Collaborating with the “Other”: Arab and Jewish Teachers Teaching in Each Other's Company

Abstract

This article describes the collaborative work of three teachers—two Arab and one Jewish—as they taught first grade together in a then new bilingual/bicultural school in Israel. The article is based on an ethnographic study the author conducted at the school during the school's first year (1998–1999), examining in particular the interactions between the teachers to determine how working collaboratively inside and outside of the same classroom context influenced each teacher's understandings about themselves and each other as Arab and Jew. Together, these three teachers negotiated their classroom work, entered into planning conversations, held discussions with parents and others, and shared teaching episodes. As they discovered and worked through the dilemmas of this collaborative work, they learned more about themselves as Arab and Jew, ultimately reshaping how they taught their students. As three teachers with different cultural histories, they were forced to reflect on their beliefs and actions from a number of perspectives as they engaged in the work of the school. They began to develop—or further develop in some cases—a critical consciousness in each other's company. This was particularly true for the Jewish teacher who is central in this article. It is her learning—as a member of the culture of power in Israel—that most closely resembles the potential learning that could be realized by today's teaching cohort in the United States if teacher educators create structures and opportunities that enable meaningful cross-cultural learning to take place. The author posits that a more collaborative and cross-cultural model of teaching and teacher learning is worth thinking about as teacher educators work to prepare teachers everywhere, particularly in the United States, to address the needs of the diverse students in today's schools.

exploration of leaders' experience with the informal learning process during role transition at a k-12 private, non-profit, co-educational, bilingual school in Jordan

“…Sometimes words may be misinterpreted or lost in translation. Glazier (2004) found that such tense exchanges can be used to empower the oppressed and enlighten the privileged. During this study, I ensured that I gave participants opportunities to share their thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives, and allowed them to replay those interactions in their minds so that they could make sense of what they had experienced.…”

“…Glazier (2004) provided insight into how the development of cultural fluency in a tense situation between the privileged and oppressed can lead to informal learning at its best. Glazier's (2004) primary focus was on the Jew's experience and insight gained as the privileged other, given the context, which required her to reflect on her own as well as other's cultural identity and understanding.…”

“…These cases clearly demonstrated that self-directed adult education is sometimes triggered by an urgent need for survival (Keeping & English, 2001;Papen, 2012). Glazier's (2004) choice of setting context about political, historical, and social tension and selection of Jew and Arab participants demonstrated that she was purposefully seeking to study and learn through tense, charged interactions. Glazier (2004) provided insight into how the development of cultural fluency in a tense situation between the privileged and oppressed can lead to informal learning at its best.…”

“…Glazier's (2004) choice of setting context about political, historical, and social tension and selection of Jew and Arab participants demonstrated that she was purposefully seeking to study and learn through tense, charged interactions. Glazier (2004) provided insight into how the development of cultural fluency in a tense situation between the privileged and oppressed can lead to informal learning at its best. Glazier's (2004) primary focus was on the Jew's experience and insight gained as the privileged other, given the context, which required her to reflect on her own as well as other's cultural identity and understanding.…”

“…Informal and incidental learning is "relevant to practice in many cultures and contexts" (Marsick & Watkins, 2001, p. 26). Studies included in this literature review featured participants from educational settings (Glazier, 2004;Green, 2009;Warhurst, 2006;Warhurst 2008), Roman Catholic parishes (English, 1999), construction worksites (Ley, Cook, Dennerlein, Kravcik, Kunzmann, Pata, Purma, Sandars, Santos, Schmidt, Al-Smadi, & Trattner, 2014), as well as participants who were health care patients in dire need of educating themselves regarding their health situations (Keeping & English, 2001;Papen, 2012). In these studies, the researchers captured the essence of participants' informal and incidental learning, which in turn gave weight to their claim that this form of authentic learning is relevant in all settings (English, 1999;Keeping & English, 2001;Marsick & Watkins, 2001;Conlon, 2004 (Schulz & Stamov Roßnagel, 2010;de Laat & Schreurs, 2013); however, similar studies in the field of educational institutions were not as prevalent.…”