Elementary Schools In Israel Research Articles

Beyond the Language: Arabic Language Textbooks in Arab–Palestinian Society as Tools for Developing Social–Emotional Skills

Social–emotional learning (SEL) is recognized as an important component of the educational system, significantly impacting student success. This study aims to examine how Arabic language textbooks used in Arab elementary schools in Israel serve as tools for developing social–emotional skills, beyond their role in language instruction. Using a content analysis and semiological analysis on nine ‘Arabic Our Language’ textbooks for Grades 1 to 6, the findings revealed that all categories of social–emotional skills defined by CASEL were represented, but with an imbalance in their prevalence. Interpersonal relationship skills were the most frequent, while social awareness was the least represented, despite its importance in the Israeli context, which is the context in which this study takes place. Additionally, lower grades (1–3) showed a lack of SEL content compared to higher grades (4–6), even though an early integration of these skills is more effective. Furthermore, the SEL content did not always align with the fundamental principles for optimal implementation. This study emphasizes the need for curricula and textbooks in Arabic language education that are adapted to each developmental stage and tailored to the Israeli socio-cultural context. The findings underscore the critical role of Arabic language textbooks in fostering a holistic educational experience, preparing students for both academic and social success, and serve as a call to action for curriculum designers and textbook authors to integrate social–emotional learning in linguistic educational materials.

Medicalising agents? Teachers' uncertainty and emerging expertise in the age of inclusion policy and medicalisation in Israel.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a paradigmatic case for childhood medicalisation. Critical studies of medicalisation have pointed to the increasing clinical role of schools, with teachers tending to rely on medical treatment of students with ADHD and are perceived as a primary source of diagnostic information. Based on 27 semi-structured interviews with teachers working in two Israeli elementary and middle schools, this research explored how teachers mediate the medicalisation process and understand their responsibilities in the classroom amidst the emphasis on inclusion in contemporary Israel. We found that teachers offer a wide range of explanations of the disorder and its prevalence, and their attitudes to medication are ambivalent. We argue that teachers develop pedagogical (lay) expertise in the field of ADHD in parallel with and in opposition to medical solutions. Such expertise is based on practical experience and close interaction with students. A top-down ideological imperative of inclusion, combined with uncertainty about ADHD, has generated a bottom-up set of preformative practices of 'containment' of troubled students. Teachers' emerging knowledge and practices raise questions about the relationship between medicalisation, policy, expertise and the pragmatic value of medical categories when applied outside the medical establishment.

Integrating Instructional Leadership With Social Justice Leadership: Insights From Israel's Principals

Purpose: This study explores how school principals can effectively integrate instructional leadership with social justice leadership, recognizing their dual roles in promoting academic excellence and fostering a socially just school environment. Research Methods: Participants in this qualitative study were 32 principals from elementary schools in Israel. Data collection involved one-on-one interviews and focus groups. Data analysis followed a comprehensive four-stage process, including sorting, coding, categorizing, and theorizing. Findings: The study identified four interrelated perspectives on the relationship between instructional leadership and social justice leadership: (1) instructional leadership and social justice leadership have divergent foci; (2) instructional leadership inherently contributes to social justice; (3) social justice leadership defines the teaching approach required by instructional leadership; and (4) social justice leadership shapes the purpose of instructional leadership. Implications: This study suggests that to encompass the entire range of integration between instructional leadership and social justice leadership, principals must consider two aspects: the influence of social justice leadership on instructional leadership goals and its impact on instructional leadership practices.

How principals’ instructional leadership impacts schools’ middle leadership

Instructional leadership is a school leadership approach that prioritizes enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. This study explores how the principal's instructional leadership influences the school's middle leadership. The study participants were 24 principals from elementary schools in Israel, and data collection involved conducting semi-structured interviews. The collected data underwent three stages of analysis: sorting, coding, and categorizing. The findings revealed three key areas in which the principal's instructional leadership influences the school's middle leadership: the expectations of middle leaders, the selection and appointment of middle leaders, and the hierarchical structure of middle leaders within the school. These findings highlight the comprehensive impact of instructional leadership on various organizational aspects of middle leadership in schools.

