By A.M. Goldstein

HAIFA —Do children who learn in a bilingual framework become more confused or more adept?

According to a University of Haifa educator, Dr. Ora Mor, a dual-language learning context leads to a host of beneficial results.  These include developing a problem-solving ability in subjects where it is constantly required, like mathematics and physics.  The children in a bilingual framework are creative and exhibit great openness, she adds.  Along with tolerance, they also tend to adopt universal outlooks and values.

Mor, who heads the University's bilingual education program, thinks that the Israeli educational system should be integrated.  It is now separated into Jewish and Arab systems.  "This situation," she feels, "does not help the two populations to come together.  For the most part, the estrangement is left as is, and with it comes a lack of knowledge and understanding of the other."

The University of Haifa 's Jewish-Arab Center is engaged in developing a dual language framework for schools.  At present, there are only four schools in the country that define themselves as bilingual.

A main goal of the program, which has the support of the Ministry of Education, is to construct joint curricula based on the knowledge, experiences, language, and culture of the two communities.  Another goal is to integrate various life cycles within and around the formal educational frameworks in the linguistic, social, and cultural context of the two languages, Hebrew and Arabic.  The center hopes to offer new and varied models for bilingual education.  Its program has attracted the attention of universities and cities throughout Europe .

Mor recognizes, though, that more than pedagogical problems are involved.  "Bilingual education," she acknowledges, "is influenced by social, cultural, and political aspects.  And in an area of conflict like Israel , all this has deep and complex significance."