On October 7, tens of thousands of Israeli children and youth were uprooted from their homes by the war in Gaza and transferred to evacuation centers, where they reside to this day. Immediately after this withdrawal, dozens of youth workers turned up at these venues for the sake of rebuilding the youth’s education systems. A few months later, non-formal education centers are operating at hotels and motels throughout the country in an effort to bring succor to youngsters who have undergone severe trauma. The research project at hand is documenting the experiences of these educators, their motivations, and the daily challenges they face with the objective of answering two key questions: how do professionals educate in the absence of a blueprint for the future, to include how long their services will be necessary? And what methods are being used to reach traumatized children of all ages and persuade them to adopt, as much as possible, new routines? To date, we have conducted interviews with 80 educators from different organizations and ranks. Preliminary findings suggest that education under fire concentrates on rebuilding trust and re-forming relationships. On occasion, these pedagogic activities have, for all intents and purposes, kept these youth afloat. At the conference, we will elaborate on the enduring efforts to reach high schoolers. In addition, the researcher shall discuss how these educators grasp and are responding to the situation on the ground, while some of them are families and friends' victims of war.

The present study features a qualitative ethnographic methodology. Upon receiving approval from my research institute’s ethics committee in November 2023, we contacted local civic-communal organization working in evacuation centers. Data is currently collected from seven organization in Israel, spread national wide. All organizations gave us access to their educators, ages 18-35. Additionally, we interviewed one or two representors from every organization, holding a high-management position. Choosing to focus also on management-level due to their knowledge on strategic planning, organizational challenges and having a comprehensive picture of the national differences from region to region. As is common in Israel, many of the interviewees were graduates of the organizations themselves, growing up in the organization from junior positions to management. Our interview manual encompassed a set of questions concerning personal inquiry on motivations and the daily challenges they face. Another set of questions on forming, building and operating educational centers for youth who have undergone severe trauma. By means of an inductive analysis of the data, first set of codes from the interviews were formulated with the ATLAS.ti program. The analysis yielded a set of central categories that reflect the words of the interviewees. Among the main categories: A personal-professional experiences: the transition to the evacuation centers as a turning point in the lives of educators; Emotional work: humility and devotion as keys to success in educational work with traumatized communities; "It's a black hole, collapsing inward": lack of tools and professional knowledge on how to reach the high-schoolers.

This research is funded by the Ministry of Education and the Rural Education Department. There for, among our expected results of the research - a model for the establishment of emergency education centers, and key components for training youth workers for emergency times. Research on education during war highlights the significant challenges faced by both educators and students. Sharifian (2019) emphasizes the need to address the psychological needs of teachers and students in war zones. We believe, out-of-school education has advantages in war time, such as mobility, variability, and social orientation, and can play an important role in providing psychological support and organizing leisure activities. One of the most commonly cited effect for these positive outcomes is relationships developed within the after-school time (English, 2020(. These relationships have a decisive impact on the wellbeing of young people under war. Also, we estimate that from the results of the study knowledge will be accumulated about educational work with different age groups. Drawing on Eccles’ (Eccles et al., 1993) insights concerning “stage-environment fit,” namely the requisite compatibility between adolescent developmental stages and learning environments. The study focus both on educators working with middle school (12-14) and on high schoolers (15-18). We are currently finishing collecting data, by end of January 2024, the research team will move to an in-depth analysis of the data. We anticipate that by the time of the summer conference we will be able to present a rich overview of conclusions

Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigeld, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., & Flanagan, C. (1993). Development during adolescence. The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and in families. American Psychologist, 48(2), 90–101‏. English, A. (2020). ‘We’re like family and stuff like that’: Relationships in After-School Programs. Educational Considerations, 46(1), 5.‏ https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2200 Sharifian, M. S., & Kennedy, P. (2019). Teachers in War Zone Education: Literature Review and Implications. International Journal of the Whole Child, 4(2), 9-26.‏