Teachers' ‘inside’ reports on language instruction in the Palestinian–Jewish Schools in Israel

Abstract

This study is based on data from teachers' research reports in the context of an in-service workshop for professional development for teachers of the bilingual-integrated Palestinian–Jewish Schools in Israel. We used conventional qualitative methods, looking for patterns and thematic issues of relevance, which were then coded to allow for further analysis and triangulated with field notes taken during workshop discussion sessions. Findings point to the dominance of Hebrew in Israeli society as being replicated in the schools, to the detriment of Arabic language learning among the pupils. This situation stems from three major themes as perceived and reinforced by the participant teachers: national identification versus coexistence, scholastic achievements versus ideology and traditional pedagogy versus teaching for retention of the cultural heritage. Based on the results, we suggest a pedagogical model of inter-comprehension and inter-cultural communicative competence as an initial stage in bridging the gap between declared policy and practical results in conflict-ridden contexts.

Keywords:

• bilingualism
• ethnic identity
• language policy
• multilingualism
• multilingual language acquistion

Acknowledgement

The present research was made possible by the generous and continuous support of the Bernard Van Leer Foundation (Grant # ISR-2008-010).