Literature teachers as cultural mediators in religious schools: the Israeli case

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of literature teachers as cultural mediators in various religious elementary schools in Israel. By way of doing so, it examines the literary works that teachers presented to their classes, the contexts in which the lessons were taught, and the teachers’ responses to what was learned in these lessons, from a cultural perspective. Using a qualitative approach, data from 40 teachers from both state-religious and ultra-orthodox schools were retrieved, using questionnaires, audio recordings, and written transcriptions of lessons. Findings paint a disturbing picture of using literary texts only as tools for religious education.