Perceptions of ‘the other’ in children’s drawings: an intercultural project among Bedouin and Jewish children

Abstract

This article presents research on an intercultural project supervised by teacher trainers and implemented by two Jewish student teachers in a Bedouin school in the south of Israel. The student teachers developed and taught an English language unit on the differences and similarities between Jewish and Arab cultures for the purpose of promoting intercultural awareness and acceptance. Figure drawings of Jewish and Arab people made by the children were analyzed qualitatively as measures of changes in attitudes and stereotypes before and after the educational intervention. We found that many negative stereotypes were changed as a result of the culture unit taught by the student teachers. As teacher trainers and researchers, we present this project as an example of an educational intervention for the promotion of intercultural understanding. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)