Yaffa: A school of their choice?

Gal Levy, Mohammad Massalha

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article is a product of in-depth research in Yaffa, The Arab Democratic School that was carried out in 2004/05, as part of a study on alternative Arab education in Israel. Its aim, beyond telling the story of Yaffa, is to explicate the motivations that underlay this initiative, and to examine parental choice amongst the disadvantaged. We ask how the Arabs' parental choice is affected by their (marginalised) social location, by how far they are from the dominant culture, and by their (in)capacity to make a difference. Apparently, to make a choice is a multidimensional act, reflecting the Palestinian citizens' resistance to their marginalisation and unwillingness to be subjugated through non-democratic educational perceptions. Their positionality resonates in Yaffa, as an act of intervention, and their search for an alternative reality where democratic education is not and cannot be separated from the Palestinian citizens' need to imagine themselves as Arabs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)171-183
Number of pages13
JournalBritish Journal of Sociology of Education
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
2. The study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science/The Triangle R&D Centre. The Yaffa study was partly funded by a grant from the Research Authority at the Open University, and developed in the framework of a research group at Van Leer Institute.

Keywords

  • Arab education (Israel)
  • Jaffa (Tel Aviv) - education
  • Neo-liberal education
  • Parental choice
  • School choice

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