Chapter 7: The Mathematics Club for Excellent Students as Common Ground for Bedouin and Other Israeli Youth:

The focus of this chapter is an after-school mathematics club, Kidumatica, directed towards mathematically talented and mathematically interested middle and early high school students. Since 2002, Bedouin students have been actively encouraged to participate in Kidumatica. The integrative approach adopted by the program has proven successful not only in developing the Bedouin students’ mathematical inclinations and skills but also in bringing together Bedouin students with the other Israeli Jewish students in the club in a spirit of camaraderie and with a sense that, through mathematical activity, they stand on common ground. The chapter also suggests that the effect of a circumscribed after-school program, like Kidumatica, which integrates indigenous students with the rest of the student population, may extend beyond the students directly involved and ultimately reach the greater community and the schools themselves. In this regard, we believe Kidumatica may provide a model for wider application in other parts of the world.