Abstract
The education system in East Jerusalem offers a window into the complex reality of everyday life for residents living under the ongoing conflict. The basic right to education is intact, but the system suffers from discrimination and censorship. This study focuses on the East Jerusalem and conflict around the curriculum and the textbooks between the Palestinian Curricula ‘Tawjihi’ and the Israeli Curricula ‘Bgrut’. Textbooks hold a special place in pedagogic theory. In previous studies of textbook analysis, they represent the historical narrative that students learn – their own as well as of others. The decision to define some groups’ knowledge as the most legitimate or official knowledge, while other groups’ knowledge hardly sees the light of day, stems from who has power in society. The study presents the government’s control over education and its control over curricula and content in East Jerusalem. While the Palestinian Authority is officially responsible for the curricula in East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities are acting to minimize the influence of any content, which has Palestinian national value by employing censorship (Alayan, 2017). The content analysis was used in this study, and the findings compare the original textbooks, as published in the West Bank, with the censored books taught in East Jerusalem. This study gives a voice to the Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem and brings to light facts from field studies conducted within the schools, rather than an academic discussion about schools.
Presenters
Samira AlayanSenior Lecturer and Researcher , Hebrew University of Jerusalem and David Yellin Academic College for Education, Israel
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
The Palestinian Israeli Conflict in Textbooks, East Jerusalem Education, Curriculum
