Transcript School Based Management in Bedouin Schools in Israel

The Cultural Context of
“Musaraya” Talk
Kaye College of Higher Education, Be’er Sheva and York St John
University, York
Joint Consultation on
‘Revisiting Multiculturalism in Educational and Social Contexts’
June 2nd -6th 2013
Dr. Omar Mizel
Musayara
• Musayara, the subject of this talk, is a very
complex topic, that is sometimes hard to
comprehend. It is greatly dependent on the
specific context
• In order to understand it one must be very
familiar with Islamic and Arab culture.
• The use of Musayara includes all the
domains that necessitate communications.
Arab Society in Israel
The Arab ethnic minority lives separate from Jewish
communities, except for 6% in mixed cities.
The Arabs are distinguished from majority Jews by
religion, language, lifestyle and cultural norms.
Within the Arab-speaking minority are many ethnic
groups: Moslems, Christians, Druze, all influenced
by and reacting differently to trends of
modernization and contact with the majority Jewish
Western culture.
The Arab Education System in Israel




Israel
maintains
separate
education
systems for Jews and Arabs.
Arabic is the language of instruction in Arab
school; Hebrew is taught as second
language from mid-elementary years.
Almost all school funding is from the Israeli
government.
Education is compulsory until 10th grade.
Research
• Researchers : Concern with identifying
divergent discourse strategies and their
paralinguistic features.
•Folk-linguistic term – accompanying one's
interlocutor in conversation: points to a cultural
ethos aimed at the promotion and maintenance
of social harmony and traditional patterns of
social interaction.
• Differences promote miscommunications,
(negative) stereotypes, political consequences
Musayara
To return to the subject of
Musayara: What is Musayara?



Translated literally from Arabic
accommodate and go along with".
as
"to
Rather than speaking directly to a topic,
language is enriched, elaborated and longwinded.
A question that in Western culture would
generally be answered with a "yes" or "no" will
typically be answered in great detail and using
a great deal of repetition.
Musaraya as a Cultural Mode
Musayara as a Cultural Mode
•Musaraya means to accommodate
a partner in dialogue out of
consideration for his social standing
and wishes, i.e., it invokes sensitivity
to the other.
•Its roots are in Islam and also in
social patterns of early traditional
societies.
Musayara as a Cultural Mode (cont)
•Musayara is a communication style used in
interaction in many organizations. Its goals
are to:
• Serve as a social language that maintains
harmonious interpersonal interactions. It
should avoid interruptions as they indicate a
lack of deference towards the interrupted
speaker (Greifat & Katriel, 1989).
• Displace importance of personal resources,
e.g., money, time, effort, social standing.
• Be used as a code of courtesy and civility in
order to protect the ego in dialogue with
others.
The Language of Musayara

Accords great respect to dialogue
partner(s)
.


Forbids cutting off or cutting short
conversations.
Embellishes language with many
repetitions, genteel nuances, and
extreme emphasis on graciousness.
The Language of Musayara
The language of Musayara differs from that of typical
Western communication.
Musāyara-talk
Western
linguistic style
Repetition
Simplicity
Imagery
Accuracy
Exaggeration
Understatement
Descriptiveness
and verbosity
Action words
Vagueness
Specificity of terms
Musayara continued
In the Arabic language there are many
concepts similar to Musayara, each used
in slightly different nuanced situations,
For example:
 Mujamala – manners and courtesy
 Mudarah – used to lure the unbeliever to
Islam
 Taqiyya – used primarily by minority
Druze and Shia population when
approaching the rulers
 Mudahanah – literally: to camouflage
one’s true intentions
Four general types of musāyara




