Rural schools as Israeli acculturation agents for immigrant communities in the first two decades of statehood

This article examines the role played by rural schools in forging the Israeli identity of immigrant children in the new villages during he 1950s and 1960s. The modus operandi of these schools is interesting due to the nature of these communities and to the role of the ethos of the rural way of life in the Zionist narrative. An important education device the schools implemented was the enacting of celebrations, involving the entire community. Thus, the schools played a major role in shaping local cultural traditions, defined by boundaries of time and space for the pupils and their families.