Obstacles in Multicultural and Peace Education

Abstract

Based on ethnographic data gathered at the bilingual integrated Palestinian Jewish schools in Israel I reveal the complicated as well as dynamic negotiation of individual and group identities and cultures for communities engaged in multicultural and peace education. By looking closely at the experiences of children, teachers and parents at one integrated bilingual Arabic-Hebrew school in Israel, I show that while children are often able to reach beyond the boundaries of ethnicity and religion, adults struggle to negotiate their socio-historical positioning with their goals for peace. Everyday practices---from recognizing the exceptionality of children who participate in religious practices outside of their ethnic background to segregating national ceremonial events---promote static and nationalistic notions of identity that limit the potential of these schools to advance authentic and meaningful change towards tolerance and peace. All in all, I present a critique of the essentialized assumptions about identity and culture that are found in contemporary multicultural/peace educational efforts and explore the implications that these assumptions have for education in conflict and post-conflict societies. I suggest the need to move away from the epistemological primacy of these assumptions toward a critical ontological, contextualized and historicized approach.