International Review of Education (2009) 55:235250 DOI 10.

1007/s11159-008-9123-y

Springer 2008

THE COMPLEXITIES OF TEACHING HISTORICAL CONFLICTUAL NARRATIVES IN INTEGRATED PALESTINIAN-JEWISH SCHOOLS IN ISRAEL
ZVI BEKERMAN

Abstract This paper addresses the complexities encountered by teachers and students when dealing with conictual historical narratives in the context of integrated bilingual schools in Israel. The narratives presented are based on rich ethnographic data gathered from a long-standing research eort in the schools. They oer insights into how those involved in the educational initiative draw selectively from formal and informal sources in order to support their identication and sense of belonging within their particular political, national and religious communities. The vignettes rendered present a complex picture that is not necessarily encouraging in terms of the potential of education to help overcome situations of intractable conict. Resume LES COMPLEXITES DE LENSEIGNEMENT DE RECITS CON FLICTUELS HISTORIQUES DANS LES ECOLES INTEGREES JUDEO PALESTINIENNES EN ISRAEL Cette etude aborde les complexites rencontrees par les professeurs et les etudiants traitant de recits historiques conictuels dans le cadre des ecoles bilingues integrees en Israel. Les recits presentes sont bases sur de riches donnees ethnographiques recueillies durant une recherche de longue haleine menee dans les ecoles. Ils orent des vues sur la facon dont ceux qui sont impliques dans linitiative ` ` ` educative procedent a des deductions a partir de sources formelles et informelles, an de ` soutenir leur identication et leur sentiment dappartenance a linterieur de leurs com ` munautes politiques, nationales et religieuses particulieres. Ces estampes ont rendu actuelle une image complexe qui nest pas necessairement encourageante en termes de ` potentiel deducation pour aider a surmonter des situations de conit insurmontable. Zusammenfassung SCHWIERIGKEITEN BEI DER BEHANDLUNG KON FLIKTBEZOGENER GESCHICHTSERZAHLUNG IM UNTERRICHT AN INTEGRIERTEN PALASTINENSICH-JUDISCHEN SCHULEN IN ISRAELIn dieser Abhandlung geht es um die Schwierigkeiten, die sich Lehrern und Schulern in integrierten zweisprachigen Schulen in Israel stellen, die sich mit koniktbezogener Geschichtserzahlung befassen. Die vorgestellten Geschichtserzahlungen bauen auf umfangreichen ethnograschen Daten auf, die im Rahmen langjahriger Forschungen an den Schulen gewonnen wurden. Sie geben Einblick in die Art und Weise, wie die an der Bildungsinitiative Beteiligten gezielt formelle und informelle Quellen nutzen, um ihre Identizierung mit ihren individuellen politischen, nationalen und religiosen Gemeins chaften sowie ihr Zugehorigkeitsgefuhl zu diesen zu unterstutzen. Mittels der ent haltenen Kurzdarstellungen entsteht ein komplexes Bild, das im Hinblick auf die Moglichkeiten, die Bildung fur die Uberwindung verfahrener Koniktsituationen bietet, nicht unbedingt Mut macht.

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Resumen LAS DIFICULTADES DE ENSENAR RELATOS HISTORICOS CONFLICTIVOS EN ESCUELAS INTEGRADAS PALESTINO-JUDIAS DE ISRAELEste trabajo se ocupa de las complicaciones que experimentan los docentes y estudiantes en las escuelas integradas bilingues de Israel con el manejo de relatos his toricos conictivos. Los ejemplos de relatos presentados, basados en ricos datos etnogracos reunidos en las escuelas sobre la base de prolongados esfuerzos de inves tigacion, ponen de maniesto como las personas involucradas en la educacion realizan una eleccion selectiva entre fuentes formales e informales para as apoyar su propia identicacion y sentido de pertenencia dentro de sus propias comunidades pol ticas, nacionales y religiosas. Las vinetas reproducidas ofrecen un escenario complicado que no necesariamente resulta alentador en terminos del potencial de la educacion para ayudar a superar situaciones conictivas pertinaces.

