AN EXPERIENCE OF ACTION RESEARCH IN ARAB-ISRAELI SCHOOLS - Mahmud Said*, Francesco Paolo Colucci


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Community Psychology in Global Perspective

CPGP, Comm. Psych. Glob. Persp. Vol 6, Issue 2/1, 20 – 37, 2020

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AN EXPERIENCE OF ACTION RESEARCH

IN ARAB-ISRAELI SCHOOLS

***Mahmud Said*, Jamal Dakduki** and Francesco Paolo Colucci

The hypotheses of action research discussed herein are based on both Lewin’s theory and, in

view of their mutual affinity, Gramsci’s ideas: in particular the role of school in the struggle

for cultural hegemony. The research and results obtained support the validity of the theories

forming the reference framework. What emerge are both the contradictions arising in a

 onflictual situation, and the possibility for school to be not only a place of conflict but, above

all, of collaboration.


Keywords: action research, Lewin, Gramsci, dropout, Arab-Israeli schools


1. Introduction: Tackling the problem

This action research, started in 2009 and carried out in the two towns of Kana and Iksal in the

hinterland of Nazareth, dealt with dropout in its various forms in Arab-Israeli schools: definitive

dropouts as well as the problem of those students who remain at the margins of school life, rated

by their teachers as “present-absent”. School dropout is the most evident sign of school malaise

and has particularly serious consequences in difficult and conflictual contexts, making social and

work inclusion especially difficult for young people.

The main goal of the research was to start reducing dropouts and student malaise. A further goal,

essential in order to achieve the primary aims, consisted in changing the modus operandi of school

psychologists, reducing the predominantly diagnostic activities in favour of increasing

psychosocial interventions in schools and student groups.

2. Underlying theory and hypotheses

The theoretical basis for this study is Lewin’s psychology, together with Gramsci’s theory of

cultural hegemony, which ascribes a primary role to school. Indeed, Lewin’s psychology – in

particular action research – and Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, with the related ideas on

common sense and praxis, are held to have important points in common (Colucci & Montali, 2013;

Colucci & Colombo, 2018).

The first point to be considered is that action research was the consistent outcome of Lewin’s

entire theoretical and empirical research (Colucci & Colombo, 2018). Thus, an interdisciplinary

* Director of the Centre for Education Psychology in Iksal, Israel

** Director of the Centre for School Psychology in Kana, Israel

*** Formerly Full Professor of Social Psychology at Bicocca Milan University, Italy

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approach, essential for action research, is founded on Lewin’s epistemology, that refers to

Cassirer’s comparative theory of sciences (Lewin, 1931). From an empirical perspective, the study

of the change in food habits carried out in housewives (Lewin, 1943) led Lewin to formulate the

concept of “psychological ecology” (Lewin, 1944). This involves analysing the interactions among

several factors, starting from a non-psychological, and so an interdisciplinary approach. According

to a notion that could have acted as a basis for Bronfenbrenner’s theory (1979), the context to which

psychological ecology refers can range from global down to increasingly more specific situations.

When addressing the problem of minority groups or, more generally, of social conflicts, it is

essential to take into account the international situation, broader social groups such as the city or

communities, on down to particular institutions or organizations and small groups (Lewin, 1946).

Hence, in this research we will consider the situation in the State of Israel, conditioned by the

persistent conflict with the Arabs, that is of international importance, and at the same time we will

analyse the specific context of the intervention.

A further aspect of Lewin’s action research adopted here is group discussion as a basis for

deciding the best practices; indeed, “The decision links motivation to action and, at the same time,

seems to have a freezing effect which is partly due to individual’s tendency to sticks to his decision

and partly to the commitment to a group” (Lewin, 1951, p. 233). In our case, group discussions

were held in which, apart from the school psychologists, it was mainly the teachers who decided

on the best practices to adopt to reduce student dropout rates and school malaise in general.

Unlike what sometimes occurs in post-Lewinian action research – which, in order to make it

more participative than Lewin’s original model, is presented as generically egalitarian (Reason &

Bradbury, 2008; Whyte, 1991) – in this case the interactions among participants maintained the

diversity of roles and competences. Moreover, given the cultural characteristics of the situations in

which we operated, especially in the initial stages some directive roles were essential, although

they were expected to decrease as the research advanced and the various other actors became more

independent and able to take the initiative.

However, in Lewin’s work the decision to make the action research was made at the top (the

textile factory managers, the US Department of Agriculture, the State of Connecticut), externally

to the subjects involved; in our case the decision to engage in the research was made by the school

psychologists. This experience of action research was therefore based on the triangulation Training

↔ Research ↔ Action (Lewin, 1946), implemented in the collaboration, on research and

intervention (“action”), carried out by the school psychologists who effected the training course

with the trainer himself, tackling in daily practice the issues expounded in the classroom.

Nevertheless, despite using Lewin’s original model of action research as reference point, we did

not close our minds to new perspectives, in particular to Action Science and Communities of

practices (Argyris et al., 1985; Friedman, 2006), although these could only be briefly touched on

with the school psychologists involved.

Action research, especially in schools, highlights the relations between Lewin’s psychology and

Gramsci’s ideas on common sense and cultural hegemony. The political struggle against the

predominant classes and privileged groups, in favour of equality, must also be the struggle for

cultural hegemony aimed at forming a “new common sense”. Such a struggle requires widespread,

continuous cultural work carried out on a daily basis, within the workplace, barracks, prisons, etc.,

and first and foremost in schools, to which Gramsci assigns priority. School, therefore, should not

be considered as only and necessarily an “Ideological State Apparatus” (Althusser, 1969), destined

as such to be functional solely under the power of the dominant classes or groups. In Gramsci, the

struggle for cultural hegemony and the process of transforming common sense is grounded on the

relation between élites and the masses. It is not one-way, top-down – there being no top nor down

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– but a two-way dialectic relation, promoting exchanges of experiences and knowledge, even if

those with greater experience and knowledge detain more responsibility. Therefore, it is

communication in its literal sense since its purpose is to put in common knowledge and experience.