Principals' systems thinking and student outcomes: the intervening role of school structure

PurposeThis study examines the relationship of principals’ systems thinking (PST) to student outcomes of academic achievement and school violence. The investigation relies on the contingency theory, according to which effective leadership is contingent on the nature of the situational influences to which managers are exposed. Specifically, the study investigates the influence of school structure – bureaucratic vs organic – on the relationship between PST and student outcomes of academic achievement and school violence after accounting for students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and principals' demographics.Design/methodology/approachA three-source survey design with self-reported and non-self-reported data was used, with a sample of 423 participants from 71 elementary schools in Israel. The sample included senior management team members and teachers. The data were aggregated at the school level of analysis.FindingsHierarchical regression analyses showed that organic school structure moderates the relationship between PST and student academic achievement, and bureaucratic school structure moderates the relationship between PST and school violence beyond the impact of students’ socioeconomic backgrounds.Originality/valueThis study provides important evidence for the benefits of aligning PST with school structure for improving student outcomes beyond the impact of students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, the study suggests principal system thinking leadership to achieve effective student outcomes that circumvent the effects of inequality on disadvantaged student groups.

Enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators

PurposeInstructional leadership is a school leadership approach that places great emphasis on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. This study explored the enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators.Design/methodology/approachThe participants in this qualitative study were 24 subject coordinators in elementary schools in Israel. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews, and data analysis included three stages: sorting, coding and categorizing.FindingsThe findings identified three significant enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators: pedagogical knowledge, relationship capability and support from the principal.Originality/valueThis study suggests that the enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators differ from those of instructional leadership in principals because of their different places in the school structure and explains the enablers of instructional leadership in subject coordinators as middle leaders.

Reifying, Disorienting and Restoring Gender Binaries in Dialogic Literature Discussions

AbstractDialogic pedagogy aims to bring multiple voices and perspectives into conversation, to create a classroom environment inclusive of multiple student identities, and to challenge hegemonic approaches to knowledge. As such, it seems particularly well‐suited for interrogating gender binaries and enhancing gender equity. Through micro‐ethnographic discourse analysis of video‐recorded literacy lessons, this study examines how traditional gender categories were reified and/or disrupted in literacy discussions in four Israeli elementary school classrooms experimenting with dialogic pedagogy. We found students and teachers frequently relying upon gender stereotypes in the participant examples they offered and in their interpretations of the story, “Fly, Eagle, Fly,” in class discussions. Originally framed as a parable of transformation and growth, the story unexpectedly provided an avenue to explore topics such as gender, transgenderism, and transsexuality. Sporadic instances arose in the discussion in which students subverted traditional binary gender constructs. These fleeting moments of disorientation underscored dialogic pedagogy's capacity to challenge gender norms. However, students and teachers treated transgenderism as taboo, and the topic's explicit consideration generated anxiety, with the teachers and some of the students trying to silence non‐heteronormative voices. Ultimately, teachers reinforced interpretations that allowed the gender order to be restored and seemed relieved when they were able to move on from the gender trouble episode. The study highlights the potential of dialogic pedagogy to challenge the heterosexual matrix and promote gender equity. However, it also demonstrates the importance of paying greater attention to gender issues in the development of dialogic pedagogy.

How Social Justice Leadership Complements Instructional Leadership

ABSTRACT Instructional leadership (IL) needs other frameworks to complement it. This qualitative study examined how social justice leadership (SJL), which involves understanding school inequities and taking action to eliminate them, might complement IL. The participants were 36 Israeli elementary school principals. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and focus groups, and data analysis included sorting, coding, and categorizing. The findings revealed that principals perceived SJL as providing answers to three main questions about IL: for whom (whose achievements should be improved), how (in what way should student achievements be improved), and with whom (who should the partners be for improving student achievements).

