Bedouin Arab mothers' aspirations for their children's education in the context of radical social change

Abstract

This study examines the aspirations of Bedouin Arab mothers toward their children's educational attainment and future occupations. The study was conducted in 1991–92 among the Bedouin community in Israel which is in the process of being transferred from spontaneous tribal settlements to government planned towns. The study was based on interviews with 309 mothers, 90% of whom had no formal education themselves. The data revealed that 62% of the mothers lived in government planned towns, and 38% lived in spontaneous tribal settlements. Ninety eight percent of mothers would like to see their sons finish high school and 81% would like to see their daughters finish high school (though about 20% of these acknowledged the existence of family or financial barriers to realizing their aspirations). There were no significant differences between the aspirations of mothers who lived in the planned towns and those who lived in spontaneous settlements for their sons' and daughters' high school and higher education, or their future occupations.