History curriculum in Arab schools: between teaching and challenging the Israeli history program in Arab schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to try to understand how history teachers in Arab high schools in Israel navigate their way between the official curriculum and their Palestinian-Arab identity. I examine how they broach learning material that contradicts their beliefs and their understanding of recent history in the region. To this end I used qualitative research based on interpretative phenomenological analysis. The participants included Arab teachers, both men and women, who we interviewed using in-depth open interviews. In the literature review and from the findings we can see that the state, through the education system in general and through history teaching in particular, tries to disconnect the Palestinian-Arabs from their history, their people, and their national identity. These practices fit the descriptions of settler-colonialists’ behavior toward indigenous populations. The findings show that the teachers use one of three approaches to deal with the state’s educational policy. One group of teachers focuses on achievement using the material they are given in order to stay out of trouble. Another group finds creative ways to cautiously expose the students to the Arab narrative. The third group faces the challenge head on, presenting the students with the Palestinian narrative in addition to the Jewish Zionist one.