Experts in care: homeroom teachers, care work and the development of practice-based care expertise

ABSTRACT In this study we explore the care work of homeroom teachers, who, in many educational systems, are responsible for the social and emotional wellbeing of students in their homeroom classes. The study is based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 70 homeroom teachers in Israeli elementary, middle and high schools, and draws on Tronto’s ethics of care combined with a practice-based approach to expertise. We argue that homeroom teachers develop unique, practice-based expertise, based on four distinct but interrelated forms of care work: intuitive work, relational work, emotional work and sensory work. Homeroom teachers develop their care expertise amid institutionalised deficiency in professional training in care work and a lack of organisational support for this work in schools. These structural problems detract from teachers’ ability to provide competent caregiving, a necessary element in Tronto’s ethics, and they constitute a warning sign concerning the capacity of k-12 education to provide good care.

Families’ Involvement at Primary School and Its Impact on Their Children’s Performance in Mathematics

This paper focuses on examining the influence of parents' involvement in class on the students' performance in math, the way parents get involved with the school, and their effects on the pupil's success. The study attempts to identify a number of aspects that influence parents' involvement or uninvolvement in education and factors that impact student math performance. In this context, the researcher conducted quantitative research using three questionnaires for students, parents, and teachers. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were checked and the results were analyzed in SPSS. A total of 302 people participated in the study: 132 sixth graders, 67 parents of the students, and 103 mathematics educators. This study was carried out in Arab elementary schools in Israel within the period of 2022-2023. The findings show that parents' involvement in the decision-making process of their children's education increases based on the parents' level of education. In other words, the higher the parents' level of education, the more they get involved at school. The findings reveal that parents and educators also have a high level of trust and the way parents track their children's education reflects their involvement in school. There is also a statistically significant relationship between student success and parental involvement at school. The researchers recommended focusing on communication between parents and mathematics teachers in the school and the meaningful participation of parents in the school.

Principal systems thinking and senior management team effectiveness: the mediating role of senior management team learning

PurposeThe role of leadership through senior management teams (SMT) has received increasing attention over the past several decades. Such leadership requires principals to play a key role in promoting SMT effectiveness. Therefore, according to the input–mediator–outcome model (Ilgen et al., 2005), this study's purpose is to investigate the mediating role of school SMT learning in the relationship between principal systems thinking (PST) and SMT effectiveness after accounting for students' socioeconomic backgrounds and SMT members' tenure.Design/methodology/approachA three-source survey design with self-reported and non-self-reported data was used, from a sample of 282 participants from 71 elementary schools in Israel. The sample included principals and SMTs. Data were aggregated at the school level of analysis.Findings The results from structural equation modeling and bootstrapping analysis indicated that SMT learning fully mediates the relationship between PST and SMT effectiveness, irrespective of the students' socioeconomic backgrounds.Originality/value This study provides important insights into the role of SMT learning as a mediator in the relationship between PST and SMT effectiveness. In addition, the study responds to the call of previous studies to examine the effects of PST on characteristics and outcomes at the group level. Moreover, the proposed integrative model highlights the importance of SMT learning and suggests new ways to encourage it.

Instructional leadership in school middle leaders

PurposeInstructional leadership is a school leadership approach that emphasizes improving teaching and learning. This study explores how school middle leaders – teachers holding leadership positions in schools, who are responsible for a particular area or discipline of the school's curriculum – fulfill their instructional leadership role.Design/methodology/approachThe participants in this qualitative study were 24 middle leaders (subject coordinators) in elementary schools in Israel. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews, and data analysis included three stages: sorting, coding and categorizing.FindingsThe current study points to three main characteristics of instructional leadership in school middle leaders: leading by expertise; leading by collaboration; and leading by example.Originality/valueAt present, there is only scant literature on instructional leadership in school middle leaders. This study suggests that principals and middle leaders, who work closely with each other to provide instructional leadership in their schools, do so in different ways.

‘Actualiya learning’: a bottom-up construction for civic education in two of Israel’s ‘educational Islands’

ABSTRACT Contemporary literature reveals that many educators, especially those in elementary schools and in conflict-effected societies, are reluctant to engage in the teaching of current public issues, even more so social controversies. However, this qualitative study examined the successful experience and the perspectives of educators from two elementary schools in Israel who avoided the tendency to bypass these issues and instead embraced them within the framework of ‘Actualiya’ learning. They also trained their students to search for controversy, to identify its rational and emotional origins, to spend time seeking their own opinions and to accommodate the tensions it evoked. The cumulative effect of containing the tension the controversy evoked fostered a complex experience of democratic citizenship with particular and universal affinities. This research enabled us to learn inductively about the pedagogical principles required for an updated civic education instruction in politically challenged societies.