In this sense, the relation between teacher and pupil is paradigmatic for Gramsci; the former has

greater responsibility but must, above all, be able to understand the latter's experiences and

knowledge and to learn from them (Gramsci, 1996; Colucci, 1999).

Even though Lewin’s action research does not advocate direct political struggle, Gramsci’s ideas

on cultural hegemony appear to be consistent with the main principles, methods and procedures of

action research, starting with the interactions among researchers and other participants, all of whom

bring different knowledge and experiences together to achieve a common goal. A process in which

all the subjects involved are “responsible”. Furthermore, while not eliminating individual

responsibility action research, like the struggle for hegemony, ascribes a primary role to groups

and communities. Above all, both Gramscian cultural hegemony and Lewin's action research were

aimed at emancipation, transforming the experiential knowledge that governs everyday actions –

an essential component of common sense – in order to make it more aware and critical (Colucci &

Montali, 2013; Colucci & Colombo, 2018).

On these theoretical bases, the hypothesis that Lewin’s model of action research could be

effectively applied in the particular context under consideration was assumed. A further hypothesis

was that this research could confirm the relevant role of school in the struggle for cultural

hegemony within a conflictual situation rife with contradictions: in this scenario, it would bring

these contradictions to the surface, highlighting the possibility that school could become a place

not only of conflict but, above all, of collaboration.

3. Methodology

The research into changes in food habits adopts a multi-method approach, whereby a first

observational phase using qualitative methods – semi-directive interviews – is followed by an

experimental phase, comparing the various procedures for bringing about change, to verify the

greater effectiveness of the group discussion-decision sequence. Together with the essential role

of experimentation, Lewin stresses that it is appropriate to measure the changes produced and their

trend over time; namely, to single out objective standards on the basis of which to evaluate the

results obtained. This is also because without this process, the subjects involved in the research

may become demotivated, since they cannot ascertain the results of their commitment (Lewin,

1946). In this particular research, the methodology adopted was, as far as possible, in line with the

theoretical model adopted.

During the observational phase, semi-directive interviews were held, seen as qualitative

instruments suited to analysing the representations, or common sentiments (Colucci, 1999) about

the problems in Arab-Israeli schools and dropout.

All the individual and group interviews1 were recorded and submitted to a thematic content

analysis (Ghiglione & Blanchet, 1991), conducted separately by three researchers. One of them

1 Translated into Italian by a Palestinian resident in Italy for some time, if conducted in Arabic. Some individual

interviews were conducted in English; others with the participation of a research team psychologist who translated

from Italian into Arabic and vice versa.

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took part in this analysis2 only and thus, presumably, was naive in the sense of being less likely to

be influenced by previous knowledge.

The individual and group interviews carried out in the schools are of main relevance for this

research. Their textual corpus (202,097 characters), as well as being subjected to content analysis,

was analysed using T-LAB software (Lancia, 2004), that relies on the same methodological

principles as ALCESTE software (Reinert, 1986; 1990). It produces a synergy between quantitative

results, detecting the relevant words (i.e., lemmas) clusters of the text emerging, and qualitative

results, highlighting the sentences (i.e., elementary contexts, ECs) connected with the relevant text

dimensions (Colucci & Montali, 2008). In this way, the categories of sentences derived from the

thematic content analysis – inevitably reflecting the analysts’ subjectivity – can be compared with,

and supported by word clusters and ECs identified by the software. Thereby, the sentences derived

from both the content analysis and the software, can be subjected to a qualitative and rhetoric

evaluation (Billig, 1991).

Finally, using a quasi-experimental method to compare the schools where intervention was

carried out with similar schools in which it was not possible to do so, an initial quantitative analysis

was attempted, aimed at demonstrating the efficacy of the action research.

3.1. Empirical field and participants

As inevitably occurs in field research and especially in action research, the definition and limits

of the empirical field did not follow a pre-established experimental plan but depended on

contingent factors. Like all organizations, schools tend to be somewhat reluctant to become

involved in research, and resistance is greater towards action research, since it tends to be more

invasive. To overcome this reluctance the atmosphere inside the school, the attitude and the

receptiveness of the principals, as well as their relations with the researchers, were taken into

account. In our case, the research was carried out in Iksal and Kana thanks to the two directors of

the Centres for School Psychology who graduated in Psychology in Italy. In Iksal, the research was

conducted in an elementary, a middle and a high school and in Kana, in an elementary and a middle

school.

The participants had different knowledge, experiences, and functions: they included school

psychologists, experts, teachers, educators, and counsellors, local politicians and bureaucrats,

mothers of children attending the elementary and middle schools. Levels of participation changed

during the course of the research: the participants can be considered as a set with a fixed core

consisting, from the start, of the research coordinator, the directors and psychologists (8 with a

foreign Master’s Degree) employed at the two Centres. They interacted with other groups or even

single individuals, forming a set with flexible inner and outer boundaries that changed during the

research as a consequence of the study requirements and individual centrifugal and centripetal

forces, within a dynamic process that is well described by Lewin’s topology and hodology.

Psychologists at both Centres and the principals of the schools in the two towns are male; there

are, however, large numbers of women among the teaching staff. The female teachers and the

mothers were seen to be particularly active.

2 Alongside the research coordinator and Mahmud Said, Morena Pandolfi, a student doing a master’s degree in Social

Psychology, collaborated in the interview content analysis and in the analysis using T-LAB (Pandolfi, 2012).

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3.2. Activity at the school psychology centres

The School Psychology Centres depend, both administratively and financially, on the town

councils which receive funds from the Ministry for Education.

