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Community Psychology in Global Perspective
CPGP, Comm. Psych. Glob. Persp. Vol 6, Issue 2/1, 20 – 37, 2020
20
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
21
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
22
– 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.
23
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).
24
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
25
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.
26
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.
27
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
28
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]
29
…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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