Teacher Leadership Development: Building Bridges not Borders between Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Educators

Abstract

Teacher leadership development receives considerable attention in many educational reforms across the globe. This article reports on a unique partnership in Jerusalem that brings Israeli and Palestinian educators together to cultivate teacher leaders who facilitate professional communities and support continual improvement in teaching and learning. The research design involves participatory action research and draws on theoretical frameworks of democratic education, productive professional discourse, and authentic intellectual work. Findings focus on the enhancement of multicultural training, increased depth of pedagogical discussions, and improvement in leading teacher learning communities. The conclusions consider the ways in which a few bridges are overcoming both real and perceived borders in a region of persisting cultural tension and conflict, as the teacher leaders and co-authors developed an emerging common understanding of a shared conception of professional practice across three languages, and a growing mutual respect for the ‘other’.