These Centres take care of public schools, including kindergartens, and have the statutory task

of diagnosing and treating students with learning difficulties and behavioural problems, and of

collaborating in monitoring dropout with the kabas: the ministry official charged with monitoring

regular school attendance and dropouts. Each psychologist is responsible for a school, even if

related activities are not restricted to this.

Taking part in “Ministerial programs” – with the aim of improving the school atmosphere and

students’ wellbeing and preventing dropouts and other forms of youth deviancy – is highly relevant

in this context. In addition to these programs, in Israeli Arab schools too, the project WE STAY –

Working in Europe to Stop Truancy Among Youth, involving Israel together with western

countries such as Sweden, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Rumania, Slovenia, Spain –

has been carried out. These programs and projects, monitored by the Ministry of Education and the

Ministry of Welfare, receive financial support, generally from private Institutions, such as the

United States Eric and Wendi Schmidt Foundation and the Joint Israel Distribution Committee.

The financial support received is apportioned by the Ministry to town councils in proportion to the

number of inhabitants. The school psychologists engaged in these Ministerial programs –

principally screening students to be included in the various activities – receive extra payment. Since

2013-2014, financial support has been growing and programs for Arab-Israeli schools, including

those in Iksal and Kana, have proliferated.

However, at the start of the research the main activity at the Iksal and Kana Centres was, in fact,

diagnostic. Following teachers’ reports of students with learning difficulties, the psychologists

were involved in making diagnoses of learning disabilities (LD). If teachers reported behavioural

disorders like excessive restlessness, after first studying the case the psychologists could decide to

send the subject for psychiatric unit screening for a possible diagnosis of an Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

In addition, psychologists receive requests for intervention, even from kindergartens, in cases

of sexual abuse of male and female children.

3.3. Conducting the research

The first phase of the research consisted in the above-mentioned training course for school

psychologists, which took place in the summer of 2009 (five and a half days) on the premises of

Iksal Town Hall. It dealt with group dynamics and, in particular, work group issues.

In this training course, Lewin’s action research aroused particular interest in terms of the role

played by groups and the possible applications of this approach. At the same time, dropout in its

various forms had emerged as a significant, serious problem due to its social repercussions. Hence

the decision and request on the part of the course participants to start an action research aimed at

reducing dropout, with the trainer acting as scientific supervisor and coordinator.

Following up on the need that had emerged, the second phase began with the initial planning –

theoretical grounds, clarification of the goals, methodology, procedures – in which the research

coordinator, and the directors of the Iksal and Kana Centres were involved, under the guidance of

experts. The planning was discussed with the school principals and the town council officials, in

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order to gather information and opinions about the research plan and, at the same time, gain the

initial, necessary approval by the council and school authorities.

The next three phases, conducted at the same time, make up the observational part of the

research (for a complete account of these and the subsequent phases, see Said, 2015).

The third phase was dedicated to studying the history and essential regulatory and statistical

aspects of the school system, inasmuch as these are important factors in psychological ecology; to

begin with the history of education and culture in Palestine under the British Mandate. This study

was based on archival material and research by Palestinian scholars (in the References, titles in

Arabic have been translated). During the Mandate, even elementary education was often

completely lacking in rural areas; education for girls was almost non-existent. Few students had

the possibility to attend high school, confined to the upper classes. These deficiencies were

compensated, in part, in the case of wealthier families even when Muslim, by the Christian schools

operating in some places, like Nazareth (Al-Asad, 2000; Nashwan, 2004; Mansour, 2008). Under

these circumstances, the Arab population made efforts to obtain more opportunities for education

and thus came in conflict with the British authorities (Nashwan, 2004).

In other words, at the time of the Mandate the schooling supplied did not meet the demand for

education. Nonetheless, in this period of relatively greater freedom and openness compared to the

long Ottoman domination - in schools, Arabic replaced Turkish, that was previously imposed as

the official language - Palestine enjoyed progress in the cultural field. When a high school for

teachers was opened in Haifa (Al-Asali,1990), a good level of educational studies was reached,

based in particular on the Montessori method. In general, at this time theatres and cinemas were

opened and several newspapers founded. Scout groups were started under an association that

enjoyed international recognition, although not that of the British authorities (Mansour, 2008).

Palestine had one of the most advanced middle classes in the Middle East. It can be concluded that

prior to 1948, even though the education system was entirely inadequate, the educational and

cultural situation could not really be described as a “desert”, as was sometimes asserted later on.

Above all, school was still a cause of, and arena for, the struggle for cultural hegemony, in which

the local population demanded more education and the teachers, at risk of going to jail, attempted

to disseminate patriotic sentiments aimed at forging a national identity.

In this third phase, the Israeli school system was also analysed from a regulatory and statistical

perspective with reference to the Arab-Israeli schools, clearly separate from the Jewish schools:

there were only few élite schools for both Arabs and Israelis.

The purpose of this was to outline the general framework within which the issue was addressed,

focusing on the main consequences of the Israeli State policy on school attendance among the Arab

population. It has to be remembered, in this respect, that the organization of the education system

in Israel is highly complex, making it difficult to describe even statistically. Indeed, alongside the

State schools, there are private schools, of Christian, Jewish Orthodox, Lay denominations.

In 1952, a Department for Arab Education was created within the Ministry for Education,

including some Arab staff, but still run by an Israeli. From the early 1970s, Arab-Israeli politicians

were opposed to this Department due to the scarcity of the available funds and, above all, because

it sanctioned the division between the Jewish and Arab populations, discriminating against the

latter. Thanks to this political struggle, at the end of the 1970s the Department was given greater

autonomy, more financial resources and, for the first time, an Arab was put in charge (Al-Haj,

2002; Rinawi, 1999). Nevertheless, a Ministerial commission continued to be responsible for the

educational objectives and programs in Arab schools, a critical and conflictual issue, especially as

regards the teaching of history and literature.

