TY - JOUR
T1 - Can we promote children’s openness towards the other group in violent conflict? The story of Jewish and Arab kindergarten teachers in Israel
AU - Masarwah Srour, Afnan
AU - Ziv, Talee
AU - Aldinah, Samar
AU - Dawud, Mahmud
AU - Sternberg, Michael
AU - Sagy, Shifra
N1 - Funding Information:
We followed Allport’s contact theory and together with the insights from Paluck et al. () developed an intervention based on a change at the institutional level. The intervention consisted of weekly meetings throughout the school year between kindergarten children and a teacher from the other social group, which was different from classical interventions in several ways. Introduction of an authority figure meant status was uneven between teacher and child in addition to the groups, Jewish and Arab citizens, being of unequal status in Israeli society. Equal status between group members is one of Allport () conditions for successful contact. Furthermore, this was implemented in both Jewish and Arab kindergartens within a mixed city. An Arab teacher taught the children in the Jewish kindergarten and a Jewish teacher taught the children in Arab kindergarten. Mixed cities are seldom explored in this context. Our outcome measure was children’s behaviour and emotional responses, as perceived by the participating kindergarten teachers. This too deviates from the most common outcome variables in prejudice reduction interventions (Paluck et al. ). Lastly, the program constitutes a significant change at the systemic level. The content of the intervention is part of the kindergarten’s formal curriculum and the program is supported by the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Lod municipality. The unique features of the current intervention stand to contribute to our understanding of the effectiveness of prejudice reduction efforts.
Funding Information:
This article is based on qualitative data collected during 2020–2021, examining the experiences of kindergarten teachers implementing the “My Diverse Kindergarten” intervention. The findings were based on an analysis of in-depth interviews with four kindergarten teachers. Ethical approval for the implementation of the program and the research was received from the Research and Development Department of the Ministry of Education and from the Lod municipality’s department of education. All kindergarten teachers and parents of the kindergarten children gave their consent to participate in the program and research. All participant names and names of the kindergarten children have been changed.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022/1/1
Y1 - 2022/1/1
N2 - This article explores changes in children’s openness towards kindergarten teachers and children of an outgroup following participation in an intervention program. The program was implemented by kindergarten teachers and aimed at encountering the other via intergroup contact. The findings are based on qualitative data from interviews with the kindergarten teachers. According to the findings, children’s participation in the program fostered openness towards the kindergarten teacher from the outgroup and encouraged children’s openness to contact with outgroup children as well. Moreover, even during a time of conflict escalation, children’s acceptance and openness towards the kindergarten teachers and children from the other group did not diminish. It appeared that direct contact between people of unequal status, combined with indirect contact between the two equal status groups of kindergarten children, had a positive effect. This could be partly due to the intensity and the positive contact with the kindergarten teacher from the outgroup, as well as to the institutional support for the intervention program.
AB - This article explores changes in children’s openness towards kindergarten teachers and children of an outgroup following participation in an intervention program. The program was implemented by kindergarten teachers and aimed at encountering the other via intergroup contact. The findings are based on qualitative data from interviews with the kindergarten teachers. According to the findings, children’s participation in the program fostered openness towards the kindergarten teacher from the outgroup and encouraged children’s openness to contact with outgroup children as well. Moreover, even during a time of conflict escalation, children’s acceptance and openness towards the kindergarten teachers and children from the other group did not diminish. It appeared that direct contact between people of unequal status, combined with indirect contact between the two equal status groups of kindergarten children, had a positive effect. This could be partly due to the intensity and the positive contact with the kindergarten teacher from the outgroup, as well as to the institutional support for the intervention program.
KW - Arabs and Jews in Israel
KW - Intergroup contact theory
KW - contact intervention
KW - early childhood
KW - kindergarten teachers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136921140&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14675986.2022.2090782
DO - 10.1080/14675986.2022.2090782
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85136921140
SN - 1467-5986
VL - 33
SP - 455
EP - 469
JO - Intercultural Education
JF - Intercultural Education
IS - 4
ER -
