Ethiopian Origin Teachers in Israel: Prejudices, Pedagogical Expectations and the Pygmalion Effect in the Shadow of the COVID-19

Abstract

The present study focuses on that unique positioning of Ethiopian origin teachers in Israeli schools, with the aim of examining COVID-19 as an extreme situation in which unique characteristics of minority-majority relations in the education system may be revealed and intensified. Interviews with seven teachers of Ethiopian origin during the early years of their careers indicated two specific phenomena that they faced during the period of closure in the education system. These phenomena related to prejudices and low expectations regarding their pedagogical abilities relevant to COVID-19. The findings raise two tensions encountered regularly by Ethiopian origin teachers during this period. The methodology employed the conceptual framework of ‘agility’ – a term that reflects the teacher’s ability to exercise discretionary flexibility and demonstrate the required access to students in socially distanced conditions. The first tension relates to the relationship between the interviewees’ culture and that of the students, with emphasis on the students’ low expectations of the interviewees’ abilities as distance teachers. The second tension discussed in the findings relates to the organizational culture and school management. Additionally in this context, the interviewees felt that low expectations prevailed regarding their ability to establish innovative technological conditions and develop professionally in accordance with the requirements of this challenging period within the education system. The evidence is discussed in the context of the Pygmalion effect.