Musayara of respect
Musayara of magnanimity
Political Musayara
Musayara of conciliation
Musāyara in Action
Musāyara-talk utilizes two formats:
1. “Linguistic restraint” : never interrupting, never
changing the topic, always avoiding confrontation or
challenge,
2) “Linguistic aggrandizement”, or effusiveness:
adhering strictly to specific rules of conversational
etiquette, Conversational effusiveness uses
exaggeration and dramatization, repetition, an
almost fawning politeness, and sometimes
addressing the other in an especially intimate way.
These interchanges usually require allocating a
large block of time, attention and focus to the
conversation while engaging in circuitous, indirect
speech. (Greifat & Katriel, 1989)
Types of Musayara
Situation
Group
Type
Function
Status
Comment
inequality,
hierarchy
men, youth,
women,
children
respectful
social
harmony
low towards
equals or
higher
standing
reserve, requires
linguistic
eloquence
inequality
between
dialogue
partners
Socially
weak/
strong
munificence
concern and
kindness
high status vs.
low status
respect, concern,
hosting foreign
guests
equal &
unequal
relationships
majority/
minority
political
protect
personal
interests
daily
situations
chance power
struggle, acquire
something from
someone
conflicts
interested
parties
compromise
conflict
resolution
disagreements
between
individuals
return situation
to prior harmony
preserve honor
influence
others
more/less
religious
mudara
accepting
others who
can’t help
you
believers
towards nonbelievers
Oppose evil,
make him a
believer
minority
towards
majority
Shia vs.
Druze
tekia
fear of
majority, loss
of status
special ethnic,
religious
groups
Praise the
government and
majority as self-
Musayara in School
Musayara is appropriate within the
school setting because it is useful
in mollifying tensions and is
normative within the larger social
context.
The Cultural Context of Musayara in
Arab Schools in Israel
Musāyara is used within the school setting in Arab
communities by
 Teachers towards pupils
 Principals towards teachers
 All school staff towards parents,
 Students towards teachers and parents
 In the Bedouin community - by all members of
the tribe towards the sheikh.
 To understand the importance of the use of
Musāyara within the school, some basic
background about the Israeli, and specifically the
Arab-Israeli, educational system is needed.
Using Musayara in Education
Academic
achievements
Decision
making
Relations
with
parents/
teachers
Relations
with
students
Violence
Levels of
musayara
Compromise on
achievement to
avoid
confrontation
with
parents/teachers
Especially
in schools
with
conflicts
Used with
veteran
teachers
and low
status
parents
Observed in
many
schools,
especially
problem
students,
upper grades
Parents &
school
prefer
musayara
to turning
to
authorities
High musayara:
used commonly,
involves many
repetitions of
behavior.
Medium
musayara:
depends on
situation,
sometimes
outside rules are
followed.
Low musayara:
Rarely used,
sometimes in
extreme
situations
(disrespect, loss
Examples:
Academic
achievements
Decision
making
Relations with
parents/
teachers
Relations
with students
Violence
Medium Musayara
High
Musayara
High Musayara
Medium
Musayara
High
Musayara
”If you behave I’ll
give you more time
on the exam”
In a weak
school the
principal
compliments
the only
regional
superintenden
t in front of
teachers.
To veteran
teacher:”I would
be most grateful
if you would
substitute for me
for an absent
teacher. I know
you are better
than the young
inexperienced
teachers.”
New teacher
can’t control
the class, turns
to school
principal and is
told: ” Use
Musayara with
them. They’re
not children,
respond to
their feelings”
Parent of
child who
was stabbed
in school to
principal:
“Why call the
police? We’re
all family and
can solve it
among
ourselves.”
To parent: I’ll give
him a better grade –
don’t be angry.
Head of town
council
appoints
unqualified
teacher:
”Don’t worry,
To a (high
status) parent
whose child was
disrespectful to
teacher: “Its our
fault. I apologize
Summary
1.
Seeks to contain tensions between personal and socio-political needs and considerations.
•
Musayara is a very common method of communication in Arab
society. It is intended to advance processes, to maintain
harmony in society and to solve conflicts.
It is the opposite of the “dugri” type of speech.
•
It is interesting that Musayara has entered schools, and is used
as a very important style of administration, alongside western
management theories.
•
Many school principals prefer it to the management theories
they studied in western academic institutions.
Summary (cont)
•It
is most important for educational institutions in
western societies, that have large Islamic and Arab
populations, to familiarize themselves with the
concept of Musayara, and integrate it permanently
in their policies and in introducing reforms in the
education system.
•Musayara
is dependent on the context, on the text
and on the sub-text, and most notable on the subtext.