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At the same time, data from the Israeli State Central Office of Statistics show that since 1948,

Arab school attendance has grown exponentially. Between school year 1948-49 and 2012-13, the

number of elementary schools has risen from 467 to 1999, while middle and high schools have

increased from 98 to 1915.The figure for attendance by girls is particularly significant: in Arab-

Israeli State schools, in 1948/49 they accounted for 18.6% of the population - remarkable progress

compared to the Mandate period - increasing to 47.3% in 1990-91 and thereafter equalling the

number of male students (Al-Haj, 2002). This exponential growth of school attendance brought

with it an increase in work opportunities for Arab citizens of both genders. A contradictory reality

was thus taking shape. On one hand, discrimination against Arab schools still persists (Steiner &

Kremnitzer, 2013; Mari, 1978; 1985; Sayegh, 1966). On the other, school attendance in Arab-

Israeli schools has improved thanks to the considerable commitment and significant investments –

Arab citizens also contribute through taxation – received from the Israeli State: the Ministry for

Education’s budget is lower only than that for the Ministry of Defence and public expenditure for

the educational system in 2015 in Israel was 12.8%, greater than the average in OECD countries

(11.1%) and advanced countries: Italy 7.2%; Japan 8%; Germany 9.2%, UK12.4%; USA 11.9%.

Nor should the considerable financial support to the above-mentioned “Ministerial programs” be

forgotten.

In the fourth phase, consistently with the psychological ecology perspective, the Iksal and Kana

territory was mapped: these two overpopulated and chaotic cities are located in a single Arab-

Israeli urban area in the hinterland of Nazareth, and the economic, social, and cultural factors were

analysed. In 2009 Iksal, that was originally a small agricultural village, had 12,300 Arab Muslim

inhabitants; Kana had 20,000 inhabitants, 80% Muslim and 20% Christian. As regards quality of

life – measured on the basis of indicators like the level of employment, education, presence of

infrastructure, crowding index inside the houses – the two cities ranked low-medium level as

compared to the Israeli municipalities and medium-high as compared to the Arab-Israeli

municipalities. Nevertheless, the economic situation was precarious, especially in Iksal, that is

outside tourist religious itineraries. In addition, there were rampant problems of delinquency and

drug addiction, in particular among young people, as well as widespread violence within the family

and between families. In Iksal, in 2009 there were 3 elementary, one middle and one high public

schools. In Kana, there were four elementary, two middle and one high public schools, as well as

two Christian elementary schools and one high school.

The overall dropout percentage in Iksal in school year 2009-2010 was considerably higher than

the national mean for Arab-Israeli schools (13% vs. 5.2%), and in Kana it was about 2 percentage

points higher; there were no significant differences among same level schools and no school

showed a greater level of malaise than any other (Said, 2015).

In the fifth observational phase the psychologists carried out 22 semi-directive individual

interviews and 4 group interviews (in which 26 subjects took part), with the school principals,

teachers, educators, counsellors. This phase was aimed mainly at investigating:

- how the subjects saw and interpreted the school problems and in particular school malaise and

dropout, referred to Arab-Israeli schools in general and their own school in particular;

- what they thought could be done to deal with the problems that emerged;

- what they thought about the proposed action research, any criticisms and suggestions;

- if and how they intended to collaborate with the proposed intervention plan.

To make a more in-depth analysis of the problems that emerged, a further 10 interviews were

conducted by the research coordinator with privileged witnesses: the Director of the Arab-Israeli

School Psychology Centre of Galilee, the Director of the School Psychology Centre of Nazareth,

school principals, kabas, executives and politicians in Nazareth, Iksal and Kana.

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Attempts were also made to interview dropouts, to reconstruct the history of their relations with

school and with the teachers, what they had done and what their prospects were for the future. But

only minimal success was achieved: three boys and two girls aged between 18 and 21 years and

four middle school pupils, just after they had dropped out were interviewed.

Finally, in view of the importance of the problem and in order to stimulate reflection on the

practice among the psychologists, the diagnostic activity was analysed, paying special attention to

ADHD diagnoses. The directors of the Centres ran self-interviews and interviewed their colleagues

in Iksal and Kana, and one psychiatrist also agreed to undergo an interview.

The sixth phase consisted of group discussions with teachers about the main results, summarized

in a Power Point presentation, that emerged from the individual and group interviews conducted in

the schools. The main aim of this restitution was to set up a group decision process, in accordance

with Lewin's theory on the relation between group decision and motivation to action (Lewin, 1951,

233; or. ed. 1947), referring in this case to actions oriented toward reducing school dropouts and

malaise. Further aims were to:

- ascertain, clarify and examine in depth what had emerged from the interviews;

- stimulate a process of critical reflection about the problems to be dealt with;

- increase self-esteem among those working at the schools, starting from the teachers

themselves.

The participants were asked their opinion about each and every problem that had emerged from

the analyses of the interviews, and what could be done to solve it, continuing to remind them that

they should not wait for a solution to be found and imposed top down by the Ministry authorities

or the town council. The example of the school in Beer Amir, a downbeat quarter in Nazareth, was

made by projecting photos to show how the school environment had been improved, by cleaning,

decorating the walls, adding furniture and plants, all done thanks to the work of the teachers,

auxiliary school staff, parents and pupils.

Finally, in the course of these years and lastly, in January 2019, the research coordinator verified

the state of the action research and results obtained, conducting a series of interviews in Iksal and

Kana with the school psychologists, principals, teachers, kabas, directors of departments for

juvenile policies and cultural policies, and politicians in the two town councils.