The challenge of teaching history at integrated bilingual schools Teaching history is not a simple task at the integrated bilingual schools in Israel. The rst attempt at bilingual, desegregated education in Israel started in 1984 in the Neveh Shalom elementary school, located in a small PalestinianJewish settlement in the vicinity of Jerusalem. In 1997, The Center for Bilingual Education (CBE, undated) was established with the aim of fostering egalitarian Palestinian-Jewish cooperation in education, primarily through the development of bilingual and multicultural co-educational institutions (Bekerman and Horenczyk 2004). In 1998, the Center established two elementary schools guided by these principles, one in Jerusalem and the other in the Upper Galilee. A third school was opened in 2004 in Kfar Karah, the rst to be established in a Palestinian village. In this sense it could truly revolutionise basic Israeli perspectives which at that time could perhaps

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accept integrated schools in Jewish majority settlements but have diculties in considering sending Jewish children to a segregated Palestinian area. The most recent school opened its doors in 2007 in Beer Sheva. The schools today serve a population of over 800 students, and two have already opened middle school sections, hoping in the future to complete the full secondary educational cycle. Since their inception, these schools have challenged some of the basic educational premises of Israeli society. For example, they claim that Palestinian and Jewish children do not necessarily need to learn in segregated, monolingual educational settings. The integrated bilingual schools are non-religious and are recognised and partially supported by the Israeli Ministry of Education. For the most part, they use the standard State curriculum for the nonreligious school system. The main dierence is that both Hebrew and Arabic are used as languages of instruction. The schools have adopted what has been characterised as a strong additive bilingual approach, which emphasises symmetry between both languages in all aspects of instruction (Garcia 1997). More specically, two homeroom teachersa Palestinian and a Jewjointly lead classes and each school is co-directed by a Palestinian and a Jewish principal. Children from both groups are equally represented in the student body. The schools oer a cooperative framework structured on the basis of equality and mutual respect while remaining committed to sustaining and strengthening participants distinct identities. Palestinian Israelis, though ocially oered full rights as citizens, have chronically suered as a putatively hostile minority with little political representation and a debilitated social, economic and educational infrastructure (Ghanem 1998; Rouhana 1997). Within this conictual context, the idea of creating educational spheres where their narrative is voiced is, in and of itself, a daring enterprise. The schools function on the premise that educational initiatives can create spheres that allow for the inclusion of diversity and the possibility of mutual recognition (Bekerman 2004, 2005). At the basis of the conict are controversial historical interpretations. As such, the need to negotiate between interdependent and conicting historical narratives is one of the main goals of the schools activities. Such a negotiation is full of risks. The Israeli educational system is almost fully segregated regarding the Palestinian and Jewish populations. Like many modern countries, it makes use of history curricula to promote a strong sense of belonging among its citizenry (Al-Haj 2005; Crawford 1995; Nash et al. 1998). As in many other areas of conict, here too these curricula become central tools in the prolongation of conict (Bar-Tal 1999). The standard Jewish curriculum focuses on national Jewish content and Jewish nation-building while the Palestinian curriculum is sanitised of any national Palestinian content. Jewish students are called on to engage in the collective Jewish national enterprise while Palestinian students are expected to accept the denition of Israel as a Jewish democratic state (Al-Haj 2002, 2005; Gordon 2005). Palestinian schools are

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not allowed to teach narratives concerning issues related to their cultural and national histories. Thus, ocial history leaves little space for alternative narratives, recognised as a major part of a groups cultural rights.

