Conflict, Conflict Resolution and Peace Education, in the current Social Studies textbooks in the Palestinian Education System and its contribution to concepts of peacebuilding رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

This thesis examines the social studies textbooks of the Ministry of Education in Palestine for the portrayal of the concepts of conflict, conflict resolution and peace education. It aims at analyzing the way that the current education system presents narratives, and content supporting the understanding of conflict/s, history, the Palestinian conflict narratives, and the view of the world, conflicts around it, and ultimately how the Palestinian students navigate conflicts and understand peacebuilding. Moreover, the thesis explores the existence or absence of appropriate modalities of conflict resolution and peace education in the curriculum. Using a mixed qualitative methodology, the researcher conducted a content analysis approach on 23 social studies textbooks taught to grades one to the twelfth in the Ministry’s schools in the West Bank. The researcher also conducted in-depth interviews with experts and education professionals who have been involved in the process of the development of the curriculum or have expertise in conflict resolution and education, in addition to using a reference to conflict and conflict resolution theories. The research concluded that the textbooks of social studies reinforced a Palestinian political identity with strong nationalist principles and values as to what Palestine is to the Palestinian child, ultimately seeking to establish the same identity for the Palestinian people. The textbooks portray conflict under the framework of wars with no direct definition and presentation of conflict as a broader concept. The textbooks passively passed conflict through the historicity and the narrative of historic events, more predominantly wars pertaining to Palestine, the Arab and Muslim world, and the world in general. The textbooks did not proactively, or intentionally explain or presented conflict; it was just passed indirectly or delivered through the subtext and the underlying narrativity of the topics and lessons at hand. The textbooks approached the Palestinian conflict in an integrative manner to represent a national Palestinian perspective to an extension of settler colonialism represented by the Zionist occupation. Conflict resolution exists in a limited way through integrated and VI limited components responding to some conflict resolution modalities mostly imbedded as a comparison of the peaceful Islamic approaches to conflict resolution or a window to social respect, tolerance, and forgiveness of the other. The main abundant conflict resolution or education was the reference to international law, International Humanitarian law and international conventions as well as Human rights. Civic education was also a major component. Peace education does not exist in the textbooks, nor is the use of the term peace, thus not quite providing a clear understanding of peacebuilding to students. Nonetheless, the textbooks provide a remarkable example of attempting to decolonize the curriculum and show the ability to challenge the ongoing incitements, attacks, and conditional withheld funding to the Palestinian education system. The study of the social studies textbooks is limited compared to possible wider research parameters which could have included all other subjects where conflict, and conflict resolutions modalities could be embedded. In addition, results only relate to the textbooks being taught whereas a wider work could have expanded the understanding through analyzing the guidebooks to the textbooks or through further interviews with social studies expert supervisors with the Ministry of education. The research is only limited to what is taught in the West Bank as East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip have different contexts in which those textbooks are presented.