Participation in School Processes and Practices: The case of an Arab School in Israel

School leadership can play an important role in leading change in the traditional patriarchal hierarchical cultures of developing societies. One way in which the leadership can introduce greater democracy is by increasing staff and students’ participation in school decision-making. This subject has not been widely studied in developing societies and very little research has related to staff/student participation in Arab schools in Israel. The present pilot casestudy in an Arab senior high school aimed to clarify the extent and quality of teachers’ and students’ participation in educational and administrative school processes and practices. A qualitative methodology employed interviews with two teachers and three students, focusing on their experiences, concerns and aspirations. The findings revealed that both teachers and students were aware of the concept of participation in school decision-making and in their school’s daily life. However, and despite this awareness, not all the participants have the opportunity to practice this involvement due to different obstacles such as time constraints, curriculum demands and the apparent inability or unwillingness of school leadership to facilitate collaboration between teachers and students and their involvement in decision-making. It is concluded that there is a need for empathetic educators’-students’ dialogue, a need to listen to the voice of the younger generation, and to address the challenge of Arab society’s norms in order to promote more egalitarian and democratic perceptions and practices.