Confronting and addressing (conicting) historical narratives The integrated bilingual schools need to nd ways to overcome the diculties concerning conicting historical narratives which are perceived as the main obstacle towards reconciliation. However, they need to do this under the vigilant educational supervision of Ministry of Education ocers, knowing full well that any perceived deviations from the ocial curriculum could be misinterpreted and risk the schools existence. The integrated schools introduce historical discussions at a very early age. While standard monolingual schools generally introduce history curricula beginning in the fth or sixth grades, the integrated schools begin teaching historical topics in the rst grade. In addition, some historical issues related to the central memorial days in the calendars of the two groups (Memorial Day and the Nakbe) are introduced from kindergarten onwards. This does not mean that a fully integrated history curriculum has been developed. Rather, it simply shows that school stakeholders see the discussion of historical conictual narratives as one of the main goals of the schools and one that demonstrates the schools commitment to recognition and inclusion. The declared interest of the schools in confronting and discussing historical narratives, the continuous political confrontation among the parties and the regular outbursts of hostility that accompany the lives of all Israeli citizens make talk, weaving present and past accounts, a regular guest in the classrooms. This regularity is accentuated during school sessions ocially demarcated to deal with commemorative national events or when outside events are so powerful that, they need to be ocially acknowledged in the schools (Rabins assassination, Arafats death or a suicide bombing). The school events that I will relate to in the following sections took place in the lower grades of the primary integrated schools. Given this, they become excellent examples of how folk historical knowledge, that of the young students and their teachers (none of whom are trained as history teachers) as well as the educational strategies adopted, allow or do not allow for reconciliatory acts and the expression of the cherished values of tolerance and inclusion mandated by the schools stakeholders. In the following, I will focus on daily classroom practices and events. We will see how unexpectedly classroom topics are invaded by the wider sociocultural-political-context. We will also see how the schools eorts to support open dialogue among the conictual narratives are not always successful.

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The ndings reported here are based on data gathered in the context of a long-standing ethnographic research eort that began in 1999. Space limitations prevents a full account of analysis procedures but in general it can be said that conventional qualitative methods were adopted (Mason 1996; Silverman 1993), looking for patterns and thematic issues of relevance. These were then coded so as to allow for further analysis. Those interested in a full description of the procedures are encouraged to review previous publications (Bekerman 2003, 2004, 2005). The episodes described are taken from either video or audio transcriptions of classrooms, workshops, interviews, and ceremonial events conducted at the schools or from eld notes taken during long periods of observation.

The episodes Religious and national issues aect both each other and other spheres of the schools activities. This does not mean that all that happens at the schools relates to religious and national issues. Rather, in particular the ndings have to do with the basic questions that guided the research and with the days on which the observations were conducted at the schools. Political realities penetrate topics that the schools position as purely religious. For example, during a particular event in the third grade, a Jewish child was reading the Passover blessing regarding the Jewish hope that our enemies will be expelled when a Palestinian child reacted by saying, there are no enemies (xxx) and also we are enemies. Though the transcription did not allow for a full understanding of the utterance, from eld notes it became apparent that the Palestinian child was relating to the blessing read as if the word enemies referred to the Palestinians and emphasising that at school there were no enemies. Palestinians in the school are considered friendly. Similarly, during a Bible class in which the exodus from Egypt was being discussed, a Jewish child stated, what will happen if what happened in the past in Egypt will happen again with bad Arabs to which she immediately added that Arab children and their parents at school are good Arabs. These two examples are just some of the many ways in which we have seen the political reality ood the educational scene. As we will see later, teachers do not always nd ways to cope with these situations. Although we have never seen them react negatively to the associations raised by the children, we have noted that they adopt a strategy that allows them to discard the issue for some later time. Overcoming these troubles is not easy. The separation between religious and national paradigms serves only the Jewish sector to the detriment of the schools goals. For example, it is worth remembering that Passover and the Bible are topics that serve the national Zionist narrative within the Jewish schools agenda. Much

