Oasis of Peace: a community of moral education in Israel

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Abstract
On a rocky hill some 30 kilometres west of Jerusalem rests the village of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al‐SaIam. It is a co‐operative community where Jewish and Arab families are involved in a highly innovative endeavour of peacemaking through education. This study focuses on the bilingual/bicultural/binational elementary school as a “moral community” embedded within the larger social organisation of the village. The aim was to explore the ways in which discussion, moral negotiation and collaborative decision‐making formed a basis for creating a spirit of community within the village and in the school. This school exemplifies a genuine attempt at partnership between two peoples whose cultures are in geo‐political and socio‐historic conflict. Through case study and narrative methodology, the author tries to make sense of the personal as well as professional experiences of her participants in their quest for intercultural harmony. The narratives explore the complex nature of their moral responses to one another and to themselves. The lived experiences of the children, parents and teachers were documented through in‐depth interviews, conversations and participant‐observation techniques. The findings of this study could potentially provide a new and global dimension for exploring moral issues in education within a context of conflict resolution and peacemaking.

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