The work of mourning in the bilingual schools of Israel: ambivalent emotions and the risks of seeking mutual respect and understanding

Abstract

This article presents an in-depth analysis of two commemoration events in a first-grade classroom of a bilingual school in Israel. The two events presented – the commemorations of the Holocaust Day and the Memorial Day – derive from a longitudinal ethnographic study of integrated bilingual schools in Israel. The analysis of these events shows teachers’ and students’ ambivalent emotions about the Other, as a result of pedagogical efforts to engage with the work of mourning in integrated classrooms, while attempting simultaneously to promote mutual respect and understanding. We further argue that ambivalent emotions in the context of integrated schooling bring to the surface serious concerns about symmetry and asymmetry; such concerns reveal elements of the emotional risks and benefits as a result of bringing children from conflicting groups closer. The implications for teaching and learning in integrated school settings of conflict-ridden societies are discussed.

Keywords:

• bilingual schools
• Israel
• mourning
• symmetry
• emotion

Acknowledgements

The present study is part of a longstanding research project supported by the Bernard Van Leer Foundation.

Notes

1. ‘Palestinian Israelis’ has, in recent years, become the preferred denomination for those who were traditionally known as Arab Israelis. This paper deals only with these Palestinians and not with those in the Palestinian Authority.