Internet-Based Group Relations: A High School Peace Education Project in Israel

This study describes how the Internet-based group communications was used as the major strategy to promote the societal values of understanding, equality, tolerance and peace between Israeli Jewish and Bedouin high school students. The Internetbased communications project formed the backbone of a project designed to confront one of the major conflicts in Israeli society, which focuses on the Jewish-Arab axis. Israeli Jews and Arabs are wary of each other and latent hostility permeates the atmosphere between the two societal groups and is directly related to the Israeli-Arab conflict. In the project the societal values of understanding, equality, tolerance and peace were intensely promoted through the medium of three different complementary educational strategies. Students participated in workshops conducted by experts trained in the art of mediation and bridge building, and participated in two day-long face-to-face meetings. The major strategy was an Internet-based weekly chat-room and e-mail session which lasted for the full length of the project. All three strategies were specially designed to complementarily promote understanding, equality, tolerance and peace between Jewish and Bedouin Arab students. The results of the project indicate that Jewish students adopted more favourable attitudes toward Bedouins and that Bedouin students' attitudes towards Jewish students remained positive throughout the duration of the project. The prognosis for long-term change and cooperation between the Jewish and Bedouin students who participated in the project is discussed. Les relations de groupes À travers Internet : un projet d’éducation À la paix dans les lycées en IsraËl. Cette étude décrit comment la communication via Internet a été employée comme stratégie principale pour favoriser les valeurs sociales de compréhension, d'égalité, de tolérance, et de paix entre les étudiants israéliens juifs et bédouins des lycées. Il s'agit de l'axe principal d'un projet destiné À faire face À l'un des conflits majeurs de la société israélienne qui oppose Juifs et Arabes. Les uns comme les autres sont méfiants: une hostilité latente, directement liée au conflit, imprègne l'atmosphère entre les deux groupes sociaux. Dans ce projet, les différentes valeurs sociales de compréhension, d'égalité, de tolérance et de paix ont été privilégiées À travers trois stratégies éducatives différentes mais complémentaires. D'abord, les étudiants ont participé À des ateliers dirigés par des experts en médiation et en résolution de conflit, mais aussi À des séminaires présentiels de deux jours. Ensuite, le projet a développé des stratégies de communication À travers un chat hebdomadaire et l'utilisation du mail tout au long du projet. Les résultats observés montrent que les étudiants juifs adoptent des attitudes plus favorables À l'encontre des étudiants arabes tandis que les attitudes de ces derniers demeurent favorables tout au long du projet. Enfin l'article analyse les chances de voir se stabiliser le changement et la coopération entre les étudiants des deux communautés ayant participé au projet. Internet-basierende Gruppenbeziehungen : Ein High School Friedensprojekt in Israel. Diese Studie beschreibt, wie die Internet-basierende Gruppenkommunikation als grundlegendes Instrument eingesetzt wurde, um das Verständnis von sozialen Werten, Gleichheit, Toleranz, und Frieden zwischen israelisch-jüdischen und arabischen High School Studenten zu fördern. Die Internet-basierende Kommunikation bildete das Grundgerüst des Projektes, welches die Konfrontation mit einem wesentlichen Konflikt der israelischen Gesellschaft zum Ziel hatte : Die Probleme der israelisch-arabischen Koexistenz. Israelische Juden und Araber sind sich einander misstrauisch und latente Feindseligkeit durchdringt die Atmosphäre, die beide gesellschaftliche Gruppen verbindet. In diesem Projekt wurden die Ziele, nämlich das Verständnis von sozialen Werten, Gleichheit, Toleranz, und Frieden intensiv zu fördern, durch drei komplementäre, pädagogische Strategien unterstützt. Studenten nahmen an zweitägigen face-to-face Workshops teil, die von Experten, ausgebildet in der Mediationskunst, geleitet wurden. Die wesentliche Strategie waren Internet-basierende Chat-Raum- sowie Email-Sitzungen, die über die volle Dauer des Projektes verliefen. Die Ergebnisse des Projektes indizieren, dass eine Annäherung zwischen der israelisch-jüdischen und der arabischen Gruppe erfolgreich war. Beide Studentengruppen hielten eine positive Einstellung zur Annäherung während des ganzen Projektes aufrecht. Die Prognose über eine Aenderung auf lang Sicht zwischen beiden Teilnehmergruppen wird diskutiert.     

