A Research into Scholar Disruption in Arab-Israeli Schools

This action research was based on the paradigm of Lewin (1946). The decision to undertake it was a follow-up to a training required by the centers for educational psychology at Iksal and Kana in Galilee. Its aim was to reduce open (drop-outs) and hidden disruption and, in conjunction, change the practices of psychologists from individual clinical and diagnostic (ADHD, Learning Disabilities) interventions to psychosocial interventions aimed at groups.

The research took place in a number of stages: Presentation/discussion of the research in the schools and city councils of Iksal and Kana. Historical analysis of school in Palestine. Analysis of the “ecological factors” in the territory under investigation. Interviews with teachers on the problems in schools. Analysis of the interviews and report on the results. Discussion of the results with the teachers involved. Definition with the teachers involved in the research of the best practices to experiment: e.g. change in relations with families; involving mothers in school activities; change in relations between teachers and students and involvement of the latter. Measurement of first results: drop-outs, failures, marks, diagnosis of ADHD; whit a comparison between schools in the research and other schools. Discussion of the results. A further result was the institution of a new school in Iksal thanks to the involvement of local government.

There is no final end to the action research since it set in motion a process intended to continue.

What emerged, beginning with the historical analysis, was the fundamental role of school in the struggle for “cultural hegemony”, according to Gramsci, and its consequent contradictions. An example is that in Israel while Arab schools are discriminated, at the same time school attendance among Arabs, including females, has risen.