methodology: This research combines qualitative and quantitative research. Both methods examine the change in students' attitudes towards the Other and the process that the students undergo during the program. Main Findings: The findings indicate significant changes in students' attitudes towards the Other. Many students reported that were underwent a significant process in which they became more aware and critical of the reality of life, the education system and its preferences and of themselves as citizens. The research also found a strong effect of experiential learning on the development of insight and social aware