Jewish-Arab Shared Learning in Israel as a Form of Activist Pedagogy: "Breaking the Walls" Between School and Society

• In Event: Activist Pedagogy, Critical-Democratic Citizenship, and Shared Education in Divided Societies: International Perspectives and Next Practices

Abstract

The paper addresses educational practices, challenging discrepancies between Jewish and Arab societies in Israel through various models of Jewish-Arab shared learning. Education in Israel has been historically separated along ethno-religious lines – Jewish/Arab. In such divided societies, contact between the groups is rare. The predominant approach of shared learning in Israel joins two classes – Jewish and Arab – that meet in each other's schools, aiming at school improvement and social cohesion.
It will be claimed that these models of Jewish-Arab shared learning can be described as "forms of activist pedagogy [which] break the walls between the child and the curriculum, school and society" (Aloni, Forthcoming) by bringing all constituents to work together in a way which promotes participatory and transformative citizenship (Banks, 2017). Based on a series of empirical studies from Jewish-Arab learning settings – mixed and homogenous cities, face-to-face and online, during normal times and those of global pandemic or war – it will be shown that contact works on three levels: social, linguistic and pedagogical:
On the social level, stereotypes held by many Jewish students at early stages, echoing fears and anxieties heard at home and in the media, were challenged by the interactions with 'real' people they encountered. Teachers worked with a partner from the 'other' group, for the first time, often creating warm relations, evident to their students and modeled equal and friendly encounters with counterparts.
In Israel, in addition to the social gaps, the groups use different mother tongues – Hebrew and Arabic. While Arabs use Hebrew as their second language, Jewish schoolchildren are exposed to little or no Arabic at school. The shared learning settings studied show that Arabic can enter the Hebrew-speaking classroom. In the context of the marginal status of Arabic in Israeli society (Mendel, 2014), this is a promising development.
The settings we studied showed that shared lessons can be planned to answer relevant academic needs. English as a foreign language was the shared subject and the meetings created authentic context for students to use English.
These programs force the Jewish majority group members to address broader social and political dilemmas related to the Jewish-Arab conflict such as inequality between school systems. Moreover, having shared lessons during the Covid-19 pandemic led students and teachers to face the different effects of the health crisis on the two populations. However, the encounters between Jews and Arabs in shared settings can create social practices reflecting a greater balance of power with potential ripple effects for the children’s families and communities. In a socio-political reality as charged as the Israeli one, but obviously in other complex and conflictual contexts as well – activist pedagogy practices where identities, perceptions and languages intersect in new, creative ways offer definite promise.

Author

• Dafna Yitzhaki, Kibbutzim College