Primary school children voicing their own concerns: Practising Participatory Citizenship as experiential learning

In recent decades, there has been growing pressure to prepare students for citizenship with an orientation to equality and participation. To engage students’ interest, it is generally recommended that teachers provide experiences of simulations, games and themed projects. There are, however, philosophical, legal, empirical and pedagogical justifications for basing citizenship education on experiential learning in which students actually perform as citizens, giving voice to their own concerns and taking appropriate action. A qualitative study introduced students in an Israeli elementary school to experiential learning of active citizenship – complete rounds of observing, thinking, doing and feeling – with the help of the model for Practising Participatory Citizenship (PPC). Students were encouraged to make suggestions for improving everyday life at school. With the guidance of PPC, small groups voiced their views, decided what needs were most urgent, planned changes and carried out their plans. Data show that the structure of PPC enabled students in groups with members of diverse ages to communicate respectfully, present reasoned arguments, take collaborative action and reflect on their accomplishments. Students acting as participating citizens were enthusiastic about the process and acquired sensitivity to the diversity of group members’ needs. There are indications that practising participation and voice throughout the years of schooling can ensure the internalization of a habitus that augers well for good citizenship in adulthood. Their teachers, however, found it difficult to stick to the role of facilitators. To enable potential facilitators to make the necessary adaptive change in their perspective, future implementations of PPC with school children could be preceded by facilitators’ intensive practice of participation and voice.

Middle-leaders' transformational leadership: big five traits and teacher commitment

PurposeThe present study aimed to investigate whether the sub-dimensions of transformational leadership are differently influenced by middle-leaders’ personality traits from the Big Five typology, namely, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, and neuroticism, and whether the sub-dimensions of transformational leadership influence teachers' professional and organizational commitment differentially.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from two sources: 114 middle-leaders and 282 teachers randomly chosen from elementary schools in Israel. Hierarchical regression analyses and structural equation modelling were used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsFirst, the findings indicated that the teachers perceived their middle-leaders as transformational leaders without distinguishing between the sub-dimensions. Second, transformational leadership was positively correlated to teachers' professional and organizational commitment. Finally, positive relationships were found between the middle-leaders personality traits of agreeableness and openness to experience and teachers’ commitment. The study findings point to two paths to facilitate teachers' professional and organizational commitment, either through the middle-leaders transformational leadership or their personality.Originality/valueAlthough recent research has shown that leaders' personal traits are critical components in leading a team effectively and promoting employee behaviors, few studies in the educational context have focused on the differential impact of the Big Five typology on middle-leaders’ tendency toward the sub-dimensions of transformational leadership (TL) and its implications for teachers' commitment. By integrating research from both educational and non-educational literature, the goal of the present study, then, is to address these important yet relatively unstudied issues.

How instructional leaders promote social justice

Instructional leadership is a school leadership approach with a strong focus on the development of teaching and learning. This study explores how instructional leaders act to promote social justice and eliminate school inequities. The participants in this qualitative study were 24 Israeli elementary school principals. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews, and data analysis was theory-driven. The findings revealed that instructional leaders incorporated a social justice perspective into the three key dimensions of instructional leadership—defining the school mission, managing the instructional program, and developing a positive school learning climate—to address three main areas of inequity in the school: outcomes, belongingness, and discipline. This study suggests that as an instructional leader, the principal has to take specific actions supported by particular intentions to ensure fairness and equity.

