Isaac Levi’s belief change methodology as a way to settle conflicting views: Case study of Palestinian teachers in Jewish schools

Abstract

Tensions between conflicting values and views characterize multicultural democracies. This study deals with conflicting opinions within unequal power relations through the prism of rational belief change. We analyzed ten interviews with Palestinian teachers in Jewish schools in Israel, emphasizing conflicting values and ideas, and ways of settling discrepancies. Levi’s (2004) framework helped delineate the areas of contraction, expansion, and core beliefs. We identified negotiations on values and views in which participants oscillated between Israeliness and Palestinianess, and between traditionalism and modernism. We suggest that the fundamental sensitivity in Jewish-Palestinian encounters is the fear of attacks on core beliefs. Teachers refrain from dealing with other value contradictions for fear that they will unwittingly cross over to threatening core beliefs. Teachers prefer to discuss consensual topics such as professional and educational issues, and topics related to their personal life such as parenting. We suggest rational belief change as an important tool to maximize the possibility of settling conflicting values and views.