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of the Jewish tradition has been secularised/nationalised to serve this purpose (Ben-Amos and Bet-El 1999). The articial division between national and religious/cultural issues created at the school does not foster critical thinking in general and, in the long run, might be detrimental to the declared goals of oering recognition and inclusion. The scenes we will discuss now took place during the rst hour of school the morning after the death of Yasser Arafat, the President of the Palestinian Authority. We should bear in mind that the political situation in Israel is not organised so as to make a conversation about Arafats death anything but hard work. The history of the Palestinian-Israeli conict oers for both sides only antagonistic views and sad memories of this leader. Even in a school dedicated to crossing taboo boundaries, overcoming these limitations is not easy, especially when considering that Arafats death came unannounced and there was little time to prepare a commemoration. We should also remember that though the topic appears to be clearthe death of the beloved leader of one of the groupstopics are ultimately about the relationships we create with each other and with the immediate and distant contexts in which we live. In the 26th min of the rst hour of school and almost unexpectedly, Yod, the rst grade Jewish teacher, introduces the topic of Arafats death emphasising its emotional aspects. In her presentation she uses an all-inclusive we, seemingly to create a sense of cohesion in the group. She introduces the subject indirectly, not mentioning Arafats name (Ah Nun, I know that this morning there is something a bit dierent, the way we feel, in in ya. When I was in my way to school I overheard the news [and wanted to speak a little bit about it] here in class). The children react by stating that they know that Arafat has died. The rst intervention by Nun, the Palestinian teacher, is one in which she tries to elicit information about who Arafat was (who is this Arafat, Nahla, did every one hear? All the children heard that Yasser Arafat died) immediately followed by Yod translating and asking a similar question. Multiple contributions are oered by the children, creating some disorder. S, a Jewish child seated in one of the front tables where Nun is standing, says in a rather low voice, I will spread kaka in his grave. Nun immediately picks up on this very strong, disrespectful comment. She approaches S, places her hand over his shoulder, asks him to calm down and makes a comment that will set the rules for the conversation. Nun sets a very simple rule: everything can be said as long as it is respectful. Shsh: I need to stop for a while, I have no problem, each one and what he thinks, how he thinks, how he feels, what he feels, S the most important thing is respect. Although simple, it is repeated in dierent ways a number of times, underlying the importance Nun attaches to this principle. Nuns statement is supported by Yod, the Jewish teacher, who joins her in repeating Nuns sentence in full in Hebrew also respect [one another], and also respect, to the person we are speaking about. Nun is fast to add that respect is something not necessarily related to todays events but a rule for all at all times to us,

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to other children, to the world, with sentences of respect. What you said (turning to S) and I will not repeat it, is something that also when not connected to what happened today, is not acceptable to us in class. This last statement can be interpreted as one directed to the possibility that her previous statement might be misinterpreted as partial and dictated by the death of Arafat. Nun wants to make sure her statement is understood as free of political bias or national preferences. As a minority teacher, Nun might feel the need to be careful. She nishes her Hebrew statement using an analogy that even if a mouse dies it deserves respect. This provokes laughter in the class. Deant, and showing again that his rst utterance was not just a slip, S challenges Nuns reference to the death of the mouse by ridiculing it: also if a rat that walks on the street dies? for which he is once again asked to keep quiet. After which Nun newly encourages the children to speak about their feelings and thoughts regarding Arafat and his death. In the following segments, we hear children responding to the invitation to dialogue by expressing a variety of views on the reasons for Arafats death and what he represented to the Palestinian people. The session progresses without much diculty. Yod then asks a referential question (do you think there are people who are happy to hear what happened?) directed to the real world of students outside the classroom. This opens a long string of conversation in which many students participate. What seems to evolve, following the question put on the oor, is a true dialogue in which dierent views are openly expressed by the children regarding Arafat. For some he is a terrorist and for others a respected president but all seem to agree that these characteristics can be interpreted dierently by the two groups as exemplied by the following excerpt from the extensive dialogue: Nun: OK, H. thinks Arafat is bad for the Jews. What do you think; that he is also bad to the Palestinians? Or only to the Jews? H: Only to the Jews he does them bad things. Nun summarises by pointing out the dierent views expressed by the children but not adding any nal argument. At this point, the conversation takes an unpredicted turn. Some of the Palestinian children bring up stories of death in their families. The deaths of a loved uncle or grandma are mentioned. These are acknowledged by Nun, who marks the utterances as belonging to the general sphere of death, seemingly dierent from the one discussed in class now which deals with the particular death of Arafat. This step could be interpreted as an attempt to redirect the conversation to its main course and it seems to be eective because a Palestinian girl then mentions her experience of watching TV with her grandmother and how hearing about Arafats death caused her grandmother to cry. Nun uses this utterance to return to the fatherly gure theme she had commented on earlier. By asking a question about how the childs grandmother reacted when her husband (the grandfather of the child) died, Nun draws a homology between Arafat and the grandfather. She represents Arafat as a fatherly gure of the Palestinian people. The session is closed.

