A research project aimed at improving the study and future work performance of Israeli Arab students by giving them a sense of belonging, will receive the first Max Mitchell Achievement Award totaling $10,000, made through the Jewish Federation-Council’s Community Foundation, it was announced here today.
The two-year project was conceived and proposed by Carl Frankenstein, professor of special education at the Hebrew University’s School of Education in Israel. Frankenstein was selected from among four finalists from Technion and Hebrew University, according to Victor Carter, award committee chairman and president of the Jewish Community Foundation board of trustees.
Lack of the feeling of belonging, stated the research proposal, is the source of much resentment and frustration among the Arabs of Israel. This condition stems from a conviction encouraged by Arab bloc propaganda, that their present status as a minority in Israel is not final.
Mr. Frankenstein calls living on the basis of such hopes a “provisional existence” which limits not only man’s potentials for creative self-expression and satisfaction from achievement, but also the ability to behave intelligently. He asks: “Can the prospect of participating in some form of creative achievement and service provide the individual with a feeling of belonging?”
Intensive case studies, it is hoped, will aid in the understanding and interpretation of minority psychology in general and Israeli Arabs in particular. Main purpose is to translate these psychological findings into educational conclusion; to try out methods at various levels of development and learning, to counteract the destructive impact of “provisional existence”.
The Max Mitchell Achievement Award was founded this year in the form of a trust fund administered by the Jewish Community Foundation. It provided $5,000 for each academic year of 1965-66 and 1966-67 at Hebrew University or Technion, for a scholarship or research grant which promises to result in “an outstanding contribution to the State of Israel.”
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