Elementary school science teachers' discourse and on‐the‐job learning about student motivation

AbstractScience teachers' professional learning about student motivation can play a key role in developing their ability to nurture student motivation and cope with motivational challenges. To advance the understanding of how on‐the‐job discussions facilitate teacher learning about student motivation, this study investigated how elementary‐school science teachers described and reasoned about student motivation in school‐based team meetings, by analyzing 20 audio‐recorded meetings of three Israeli elementary school science teams. The analysis included characterizing 123 episodes in which teachers referred to student motivation, coding how central and specific the references to motivation were, what indicators of motivation teachers addressed, and what influencing factors they considered. It also included a thematic analysis of teachers' discussions about motivation‐promoting methods and a microanalysis of one select event, drawing on linguistic ethnographic concepts and methods. The findings showed that teachers often addressed student motivation, but briefly and in relation to other topics. They tended to address behavioral and emotional indicators of motivation much more than cognitive indicators. They focused on instructional methods, predominantly addressing motivational issues from a practical perspective and seldom considering them from the student perspective or accounting for internal factors. Teachers often offered methods for promoting student motivation, but they expressed reservations without critically exploring them. Furthermore, critical discussions about motivation‐supporting methods were frequently constrained by teachers' attempts to manage the face threat these discussions entailed. These findings highlight how a theory‐crossing framework that integrates theories of student motivation with a theory of teacher productive discourse can serve as a guide for teachers' on‐the‐job discussions to develop their motivation‐related professional learning and their capacity to support student motivation.

Principals’ systems thinking and school effectiveness: The mediating role of collective teacher efficacy

Relying on the social cognitive theory, which postulates that human behaviour is due to social experiences and cognitive interpretation, the current study seeks to investigate the mediating role of collective teacher efficacy (CTE) in the relationship between principals’ systems thinking (PST) and school effectiveness in terms of academic emphasis and student academic achievement after accounting for students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. A three-source survey design with self-report and non-self-report data was used, from a sample of 423 participants from 71 elementary schools in Israel. The sample included school management team (SMT) members and teachers who were not SMT members. Data were aggregated at the school level of analysis. The results from structural equation modelling and bootstrapping analysis indicated that CTE partially mediates the relationship between PST and academic emphasis, irrespective of the students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Chosen and collective friendship: Negotiating contradictory social ideals and demands at an Israeli elementary school classroom

Friendship has been predominantly conceptualised as a highly positive and voluntary relationship. This article contributes to recent sociological challenges to these notions by ethnographically examining how conflicting friendship ideals are negotiated in everyday life. It is based on a year-long study of friendship socialisation and friendship between girls in an Israeli elementary school classroom, from the perspectives of both the girls and their teachers. I argue that the teachers promoted two contradictory friendship ideals: one of ‘chosen’ friendship between specific students, which recognised the children’s agency and preferences; and the other, of ‘collective’ friendship between all the class group members, directed at engendering social cohesion and preventing loneliness. The article delineates how the girls and teachers negotiated relationships between the students under the framework of both friendship ideals – and in doing so, exposed the tensions and entanglements between the two. Moreover, the girls and teachers’ friendship discourses and practices shed light on the hefty social demands placed on children’s friendship ties in school, and how friendship can incorporate both collective and individual meanings.

Digital Leadership: Managing Schools’ Virtual Spaces in Times of Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic changed schools’ reality and posed a wide range of challenges for school leaders, such as a re-examination of principals’ and teachers’ authority and leadership in the schools’ virtual spaces. Teaching methods and social-emotional aspects of learning were challenged as well. The school faculty had to redesign their pedagogical environments to provide an extensive and complete response to these new challenges. The main difficulty lay in the need to create an immediate distance-learning environment that would provide solutions for the pedagogical, emotional, and social challenges in the new and virtual space that had been created. We investigated teachers’ perceptions of their and their principals’ roles as digital educational leaders (e-leaders) in the schools’ virtual spaces. The research was conducted using a qualitative method with a population of 16 female teachers in elementary schools in Israel. Data analysis yielded four major themes: new virtual space in the school's organization, principals’ and teachers’ roles in managing virtual spaces, opportunities in virtual space management, and challenges and difficulties. These themes were closely interrelated in the context of schoolwork. Findings highlight the importance of more fully understanding the role of extensive digital leadership, i.e., the management of virtual school spaces. It is proposed that management of schools’ virtual spaces can enhance overall school effectiveness, which in turn can help achieve better cooperation between school faculty and the surrounding community.