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The episode is over, a dicult topic having been dealt with, one initiated and guided by the teachers. The pretext of Arafats death allowed two social norms to be enacted: First, respect was established as the basis for freedom of speech. Second and fully related to the rst, all emotions were decreed as legitimate when dealing with issues lacking social consensus. It is clear that, without the teachers initiating the topic, it might not have ever been put on the oor. Whether it should or should not have been brought up is a dicult question to ask. Death might not be a subject to discuss with rst graders but death was part of what they found themselves discussing in the few moments when the students initiated the conversation. Nevertheless, death was not what originated the talkat least not death in general as mentioned by Nun when trying to re-direct the conversation to Arafats death. Though frequently talked about, respect was also not the key point. What brought about the conversation were the school and its aim to produce spheres of encounter and recognition between two peoples in conict. Arafats death provided an opportunity to exercise this aim and the teachers decided to cooperate. To do this, Yod introduced a dierence I know that this morning there is something a bit dierent, the way we feel but what is dierent is undecided. Are the dierences ones that touch upon the way we feel as representatives of people (Palestinians and Jews) or are they individual and related to the way each of us encounters death? Though until that point in the morning the children had not focused on the events to be discussed, it was clear they knew about what had happened. S was even ready to oer a violation which provided the opportunity to discuss respect and all the children were able to become involved and contribute to the discussion. Opening the topic up for discussion seemed to be an invitation by the teachers to raise group identities. Emphasising individual feelings and emotions was, for the children, more of a personal response than one from group identities. Undoubtedly, both existed and might present a problem as well as a possible solution. The problem relates to the need to account for group identities, which the external environment may have encouraged, but through conict. The solution relates to an individualised approach, which aords other, more personal connections. But for the individualised approach to play a part requires the group identities rst; only in their presence can they be invited in and dealt in the hope of resolving some of the group tensions. It is this t between the group and the individual that we want to focus on, a t which might enclose a negation or a neutralisation of attempts at new imaginings. From a dierent angle, it is interesting to note that in response to the call for personal experiences, the Palestinian children rst oered true, personal stories of death in their families and then the Jewish children oered, as their individual experiences, the groups perceptions of Arafat as a political entity. Are the Jewish children lacking encounters with death? Has no grandmother died? Or is it possible that Arafat cannot become personal because if

