Munir Fasheh is one of the best known Palestinian learning theorists and practitioners, who taught mathematics and physics at Birzeit University in Palestine. Based in Ramallah, Fasheh founded the Tamer Institute for Community Education during the first Intifada as a centre for developing learning environments outside of schooling in Palestine. He…

This is a rejoinder to the original article written by Wisam Sedawi, Orit Ben Zvi Assaraf, and Julie Cwikel about waste-related implication on the welfare of children living in the Negev's Bedouin Arab community. More specifically, the authors discuss the role of environmental education in the improvement of participants' life conditions. They do…

When entering the permanent exhibit titled "Living in America" in the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan, visitors are greeted with a sign that reads "Ahlan wa Sahlan." It is a greeting that translates in English to: "Your path is easier now that you are with us." The visitor, "you,"…

This article is about teachers working at the bilingual integrated schools in Israel. The study allows us to problematise and critically approach cross-cultural encounters on the basis of contact theory, which posits understandings regarding social interaction across cultural-political boundaries. It exposes potential differences between the…

Persson's (2012a) target article calls for a cultural sensitive research paradigm in the science of giftedness. It charts the potential threats to research validity affected by cultural bias having implications on study and practice in gifted education. The eight recommendations heading under: (1) mindset and habits; (2) research skills; and (3)…

In our knowledge-based world, the societies that prosper are the ones that generate knowledge--through research, through the interwoven relationship between the academe and funded research bodies and with industry. They are the new "centre". It is strange indeed to think of the countries of the Arab Gulf States as the…

Recognition is the main word attached to multicultural perspectives. The multicultural call for recognition, the one calling for the recognition of cultural minorities and identities, the one now voiced by liberal states all over and also in Israel was a more difficult one. It took the author some time to realize that calling for the recognition…

This article focuses on the first school for indigenous girls in Algeria that opened in Algiers in 1845. The founder, Eugenie Luce, taught girls the rudiments--French language and grammar, reading, arithmetic, and Arabic, while the afternoon hours were devoted to sewing. This early focus on teaching French in order to achieve the "fusion of…

On the first day of the author's American-government course he often plays a little trick on the students. He throws one of them out of class. The plan is to stop the student at the door, ask what is politics, ask why he (or she) is obeying, and encourage a more energetic discussion of authority and politics at a university. Two years ago, in the…

This essay is based on the author's book, "The Palestine Mandate and the Creation of Israel." As the sixtieth anniversary of Israel's independence in May 2008 approaches, that country remains a focal point of world attention. Israel's origins do much to explain why the Arab-Israeli conflict has been so hard to resolve, but also provide a…

Education has been one of the highest priorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since it became a country in 1971 under the leadership of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. In 1962, when oil production started in Abu Dhabi, the country had just 20 schools for less than 4,000 students, most of them boys. The discovery of oil became the…

The author recently served on a five-member international review panel for Saudi Arabia's National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment. The panel's mission was to evaluate the Arab Open University against the commission's accreditation criteria to determine if the university should be eligible for King Abdullah's national…

In this article, an interview with Muslim author Mohja Kahf is presented. Kahf is the author of the novel "The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf" and "Emails from Scheherazad." During the interview, Kahf talked about how her religion has become the foremost factor in bringing her to her voice. She also related how she became dismayed with Islam being…

September 11, 2001 generated diverse responses from around the world, but for many subjects located in "the West," an enduring perception surfaced in the aftermath of the attacks: that 9/11 revealed the fragility of the "Western Self" as a secure identity. In a move towards self-scrutiny post 9/11, it is not only the presence…

This paper argues that the two national components of identity among Palestinian Arab students in Israel--the Arab component and the Palestinian component--are strong, while the civil Israeli component is very weak. This paper also argues that although social relations between Arab students and Jewish students are very limited, the readiness of…