THE DIMENSIONS OF EXPRESSION INHIBITION: PERCEPTIONS OF OBSTACLES TO FREE SPEECH IN THREE CULTURES

As part of a comparative study of attitudes toward freedom ofexpression, Americans, Israeli Jews, and Israeli Arabs wereasked about the social contexts in which they feel unfree tospeak and about the reasons that inhibit them. Home was theleast inhibiting locus in all three cultures and, for the U.S.respondents, the workplace was most inhibiting. Responding toa battery of 33 reasons for not speaking out, all three culturesgave highest ratings to items related to the fear of hurtingothers. Questions measuring fear of being disapproved or hurtby others—including fear of isolation from the majorityand fear of legal restraint—were ranked lower. An overallindex of inhibition items proved highly reliable cross-culturally.Americans claimed least inhibition and Israeli Arabs most. Malesand those with higher education levels and incomes were alsoless inhibited across the three cultures. Expression inhibitionwas negatively, through weakly, related to support for expressiverights among both Israeli groups and American whites but notAmerican blacks, where the relation was positive. Expressioninhibition was negatively related to political activity amongAmericans and Israeli Jews but not among Arabs.     

Effective Collaboration between Teachers and Parents in Israel: A Strategy for Improvement of the Educational Process

Traditionally the roles of schools and parents have been seen as separate activities. More recently, a view has developed that parents and schools should work together in a close and integrated relationship. The writer discusses the nature of this partnership and the roles of both parents and teachers in it. The nature of the school–parent relationship in Israel is considered. In the final section of the paper, the development of such a partnership in a particular Israeli elementary school is described and evaluated.     

Brief Research Report: Parents' Homework Emotions Favor Students' Homework Emotions Through Self-Efficacy

While homework is a frequent source of distress, positive attitudes of parents can help students develop positive emotions and self-efficacy regarding homework. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that parents' emotions, favored by autonomous motivation, directly and indirectly relate with students' emotions through their self-efficacy with regard to homework. Questionnaires were administered to 205 fourth- to eighth-grade students and their parents to assess both groups' positive and negative emotions, students' self-efficacy with regard to homework, and parents' autonomous motivation. The results supported the hypothesized model: parents' autonomous motivation is associated with parents' positive emotions, which is then associated with students' positive and negative emotions, both directly and through the mediation of students' self-efficacy for doing homework. The discussion focuses on theoretical and educational implications.     

The narratives of abused children who have survived attempted filicide

Child abuse is a social problem that receives much attention from policy makers, practitioners, and researchers. This alarming phenomenon generates many consequences for children, their families, and society as a whole; one tragic consequence of child abuse is filicide. Because of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding such events, children are hushed by their perpetrators, whether abusers or killers, and we are thus denied the opportunity to hear their voices and to promote understanding of the phenomenon. The aim of the current study is to explore in depth the patterns and themes that can be found in the narratives of children who survived a murder attempt by one of their parents. Content analysis was performed on seven investigative interviews with children using thematic analysis. Five key categories were determined based on the children's narratives: (a) many bad things have happened to me, (b) this was not the first time I was abused by my parent, (c) I am concerned about my parent, (d) I am alive thanks to my siblings, and (e) it is hard to remember what exactly happened. This study contributes to the understanding of child physical abuse and filicide. The discussion integrated conclusions for policy makers and practitioners who seek methods of addressing child abuse as well as determining whether and how filicide can be prevented.     

Researcher Study Thyself: AERA Participants' Speaking Times and Turns by Gender

This research compares speaking times and turns of female and male presenters and audience members at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). In their presentations, males spoke longer than females, but the differences were not statistically significant. They spoke significantly longer than females, however, when posing questions or comments during open discussions, and they made a significantly greater number of responses to these questions and comments. Some chairs were inconsistent in monitoring allotted speaking times. Females' participation was lower in less-structured situations, such as open discussions and co-presented papers, than in settings with greater structure.