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he does it would disrupt the consensus around his image as an arch-enemy? The minority children feel more secure in the individual eld. Whether this is a result of their training as minorities who need to hide their political preferences is unknown. Yet for Palestinians in Israel, talking about Arafat might be perceived as dangerous. The last example is taken from a discussion in the third grade about the events that took place in Kafur Kassem on 29 October 1956. The discussion was led by two-third grade homeroom teachers. Ul, the Palestinian teacher, has worked at the school for the last four years and is much appreciated by the school authorities. Daled, the Jewish teacher, was a new comer to the institution and had no Arabic prociencies at the time of the recording. The incident addressed refers to a massacre that took place in the Israeli Arab village of Kafur Kassemsituated on the Green Line which, at that time, was the de facto border between Israel and Jordan. The incident resulted in the death of 48 Palestinian civilians, including six women and 23 children aged 817. The most outstanding dierence in this session as compared to the one previously described is that the students are less involved. For the most part, very short strings of conversation are recorded. Though they are promised by the teachers several times, the oor is never open for their questions or comments. The teachers embark on long descriptive and informational strings of conversation and these are not only translated, but also repeated through the session. In this rather long example of which I present only a small extract, I want to highlight the hidden dialogue sustained by the two teachers when presenting the events of the massacre. I will present only one example from the data. However, what is presented repeats itself throughout the text creating an easily identiable pattern. After her eort to clarify the historical events that envelope the episode of Kafur Kassem, U1 explains in great detail the curfew which brought about the massacre, emphasising its harshness:
the Palestinians, all the Arabs didnt agree, that the Palestinian land will be split between the Palestinians, (calls class to attention), and the Jews and that is why after they declared the state the Je- the Arabs protested, and they declared the war against Israel, the point is that during the period of this war Israel decided, (calls class to attention), that this ( ) there will be a curfew. What is a curfew, (maybe) it is the first time you hear it, what word does it come from? excellent so (you can) only stay at home it is forbidden to go outside forbidden to open the windows forbidden to open the door and this is how it was decided that there will be a curfew over Kufur Kasemwhich is called? Yes D. a curfew in the night from five oclock till the morning till the morning hours from five in the evening till the morning hours, the Arabs are forbidden to walk, even to go into their village it is forbidden, like even if you need food for the small children, you want to buy it for them it is forbidden to go out during these hours because the most important thingbecause whoever violates the law or whoever does not has a fatedo you know what was his fate? His fate was he is shot, killed.

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In the following segments and in response to a Jewish student inquiring about the meaning of what had been said so far, the Jewish teacher takes the oor. Under the pretext of an explanation/translation, she oers her take on the events. Her presentation represents a radical shift both in the language used and in the way the events are described. The terms used for the wars are now those used by the Israeli hegemony. The 1956 war turns into the Mibtza Kadesh and it is the result of the Arab countries refusal to agree to the creation of the State of Israel. Daled also seems to be preparing for what has not yet been described by Ul regarding the specic events of the massacre. She asks the students to remember that what is being discussed occurred during a time of war and not during just regular times. Daled also focuses on a specic population. She explains that what is being described relates to the army and not to the totality of the (Jewish) population. In addition, the situation was such that the army in charge of the area might have been justied in declaring the curfew, which ultimately brought about the massacre.
OK sorry I see children who maybe did not exactly understand everything or not all has been translated so to help the ear I will say some things. Ul has reminded us that in 1956 there was a war, Mivtza Kadesh, part of the wars the State of Israel had with those that did not agree with the existence of Israel. These were neighbouring countries and also people within. Ah T, T stop it its disrupting. Please remember it was a state of war. Israel was at war it was not a regular time an every day event. It was not just that an order was announced from anywhere. Thats to say there was tension in the landremember the people there (in the villages mentioned) where under military supervision thats to say the army was in charge there. An order was given for there was a war it was not a regular situation an order was not just given to stop people and they are not allowedit seems there was tension in the area before the war startedL is there anything you know that you want to add, not now?

At this point, Daled is determined to put things straight and she does not allow any interruptions; questions are postponed for later. Daled justies and supports Uls account but Ul, sensing that her story might be being co-opted by Daled, injects a sentence again emphasising the inhumane acts of the military. Daled follows by making a new eort to alleviate the potential blame. She reminds the students that there have been other cases where more exibility was shown during curfews. Daled never negates the facts. Rather, she seems to be working towards safeguarding the emotional wellbeing of the (Jewish) children who will be soon confronted with some hard facts. A few moments later, Daled seems to present a last eort to re-address the issue by asking a math question how many years back was it? However, this question ends up enabling Daled to present some more alleviating information; forty-nine years ago she says. She explains that technologies were not as available as they are today to transmit important information. She hints at a possible confusion in the orders announced by the military.

