Interest over knowledge: A Jewish-Arab comparison of teachers’ willingness to conduct CPI discussions

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this endeavour to examine teachers’ willingness to discuss controversial political issues in class, we focused on four variables that received little attention so far: teachers’ vested interest, knowledge, the topic of discussion, and teachers’ ethnicity. 1130 teachers in Israel, 832 Jewish and 298 Arab, answered an online questionnaire that focused on three scenarios of sustainability, multiculturalism, and #MeToo. The issue of multiculturalism was deemed as the most controversial by both populations, followed by #MeToo and sustainability. Teachers’ vested interest was the best predictor of willingness to engage in CPI discussions in all populations, all topics, and in general, while knowledge was found to be a poor predictor. Differences between Arab and Jewish teachers were found in the other predictors: general attitudes towards CPI were significant among Jewish teachers, while attitude towards disclosure was significant among Arab teachers. We argue that this is a reflection of power relations in Israel: Arab teachers have to navigate in a complex situation as a minority, and to evaluate pragmatic considerations carefully on each topic. We encourage teachers and teacher trainers to re-consider the emphasis on knowledge in their role, and for teachers to reflect upon their motivations to engage in discussions.