Promoting a True Pluralistic Dialogue: A Particularistic Multicultural Teacher Accreditation Program for Israeli Bedouins

Abstract

This paper reports on a preliminary assessment of a unique teacher accreditation program that was established in a college in southern Israel in an attempt to improve the Arab Bedouins’ educational system and to promote a true dialogue between Bedouins and Jewish students on the basis of a particularistic multicultural approach. Data was collected and analyzed by employing a combination of several qualitative methods including content analysis of program-related documents and interviews with students and faculty. The results provided support for the idea that a 3-year particularistic stage in their program allowed Bedouins students to have more productive encounters and dialogue with Jewish students during a subsequent fourth year.