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The session is over and another dicult topic has been covered. The norms that were created in our previous example were not enacted during this present one. Dialogue was absent among teachers and students. If at all present, there was a hidden, contesting dialogue between the teachers. The teachers never openly disagreed with each other but tensions were perceived. Kafur Kassem is a Palestinian issue. It is Uls task to present it and she does so forcefully. She seems to strongly believe that all the children should know the facts and she will not allow anything to prevent her from presenting them, in full. Daled is partially supportive. She never openly negates any of the facts presented but throughout seems to try and ameliorate their potential negative meaning. Yes, Kafur Kassem was a horrible event. However, it is not representative of the full picture but rather an exception to the dierent, much more humane, Israeli military government. Indeed, the above episode is a daring example of introducing students to the unspoken history of Zionist colonialisation and (Jewish) Israeli statehood as well as introducing them to conicting perspectives and controversial issues. Yet, the students were never allowed to become engaged in a critical inquiry though if given the opportunity, they could have done so with ease. They had personal histories to oer. They reacted to particular elements in the story and were able to humorously relate to dicult events. However, the teachers did not allow such an inquiry to take the oor. Their sense that the facts needed to be presented combined with their hiding of their fears, uncertainties and suspicions made the day a sad example of dialogic (between the teachers) monologue.

Discussion This paper considers the potential of educational eorts to help participants overcome longstanding inter-ethnic conict. More specically, this paper reveals the complexities encountered by teachers and students when dealing with conictual historical narratives in the context of integrated bilingual schools in Israel. The vignettes discussed show how both the macro sociopolitical-context and micro aspects of the working relations between the two communities in conict inuence the potential of school curricula and educational strategies to serve eorts to alleviate conict. The vignettes show us that the integrated schools oer opportunities for students and teachers to grapple with historical conictual narratives. It is clear that all involved come to school with their group and individual historical truths. However, the vignettes show us that these truths can be managed in dierent ways, some more respectful and inclusive than others. They also show us that teachers have a profound inuence on the results and consequences of such in class historical negotiations and on whether such classroom events are more or less successful.

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An important word of caution and, in a sense, a limitation of this study relates to the fussy denition we may oer to the utterance more or less successful classroom events. More or less successful can mean multiple things. The last two examples oered present what could be considered a successful (the rst) and a less successful example of class co-operation and knowledge construction among teachers and students. The rst example is indeed more successful when considering dialogic approaches. Still, at this point it cannot be said with certainty if from a critical perspective anyone is better, especially when considering that the schools integrate populations in conict of which the Palestinian one holds the status of an oppressed community. It is dicult to say whether Nuns accommodating approach or Uls more oppositional approach better facilitates the development of critical perspectives among the students. Further analysis (Bekerman, in preparation) may shed light on these dicult issues. What has become apparent is that the eorts presently invested by the school ocials to develop an all-inclusive history curriculum respectful of the communities narrativesan eort envisioned by all as a secure recipe towards reconciliationmight not be as secure as expected. The few studies that have sought to understand the inuence of textbook narratives on students knowledge of history have found that students encounter diculties with these texts because they are written in a complex manner. They have also found that textbook authors assume prior knowledge that is not necessarily present in the readers. This hampers the readers ability to comprehend the texts (McNamara and Kintsch 1996). These textbooks have also been shown to constrain the critical thinking of students because they hide authorial voice and its potential biases (Crismore 1984). Moreover, recent studies on the relationship between textbook accounts and students historical memory show that students comprehend textbooks with the help of previously acquired knowledge combined with their perceptions of the surrounding cultural milieu. Students also try to reduce any possible tensions created by perceived disparities between them (Porat 2004). Textbooks do not seem to help redene the cultural and historical perspectives that are shaped in concert with the wider socio-cultural context (Wertsch 2002; Wertsch and Polman 2001). In spite of the expectations set on textbooks to secure certain types of historical memory, culture at large and its multiple mediational tools embodied in a wide gamut of communicational technologies seem to set the parameters and the potential motions of individual memory. Indeed, textbooks are one of these tools but their inuence is not necessarily greater than that of other mass media apparatus. Moreover, given the context in which they functionschoolsthey lose a force that in another context might have been noticed. It seems as though people living in any society have no choice but to form memories in line with that which is considered the collective memory of that society. Doing so implies an alignment with a particular social group and its accompanying sense of belonging and aliation. Historical memories