4. Analysis of the interviews: Results

The main themes that emerged from the content analysis of the individual and group interviews

carried out in the schools (see above Methodology and fifth phase) are summarized below:

- the different forms of, and reasons for dropout; essentially, the difference between evident

dropouts and hidden dropouts, that are a more common and “insidious” problem, featuring

pupils who are not attentive in class, and tend to run loose in the corridors or even outside the

school, lurking nearby;

- the causes of dropouts, attributed primarily to the difficult social and economic situations of

families and the lack of interest in school shown by many parents;

- the “bureaucratic control”, “almost like policing”, of dropout, and its negative consequences:

since schools are assessed also on the basis of the number of dropouts, these control methods

lead to hiding the phenomenon “under the carpet”;

- the way the problem is presented in elementary schools: there are few dropouts but this certainly

does not mean that there are no problems, bearing in mind the numerous pupils with grave

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learning difficulties or behavioural problems. In fact, elementary schools are the “culture

medium” for school malaise and dropouts;

- the problem, that arises already at elementary school, of the diagnosis of LD and of ADHD,

often used to “solve” or cover up other problems: some teachers reported several cases to the

school psychologists, in an attempt to shrug off responsibility for these “problematic” or

“difficult” children;

- the relations between teachers and pupils, that often lack cordiality and can even be hostile, as

indicated by failures to greet teachers, pretending not to see them. These relational difficulties

are aggravated by the parents, who tend always to be allied with the children and so in conflict

with the teachers;

- the widespread violence in the society, within families and between families, that is reflected in

school and in juvenile behaviours;

- the situation of the school buildings: not only are there too few spaces, in particular for sports

activities, but these environments are “unwelcoming” or “rejecting”, “cold”, “dirty”.

To complete the results emerging from the content analysis, below we report the fundamental

results highlighted by the application of the T-LAB software (see Methodology) to the textual

corpus of these same interviews, omitting graphs and histograms but referring to the “keywords”

(or lemmas) and ECs or sentences, considered as of more immediate relevance from a qualitative

point of view. The lemmas that recurred more than 20 times in ECs are shown below, in decreasing

order of frequency: pupils, school, problem, child’s family (parent, home, family), teacher, class,

absence, aggressiveness, violence, work, society, children, learning, street, low scholastic

achievement, future, relation, dangerous.

As can be seen (Table 1), as well as the words related to school problems, words related to social

problems, to “aggressiveness”, “violence”, “danger”, and the “future” are predominant. The

relevance of these problems is confirmed and clarified by the two main clusters, based on the

percentage of ECs belonging to them:

Table 1. Clusters

Cluster N° ECs % ECs Most recurrent lemmas

School

problems

151 43.14 study/studying, school, environment, education, question, level,

children, learning, students/pupils, lesson, difficult/difficulty, living,

understanding, family, involvement, system, lack

Contextual

difficulties

88 25.14 young, behaviour, negative, society, boy, become, aggressiveness,

future, creating, consequence, street, violence, effect, great,

danger/dangerous, environment, influence, success, possible

The first cluster shows elementary contexts and lemmas referring to the main problems in

schools and the school environment that increase the risk of dropout:

There are grave lacks in our system. Our problem is that we obstinately continue

to consider pupils as a single block where all must possess the same skills and

abilities. [group interview, elementary school, Iksal]

Pupils are not offered any chances to relax and let off steam in the school

environment. Only duties. [group interview, elementary school, Iksal]

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…they come to school and find the desks and chairs broken, piles of refuse and

mould on the walls. What can be seen in our schools is impossible elsewhere. [group

interview, elementary school, Iksal]

one cause of this phenomenon [dropout] is that school is not a place that attracts

pupils, also because of the very high numbers of pupils. [individual interview, elementary

school, Kana]

As regards deficiencies in the schools, an important problem is felt to be the absence of study

programs addressing the pupils’ needs:

all this is due to the lack of institutes that can satisfy the needs, energies and desires

of all the pupils. [group interview, middle school, Iksal]

In addition, the critical relations between the Israeli State and the Arab-Israeli

school system are emphasized:

in general, the fact that we live in a Nation that is not Arab, and we are a part of

this Nation, means that surely there are things lacking in the Arab educational

system. [individual interview, middle school, Kana]

The risk factors linked to the school atmosphere, that detract from the value of school and in

particular of the teacher figure, were identified:

Some pupils don't take the role of their teachers seriously because they hear them

being criticised and insulted by the family. [group interview, elementary school, Iksal]

The student always has the upper hand, in the sense that he is always right and this

shows that the role of the teacher is no longer important. [individual interview,

elementary school, Kana]

To improve the situation:

it might be possible to organize afternoon activities, summer camps where pupils

in difficulties can get more help, and also to stimulate peer aggregation. It is also

important not to neglect the economic aspect. [individual interview, elementary school,

Iksal]

The second cluster focus on problems of the external context, namely the contradictions and

conflicts involving young people, that derive from cultural changes due to contact with the modern

world, drugs, alcohol, violence. Based on these problems, the view of the future is very negative:

If you go and see near the roundabout this afternoon, you will find groups of

delinquents, with a poor quality of life. If it is like that today, in twenty years you

will be afraid to walk anywhere in Iksal. If you walk there today and are afraid you

may have a quarrel with people, who are they? They are pupils at the school. [group

interview, middle school, Iksal]

30

The dropout problem increases violence in the streets, as well as the number of

smokers, drug addicts, alcoholics, and leads to lawless behaviour. Pupils who work

are exploited by bosses, and all this affects their future and individual personality

development. [individual interview, middle school, Kana]

They watch the TV and try to copy the models shown on the small screen, asking their

parents for absurd things that are, of course, denied them. The result is that these

kids come to school burdened by frustration and full of impossible dreams, that are

strongly influenced by the models presented by western technology. [individual

interview, elementary school, Iksal]

Once they leave school these kids can get involved in activities that are harmful to

society. Therefore, the problem of dropouts is a problem that affects everyone and

that must be solved at the root. Appropriate solutions need to be found and these

kids encouraged to continue their studies. [individual interview, elementary school, Iksal]

The problem of adults’ inability to exert control over young people is also highlighted. Teachers

and parents seem to have lost power and authority in the eyes of the new generations. In short, it

seems that the analyses conducted with the software succeeded in eliciting the most critical aspects

related to school and the social situation.

