Suchergebnisse

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. The benefits of controversial political issues (CPI) -- 2. The Israeli context -- 3. Alone in the forefront: Challenges in teaching CPI in the era of polarization and social media -- 4. What stops teachers from talking about CPI? -- 5. Teachers in different political and cultural contexts -- 6. Teachers' professional identities and role dilemmas -- 7. Teachers' emotional role in CPI discussions -- 8. Understanding the students: A developmental approach -- 9. Recommended strategies for effectively handling CPI -- 10. Summary and conclusions -- Appendix: Research designs and methodologies -- Index.

This mixed-methods study examined the sense of belonging of Russian-speaking immigrant teachers, who immigrated to Israel in the 1990s from the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The study has two methodological parts. In the first part, 57 Russian-speaking teachers were compared to a national sample of Hebrew-speaking teachers on demographics and self-efficacy. In the second part, 34 of the 57 Russian-speaking teachers answered an acculturation questionnaire and two open-ended questions. The findings, both quantitative and qualitative, indicate positive integration of FSU immigrant teachers in Israel. Their feelings towards the school team and management were no different than those of other teachers. The teachers described a sense of belonging through shared care for students, shared content-related teamwork, friendships and school events. Differences were found in favour of veteran Israeli teachers in the percentage of homeroom teachers and managerial positions. Conclusions about migration and accommodation within the education system are discussed.

Belonging is a basic human experience that symbolizes social relations and social structure. This study examined the institutional sense of belonging of minority teachers to their school and its association with sociodemographic (first language, education and gender) and systemic variables (seniority, heterogeneity of training college, teaching discipline, role at school and education system). We found that sociodemographic variables had a much stronger association to the teachers' sense of belonging than systemic variables did. Particularly, a strong relationship was found between the teachers' sense of belonging and what they defined as their first language. Conversely, most systemic variables had no relation to institutional belonging, except teaching discipline. The findings indicate the difficulties education systems have in incorporating minority teachers or even moderating their sense of otherness by offering the opportunity of recognition of all teachers. We argue that this stems from native language being a core/basic status, whether it is related to immigration or to a national divide.

Twenty-first century teachers are expected to have a holistic approach to teaching including addressing students' self-determination, interpersonal awareness, cultural sensitivity, empathy and self-regulation. Discussions of controversial political issues (CPI) provide opportunities to examine the interplay between emotional and cognitive components, the former having rarely been studied. As part of a larger study, teachers were asked to provide a description of a CPI discussion in class. The 387 valid responses were analysed qualitatively, and the model that emerged connected triggers, motivations, responses and outcomes. The students and teachers were found to have different motivations and needs: while students were concerned with emotional needs, teachers had educational goals in mind. Teachers wanted to quell the emotional unease, to prevent racist remarks, to keep control of the classroom, and to tie the discussions to the curriculum. Teachers mainly used cognitive responses and somewhat allowed students to ventilate, or used moderating responses, all of which produced partial results. Some teachers avoided the discussion altogether, which was the least useful. The smallest proportion used a mixture of responses, which met both educational and emotional needs. Implications to teacher training, including the importance of training in social-emotional aspects of teaching, are discussed.

PurposeAttitudes toward minority employees are hard to predict, and there is no enough information about the variables that are associated with increased and decreased prejudice toward them. The Jewish and Arab education systems in Israel are, for the most part, segregated, which may potentially contribute to prejudice and alienation between the two populations. The integration of Israeli–Arab teachers in Jewish schools has been suggested to reduce prejudice. The current study sought to examine Israeli teachers' attitudes toward the inclusion of Arab teachers in Jewish schools (AJ) and its relation to degree of religiosity, minority status and demographic variables.Design/methodology/approachA total of 1,644 teachers completed an online 22-item questionnaire that surveyed background variables such as gender, mother tongue, seniority and degree of religiosity, the two independent variables, religiosity and minority status, and the dependent variable, attitude toward the inclusion of AJ.FindingsOverall, teachers exhibited positive attitudes toward the integration of AJ. Multiple linear regression indicated that among Jewish teachers, the degree of religiosity was the strongest predictor of the teachers' attitudes toward inclusion but was a poor predictor among Arabs. Conversely, minority status was the strongest predictor among Arab teachers but was a poor predictor among Israeli Jews. Not only did religiosity differ in its prediction of attitudes among Arabs and Jews but also the patterns of religiosity were quite different among these two groups.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the overall sample was wide, the specific minority groups that were examined were small and did not allow deep exploration of minority nuances. The study's generalizability is hampered by the given exceptionality of the Israeli context, where "Church" and State are not separated. Religiosity was examined in a unidimensional way and failed to explore other related factors that may be relevant, such as political inclination.Practical implicationsThe study further refutes the notion of commonality among minorities. It proposes to place more emphasis on religion's role in attitudes toward minority employees. Further research into the role of religiosity in Israeli Jews' attitudes toward Arabs is needed.Social implicationsThe findings suggest that the degree of religiosity might be a central factor in Israeli Jews' attitudes toward the Arab minority in general.Originality/valueThe research calls attention to the association of Judaism and nationalism as well as segregation, contributing to negative attitudes and prejudice toward the Arab minority. Unlike previous research using contact theory, the authors call attention to the importance of examining willingness to make contact prior to examining the impact of contact itself.