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are part of everyones education (not to be confused with schooling) and are gained through participation in formal and daily activities. What gets dened as the ocial memory, therefore, reects the power of certain groups and ideologies in society to dene the past according to their interests, often by silencing alternative and competing memory discourses (Conway 2003; Epstein 2001). This is particularly obvious in historical narratives taught in schools when such narratives provide a framework through which children make sense of and lay claim to a national collective memory (Davies 2004; Siegel 2002). History curricula implore students to remember the nations glories, leaders and warriors through practices which aim at establishing a historical consciousness that aligns forgetting with evil forces (Eppert 2003, p. 186) that threaten to destroy the nations identity and its very existence. Yet, Halbwachs (1980) rightfully points out the lightness of individual memories and their tendency to vanish if they are not supported through social interaction within a material cultural framework. From his perspective, memories are not individual but social. They are collective not because there is a collective psychology to societies but because they are practised, acted and re-enacted in the social sphere through multiple venues of activity. Many are involved in what we ultimately identify as historical knowledge, popular culture, ocial activities, family agents, friends and foes. This paper is not an attempt to measure the historical knowledge of the teachers and students observed. Rather, it is an attempt to try and understand how students participate in historical discussions, prior to being exposed to formal curricular eorts that shape their historical recollections. Moreover, it is an attempt to understand the resources that these students bring with them while their teachers, not history teachers, try to engage in particular competing canonical narratives. We show students gleaning their knowledge from the cultural curriculum (Wineburg et al. 2007); the multiple sources that produce cultural work in their surroundings. We question whether students, in the future, after being exposed to the state-mandated curriculumbe this a critical one or notwill ever reconsider their present positions. For some, the possibility of children not being inuenced by statemandated curriculum might sound appealing because they see in this curriculum the reection of the hegemonic power they might oppose. Paradoxically, even if we are right in our argument and children will not necessarily change their perspectives as a result of learning the mandated curriculum, sovereignty is secured. For the most part, the cultural curriculum is as much a reection of hegemonic power as the curriculum from which our children might not learn. The argument is similar to the one suggested by Tulviest and Wertsch (1994). They argue that ocial accounts tend to be built around central themes and actors whereas unocial histories seem to be more fragmented, focusing on anecdotes directly experienced. They suggest that these unocial accounts might be organised in response to ocial ones. Thus, they are inherently dialogical and not independent of ocial depictions.

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What can be done? This is a dicult question to answer at this early stage in our research; we need to gain a better understanding of how ways of representing the past are organised and how they interplay in dialogue. These understandings are critical in order to help clarify our thoughts regarding potential pedagogical tools and their ability to serve peace educational eorts.

Acknowledgements The present research was made possible by the generous support of the Bernard Van Leer Foundation. I am also thankful to Julia Schlam for her insightful comments and for the editing of the paper.

References
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The author Zvi Bekerman teaches anthropology of education at the School of Education and the Melton Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His main interests are in the study of cultural, ethnic, and national identity, including identity processes and negotiation

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during intercultural encounters and in formal/informal learning contexts. Since 1999 he has been conducting a long-term ethnographic research project in the integrated/bilingual Palestinian-Jewish schools in Israel. He has published widely in these elds. He is the Editor (with Seonaigh MacPherson) of the refereed scholarly journal Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education: An International Journal. Some of his recent publications as editor and author include Learning in Places: The Informal Education Reader, Addressing Ethnic Conict through Peace Education: International Perspectives Cultural Education-Cultural Sustainability: Minority, Diaspora, Indigenous and EthnoReligious Groups in Multicultural Societies and Mirror Images: Popular Culture and Education. Contact address: School of Education, Melton Center, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91905, Israel. E-mail: mszviman@mscc.huji.ac.il.