Session Information
WERA SES 02 A, Teacher Accountability and Cultural Values: A Cross-Country Perspective
Symposium
Contribution
The objective of the Israeli study was threefold: first, to explore the nature of teacher accountability in Israel compared with other countries. Second, to compare accountability perceptions of teachers affiliated to two major ethnic groups: Israeli-Jewish and Israeli-Arab. Third, to study the relation of teacher accountability in Israel to two cultural values: individualism and collectivism. The participants in the study were 418 Israeli Jewish (38%) and Israeli-Arab (62%) teachers. Regarding the first study objective, Israeli teachers, like their counterparts in all other countries, reported higher internal than external accountability (mean 4.11, SD .034; mean 4.62, SD .460, respectively). Accountability scores in Israel were relatively high: second in total accountability score (after South Africa), third in external accountability (after South Africa and Zimbabwe, which tied for first place), and third in internal accountability (after South Africa and Zimbabwe). These high scores may reflect the centralized and bureaucratic nature of the Israeli education system, which regulates external and some aspects of internal accountability (teacher training). Regarding the second study question, Israeli-Jewish teachers were more internally accountable than Israeli-Arab teachers (means 4.67, SD 36; 4.56, SD .50, respectively; t=-2.63, P<.05). No sectorial difference was found in external accountability. These results may be explained by the sensitive political status of Arabs in Israel. To receive government support for schools, Israeli Arabs must comply with administrative educational regulations; they often feel discriminated against in the way government resources are allocated (Bekerman & Nir, 2006). Their low internal accountability may be viewed as a way to express disenchantment and frustration, while continuing to show external accountability in order to prevent further perceived discrimination. Regarding the third study question, in a test of the relations between accountability and cultural values both external and internal accountability were strongly related to collectivism (r=.38, r=.43, respectively; p<.001), but very weakly related to individualism (n.s.; r=.13, p<.05, respectively). The emergence of collectivism as a strong predictor in this study may be attributed to the relatively large proportion of Israeli Arabs, who are perceived as more collectivistic than Israeli Jews (Eilam, 2002). The results of the study may have implications for educational policy in Israel, as in other educational systems consisting of sub-culture and ethnic groups. Both promotion of external accountability and encouragement of internal accountability should consider teachers' cultural values (Gelfand, Beng-Chong & Raver, 2004).
References
Bekerman, Z. & Nir, A. (2006). Opportunities and challenges of integrated education in conflict-ridden societies: The case of Palestinian-Jewish schools in Israel. Childhood Education, 82, 327-333. Eilam, B. (2002). “Passing through” a Western-democratic teacher education: The case of Israeli Arab teachers. Teachers College Record, 104, 1656-1701. Gelfand, M.J., Beng-Chong, L. & Raver, J.L. (2004). Culture and accountability in organizations: Variations in forms of social control across cultures. Human Resource Management Review, 14, 135-160.
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