Separate but Equal: Teachers’ Intolerance for Ethnic, and Cultural Diversity as Experienced in 6th Grade Israeli Classrooms

Abstract

This study gave a voice to 71 Israel-born and immigrant students from the former USSR and from Ethiopia to convey in their own words their experience of teachers’ intolerance for ethnic and cultural diversity in 6th grade classrooms. In-depth group and individual interviews were conducted and subsequently analyzed through Strauss constant comparative method. Israeli native and students from the former USSR, Ethiopia, and Morocco reported that immigrant and ethnic students’ language, culture and traditions were often the target of teachers’ verbal attacks, and prejudice. Immigrant parents were not spared by teachers and demeaned for their inability to help their children. Ethiopians’ skin color was mentioned as a major criterion for exclusion and separation. Fear of punishment and parents’ reluctance to interfere often rendered students helpless. This study stresses the centrality of schools and teachers in reflecting the acculturation expectations of the dominant society and in enabling immigrant students achieve a safe sense of ethnic identity. Teacher education programs that enhance teaching in culturally diverse classroom are imperative in global economy with worldwide migration.