The expert witnesses confirmed the conflicts among teachers and pupils and also among

teachers and parents, as well as a generalized, extremely serious generational clash that runs the

risk of being transformed into a complete communication failure. Some of those interviewed

defined the Arab-Israeli adolescents as “the mute generation”. These adolescents, who suffer from

an identity crisis, aspire to assimilation (“convinced that they can get to be equal to the Jews”)

because they are attracted by Western culture, represented by the State of Israel. One manifestation

of this “attraction” is the use of the Internet and new media, familiar to the new generations whereas

most parents and many teachers were unable to use them.

Some constants emerged from the few interviews with school dropouts. Those interviewed

recognized their learning, reading and writing difficulties, lack of interest in school and inability

to stay sitting down in class. They claimed vocations or aptitudes for craftsmanship, sports,

music…, that the school was not organized to develop. Instead, as regards behavioural problems,

the boys in particular justified their lack of discipline or aggressiveness, as reactions to the

aggressiveness of their companions and teachers. Referring to the latter they said: “they hit me” or

“they beat me”.

Because of their “severity”, the teachers and principals (“we still hate the headmaster”) are

considered responsible for the bad relations with school, although there is almost always a memory

also of a “good teacher” appreciating their skills and aptitudes. In general, the families had not

done much to prevent dropouts. Indicating a pathway toward dropout that is probably frequent

among girls, one 21-year-old, who had got married at 19 to a cousin, remembered that she had been

driven to leave school by her older brother, who had convinced her father because “at school one

learns bad behaviours”. The girls would have liked to go back to school for the good of their

children, to be able to educate them better, and because a “diploma is the only chance of a better

life for women” and “it is not good for women to stay at home all the time”. All these dropouts

habitually use the Internet.

Finally, from the interviews on the diagnoses of ADHD (see before fifth phase) it emerged that

the requests for diagnosis – “that are constantly increasing” – are largely made by the teachers.

31

Some parents “deny the problems reported by the school and are ashamed of the diagnosis, fearing

the stigma”. Some young people recognize that they “have a problem”, while others “do not

collaborate and think that it is the teachers or parents who do not know how to treat them”. When

making the diagnosis, the psychiatrists follow the DSM 4 guidelines, prescribing Ritalin as therapy;

“at a dosage that is efficacious for 7-8 hours, so that the child is well both at school and at home”,

stated the psychiatrist who agreed to the interview. Sometimes the parents, or the subject, are

against this drug, but they become convinced when they see the results: “how the child is after the

treatment”. As well as referring the subjects to the psychiatry service, the psychologists mediate

among psychiatrists, parents, teachers. Among these, some are against prescribing the drug, others

stigmatize the subject, adopting scornful tones: “Oh dear, didn't you take your pill today?” The

diagnostic process does not always scrupulously follow the rules, and the diagnosis is sometimes

made by private professionals on the request of mothers who are stressed-out (“hysterical”) by the

children's restlessness: the problem is solved with Ritalin.

In the interviews conducted in 2019 the problem of special classes for children with LD

emerged; this problem had become topical since 2018, when the Knesset had discussed a law to

regulate the use of such classes. The psychologists and school operators interviewed believe the

special classes are useful because “they put homogeneous pupils together”. The principal of the

middle school in Iksal that took part in the research stated that in his school, each pupil inserted in

a special class is followed by a teacher that “takes on parental functions”, and believes this has

provided an important contribution to the reduction of school dropouts. The psychologists agree

about the utility of these classes, also because they follow the pupils as “single cases”, taking into

account their peculiar characteristics.

4.1. The best practices

The research conducted, from the early planning, through the observational phase to the final

group discussions, helped to support decision making about the best practices to be implemented.

These practices are summarized below:

- change interpersonal relationships between teachers and pupils, by adopting the “smile policy”,

and being the first to greet the latter;

- increase visits by teachers, psychologists and kabas to families, as well as informal contacts

with the parents of pupils at risk, to eliminate or attenuate the bureaucratic procedures

controlling dropout;

- make the school buildings more welcoming, also creating spaces for informal meetings, thanks

to the collaboration of pupils, both girls and boys, and parents;

- boost extra-curricular education programs: sports, artistic activities, informatics courses,

education in the use of the new media;

- involve the parents more closely, especially mothers, in school activities, and also plan

periodical meetings about educational problems.

All this requires first of all a change in the modus operandi of the school psychologists, moving

away from a largely diagnostic activity in favour of paying an increased attention to psychosocial

interventions in institutions and with teachers, pupils and parent groups. This problem was

frequently brought up and discussed, with and among the psychologists working at the Centres.

32

4.2. Possible results

In this experience, as also in general in action research, it is difficult to identify what results are

surely attributable to the interventions made, and to what extent, rather than to other factors that

occurred after the beginning of the research. Moreover, the problems that emerged, in a restricted

context like those of Iksal and Kana, were felt even in the schools that did not take part in the

research, with possible positive effects.

As pointed out in the section on the background theory, measurement of the results can be an

essential factor promoting the research itself. However, not all the results that indicate the efficacy

of an action research can be expressed purely in terms of measurements. It is for this reason that in

the previous pages the sentences and “elementary contexts”, in other words the emotions and

thoughts that emerged in the interviews, and that deserve to be heard, were reported.

In this research, measurements were difficult to make and limited, due to the schools' reluctance

to provide data, on school absences for instance, that could be indicative of the risk of dropout.

