A New Way


Multi-cultural Project in Special Ed

Background

The “Neve Shannan” School in Jaffa and the “Tekuma” School in Southern Tel Aviv are special education schools. Although they are part of the Jewish school sector, many Arab children have been referred to these schools because there are no Arab sector special-ed schools available to them. Today more than one third of the children learning in “Neve Shannan” and “Tekuma” are Arab. Thus these schools have become multi-cultural in their student bodies. Being multi-cultural has implications upon the schools’ curriculum, upon educational message and content, upon language spoken in the classrooms, and upon the interactions among the pupils and between the pupils and teachers. The multi-cultural status creates formidable challenges in the daily functioning of the schools and often presents difficult dilemmas to the teaching staff. The M-c Project in Special Ed allows the schools to engage in a working model of co-existence that recognizes the children’s uniqueness and cultural difference and allows for expression of common elements among the children. The Project fortifies the individual pupil and emphasizes ethnic elements in order to develop the ability for the student to see the “other” ethnic group and, at a later stage to understand the “other” that is different from himself. The group leaders employ the teaching methods used in special-ed as much a possible: Work with small groups, relating to the individual needs of the children, building the educational tasks gradually.

Project goals

  • Giving the opportunity of representation of the different cultures within the schools
  • Strengthening each group in appreciating its own cultural background while exposing the children to the cultural background of the “other” by doing artwork, learning customs and language
  • Developing of effective means of communication between the different cultures and enhancing a cultural environment in which the pupils feel comfortable among children from different and from similar cultures

Description of the Project

Program Outline:
  • Preparatory meeting with the teachers
  • Individual workshops of the Jewish and Arab students to present the project to them
  • Thirty-three meetings with the students during the school year
  • Fifteen hours of teacher training
  • Parent-parent-children interaction
Details:
a. the children’s workshops
  • the Project is conducted during the school hours as part of the regular curriculum
  • two classes take part in each school
  • in each class the number of Jewish and Arab children is equal (as much as possible)
  • an activity is conducted every week, on a fixed day, during the school year
  • the duration of the activity is one and a half hours and consists of work in drama or in plastic art
  • the activity is lead by two group leaders, on Arab and one Jewish who are professionals in the field of drama or art and have been trained in leading multi-cultural groups
  • content: each cultural group expresses its own cultural background through drama and/or art-work. Through drama and the plastic art5s children can express content and occurrences connected to both cultures: languages, customs, holidays and family occasions. Readiness to accept the “other” from a point of strength and self-assurance of personal and cultural identification develops through this process
b. teachers’ workshops
The activities of the children afford the model for work with the educational staff. In order to strengthen the model in the school the “M-c P in S Ed” offers ongoing training to the teaching and therapeutic staff. Work with the teachers is based on what goes on in the children’s workshops. Issues which have arisen during the workshops are presented and coping strategies are worked out. The teachers’ workshops deal with questions connected with citizenship in a multifaceted society, cultural identification of students and teachers, dilemmas which arise in belonging to a majority or to a minority group, and their expression in the school setting. The “M-c P in S Ed” presents to the staff ideas dealing with the cultural identifications of all of the groups in the school. It deals with language, art and values and customs. The teacher’s workshop is directed by Jewish and Arab professionals and the staff of the Foundation.

c. parent’s night
Attracting parents and harnessing them to the project is important especially in mixed towns and cities. Cooperative action of parents on the basis of common interests can contribute to improving the relationships between Arabs and Jews in the mixed community. During the Parent’s Night parents meet one another while the students engage in separate activity with their leaders. The evening is completed with a cooperative activity between the parents and the children. The workshop allows to the parents to hear and talk about the processes which their children are going through. Parents who have experienced a successful meeting with the others can support their children and also the teaching staff.


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