Another problem was the lack of complete, reliable databanks at the School Psychology Centres.

However, when taking into account all the public schools in Iksal, a satisfactory decrease in the

percentage of dropouts can be noted. While, as reported above, in 2009-2010 the dropout

percentage was nearly 8 percentage points higher than in Arab-Israeli schools overall, in more

recent years the following trend has been noted (Table 2).

Table 2. Variation in dropouts (%)

School year Iksal Arab-Israeli schools

2015-2016 6.8 5.9

2016-2017 3.4 4.7

2017-2018 2.2 1.8

2018-2019 5.9 5.9

In the same years, in Hebrew public schools the dropout percentage was constantly lower, being

between 2.2 and 1.8%.

In the high school in Iksal that underwent intervention, dropouts declined from 40 in school year

2009/2010 when the research began, to 26 in 2010-2011, 14 in 2011-2012, 11 in 2012-2013. In the

schools inKana as from 2017 the dropout percentage has been 3.5%, so lower than the mean in the

previous years, that was nearly 7%.

However, the trend of dropouts over the years, and the variations, could also depend on more

general factors such as political or socioeconomic elements in the specific context. It must be noted

that in both Kana and Iksal, as pointed out by a kabas in 2019, the problem of latent dropouts is

still unsolved, even in elementary school, as shown by the frequent absences, as well as failure to

enter school on time.

As observed above, the teachers report students that in their opinion could be affected by LD or

ADHD, to the psychologists, thus starting a process that, even if it does not end in a diagnosis

certifying the disorder, leads to stigmatization fostering marginalization. In this way, indications

of “learning difficulties or problems” or “family and learning problems” can lead to a diagnosis of

LD; “behavioural and learning problems” can lead to a diagnosis not only of LD, but also of

ADHD. The decrease in the numbers of such indications in the first years of the research (from

2009-2010 to 2011 -2012) in the schools in Iksal involved in the research, as compared with other

same level schools that did not take part, can therefore be indicative of the efficacy of the

intervention. In elementary schools involved in the research, the indications of “family and

33

learning problems” decreased from more than 40 (2009/2010) to 10 (2011/2012); of “behavioural

and learning problems” from nearly 20 to less than 10; in elementary schools that did not take part,

the indications of “family and learning problems” in the same years increased from nearly 40 to

nearly 60; “learning difficulties” increased by a few units, but “behavioural and learning problems”

decreased from more than 30 to 20.

In the middle school involved in the research, the indications of “family and learning problems”

and “learning problems” decreased from 20 to less than 10; “behavioural and learning problems”

remained largely stable; in the new middle school that did not take part and that initially had

problems, the indications of “family and learning problems” in the same years increased from 30

to more than 60; both “learning problems” and “behavioural and learning problems” increased by

10 units. In the high school that did take part, the indications of “learning problems, in particular,

reduced after 2010/2011. It was not possible to obtain certain data for the subsequent years,

although the positive trend persisted.

The requests for a diagnosis of ADHD in Albiader elementary school at Kana, where

intervention was made, are now 7-8% vs. 20% in 2009-2010.

Other important data obtained regard school performance, that improved in particular in the last

classes of elementary and middle school, especially in Arab and Mathematics, two fundamental

disciplines (http://meyda.education.gov.il/rama-mbareshet/).

The “active mothers” operating at elementary and middle schools are also a relevant result.

Some took part in improving the school spaces, others organized gardening, horticulture or sewing

classes. Even if these particular activities were not continuous over the years, there was an

improvement, as can be seen in 2019, in the relations between the schools and the families.

The “smile policy” in the middle and high schools was also instrumental in improving the school

or “educational climate”, as indicated by a report made by the Ministry about the middle school in

Iksal that took part in the research (http://meyda.education.gov.il/rama-mbareshet/).

A tangible result is the work done inside the schools to make the spaces “more homely”, in the

sense of warm and welcoming. This was done with the collaboration of the school staff, the pupils

and parents, thus satisfactorily achieving one of the “best practices” that had been planned

(http://algaleel.com/index.php?todo=albumpics&id=78&lang=en )

A further event that can be considered as one of the results of the research is the opening of

another middle school in Iksal in 2010. This was due also to the pressure from teachers, who

complained of the conditions of the old middle school and overcrowded classes, as the interviews

show.

From the observations and interviews conducted in 2019, the most consolidated result was,

therefore, the changed conceptions and practices of the school psychologists. Now they take into

greater account the various social causes that could explain the restlessness of many pupils, such

as the violence seen by the young people in their daily lives, including inside the family, the

overcrowded homes restricting free movement, and increasingly common habits such as

consuming energy drinks that can induce overexcitement. Embarking on a sort of pact with teachers

and parents to find an explanation for the cause of restlessness, the psychologists now try to

“contain” diagnoses of ADHD. Thanks to the new approach, in both Iksal and Kana – according

to statements by various psychologists interviewed separately in 2019 – on average, of 10 requests

only two or three lead on to the procedure whose outcome can be a diagnosis of ADHD. However,

the problem of checking diagnoses made by private specialists on request by the parents remains

unsolved.

The psychologists, and also the kabas, have increased their relations with the families of

children at risk, endeavouring to understand the cause of the school absences, that are often simply

34

due to poverty, as stated by the Iksal kabas: Some children do not go to school because they “are

ashamed of their clothes”. Thanks to such psychosocial interventions, attempts were made to avoid

limiting relations between school and families simply to the bureaucratic procedures that contribute

to exacerbate misunderstandings and tension.

Thus, the psychologists aimed to ascribe a greater content and purpose to “routine activities…

not just bureaucracy in order to fill in the required forms”. The meetings with the school staff could

thus become not just formalities but group discussions, and exchanges of ideas made periodically

over the school year. However, this depended on whether the principals were willing to embark on

such undertakings; some did “not accept intrusions”.

Some psychologists declared, in 2019, that after overcoming their initial perplexities, they noted

that group interventions were equally important and could be more efficacious than individual

interventions. Group activities were planned to include the families, and pupils were involved in

various activities, first of all sports, included and promoted in the Ministerial intervention

programs. However, a psychologist doing a stage at the Centre in Iksal said that “the action research

yielded good ideas but they are difficult to bring to completion”.

According to some politicians and municipality officials, the action research experience

changed “the overall idea”, “the point of view” and the approach of the school psychologists to the

problems. Now they are seen and dealt with in context, taking into account the constraints of both

political and regulations type. According to the Director of the Department for cultural activities

of the Iksal Municipality, that interacts with similar officials at other Municipalities in Galilee, the

Centre in Iksal “is better than other such centres in the North”.

Finally, it is reasonable to believe – as demonstrated in 2019 – that an important result is the

psychologists' greater capacity to take autonomous initiatives, as expected (see Underlying theory

and hypotheses). It can also be hypothesized that by highlighting the dropout problem, the action

research has raised “the carpet hiding the dust”.

5. Concluding reflections

While the success of the intervention carried out depends on its continuity, these concluding

reflections may dwell on the strong and weak points of our experience. A major weak point is the

failure to solve the lack of databanks at the Psychology Centres. The quantitative measurements it

was possible to make were the result of an arduous but innovative experience that will hopefully

continue and be improved. A further failing is the lack of direct involvement of the students in the

different phases of the research, right from the planning stage. An even more important point

should be to involve those who have dropped out. By reconstructing their stories, it might become

easier to understand the reasons for dropout and thereby prevent the phenomenon. In any case, the

validity of Lewin's action research model has been demonstrated in the specific context of this

study. First of all, the efficacy of group decision is evident, as demonstrated by the best practices

carried out.

It can therefore be concluded that an action research of this type, that is much less costly than

the “Ministerial programs” and international projects, can still be efficacious. Moreover, these

programs are based on theories and practices of generally Western conception (like the WE-STAY

project), that are suitable for an Israeli population with a western culture, but largely extraneous to

the Arab culture. Despite this drawback, as our experience shows, a good synergy can be achieved

between top-down programs and bottom-up action research.

35

Moreover, school is confirmed as a privileged place for the cultural hegemony struggle in course

since the times of the British Mandate. With the institution of the State of Israel, it became evident

that school is an “ideological apparatus”, to quote Althusser’s definition, in the sense that the State,

or dominant group, endeavours to keep control by transmitting its own ideology and culture.

However – where possible and as far as possible – school can also be a place of freedom for

“minority and disadvantaged groups”, that can transmit their own culture. The conflicts related to

the Arab history and literature programs are a demonstration of this. For this reason, contradictions

emerge at school in conflictual situations. A clear sign of these contradictions is the persistence of

discrimination, side-by-side with the development of Arab-Israeli schools since 1948, thanks to the

educational policies and investments in education made by the State of Israel, together with the

struggles and commitment of the minority Arab group, whose teachers work on the front line. One

development of this, as has been seen, is the emergence of female schooling: an essential

requirement for the successful overall development of Arab-Israeli society. The “Ministerial

programs” reveal further contradictions and are seen in conflicting ways, as can be explained by

the fact that they are largely financed by U.S Foundations.

From a more general point of view, it is essential to bear in mind the context. The Arab-Israeli

conflict is constantly present in the minds of all. This background needs to be understood in order

to comprehend the roots of the widespread and increasing violence in the society and so in the

schools, and consequent tensions among teachers and pupils, schools and families. These tensions

in the Arab-Israeli population have a particular intensity, diffusion and peculiar connotations.

During a working lunch held in 2019 at the School Psychology Centre in Iksal, an Arab-Israeli

woman took part in the discussion – an action research is also important in promoting such

occasions – pointing out that “it is pointless to demand equality with the Jews, who believe they

are the Chosen People”. This has to do with the relations between adults and the “mute generation”,

whose identity crisis is also connected to aspirations to “assimilation, attracted by western culture”.

It must be added that at the same time, this “mute generation” sometimes reacts to failure of the

assimilation or integration process by individual and collective acts of rebellion, as a way of

strengthening their own identity as opposed to their fathers' “defeated generation” (Veronese,

Castiglioni and Said, 2011).

Finally, this experience has shown, in a specific context, that in action research communication

and cooperation among those with different knowledge and experiences can forge a dialectical

relation, as theorized by Gramsci, changing common ideas about the problem and fostering

awareness and the power to take the initiative. All this is aimed at forming a critical consciousness,

the ability to face a difficult, contradictory reality, activating conflict and cooperation, in order to

achieve a possible emancipation. Remembering, as pointed out by the woman mentioned above,

that “as stated in the Koran, every change must start by changing oneself”.

Acknowledgements

This research was financed by the Office for Culture and the Mediterranean (Councillor Prof.

Silvia Godelli) at the Region of Puglia and by Funds for Research allocated to Prof. Francesco

Paolo Colucci by Bicocca Milan University.

Action research is a collective effort and an important contribution was made to this study by

the psychologists at the Centers in Iksal and Kana: Aiman Amara, Aiman Dahamshe, Mohammad

Kraiem, Ihab Nassar, Morsi Habiballah, and Abbas Mansour. Essential collaboration was provided

by the Municipal Inspector Yousef Drawshe and the Kabbas of Iksal Mohammad Habashe. Dr

36

Kaula Khalil Saffouri of the Office for Schools at Nazareth Municipality helped with the

description of the Israeli education system. Dr. Morena Pandolfi, collaborated on analysis of the

interviews. Prof. Victor Friedman of Max Stern College and Dr. Guido Veronese of the Università

di Milano Bicocca participated in the first stage of planning the research.

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