Gender, school leadership and teachers’ motivations

Abstract

Purpose The research investigates perceptions of teachers in the Arab education system in Israel concerning the effect of their principal’s leadership and gender on their motivation. Relying on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as an analytic tool to understand the Arab school, the purpose of this paper is to answer the following research questions: first, how do the teachers perceive the leadership style and gender of their principal and what influence do these perceptions have on their motivation? Second, what are the influences of the different dimensions of culture described by Hofstede on the teachers’ motivation? Design/methodology/approach To answer these questions, 18 teachers from different schools in the Arab education system (10 female and 8 male) were interviewed. Findings The research revealed three themes which describe the teachers’ perceptions of their principals’ leadership styles with consideration of the principals’ gender: the principals’ involvement and sharing of school operations and decision making with the teachers; the extent of autonomy given to teachers; and establishment of principal–teacher relationships. Originality/value The paper concludes with implications of these leadership styles for teachers’ motivation for work, and suggestions are given to improve Arab principals’ practices and thus to enhance teachers’ motivation.

Teacher well-being and organizational citizenship behavior in Arab educational system in Israel: The implications of teacher collective involvement in decision making and organizational commitment.

“…These results can be explained by several factors. First, the shift from peasantry to work in the general employment market has carried about a releasing of the ties of the extended Arab family in Israel (Massry-Herzallah & Arar, 2019). Second, increase in the percentage of Arab students studying in higher education institutions with new professional aspirations This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

“…According to Dwairy and Van-Sickle (1996), since the beginning of childhood, traditional social norms of Arab society prepare the individual to choose conformity. For instance, teachers in Arab society perceive the job of the principal as essentially a man’s job with an autocratic and nonparticipative style of management and male domination (Massry-Herzallah & Arar, 2019). Nevertheless, in recent decades, a process of “Israelisation” has taken place through which the Arab minority or certain groups or individuals within this society experience modernization, marked by rising living and educational standards and a rise in the status of women (Nassir & Benoliel, 2022).…”

Teachers' TPACK during the Covid-19 crisis: an ecological perspective on Arab and Jewish teachers in Israel

“…Why did the moderating role of the TLS in the correlation between the frequency of OT and improvement of TPACK only appear among AT? A possible explanation may stem from the description of Arab school leadership style as an authoritarian style (Masry-Herzallah and Arar, 2019), in contrast to the TLS adopted in Jewish schools (Shapira-Lishchinsky and Litchka, 2018). Therefore, the correlation between frequency of OT and ATs` TPACK depended on the level of TLS.…”

Cultural background in digital literacy of elementary and middle school students: Self‐appraisal versus actual performance

“…However, there is relatively little empirical literature bearing on the changes experienced by Israeli students and teachers resulting from ethnic socialization. Furthermore, much of this empirical literature has focused on the relationship between socialization experiences and ethnic identity (Da'as, 2017;Da'as & Zibenberg, 2019;Hadad et al, 2020;Massry-Herzallah & Arar, 2019). Therefore, the present research relies on Hofstede's dimensional paradigm (Hofstede, 1980(Hofstede, , 2001, which contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms and implications of the culture-related differences.…”

“…In order to learn in their own language and preserve their cultural identity students belonging to these ethnic groups mostly choose to attend Arabic‐speaking schools, which teach the same subject‐matter (e.g., math, English) required for all state‐funded schools (Blau, 2014; Maoz, 2005; Yashiv & Kasir, 2014). Nevertheless, studies have found that there are unique cultural differences between the Arabic‐speaking minority and the Hebrew‐speaking population in Israel, and these differences have implications on the education system in relation to the knowledge, skills, and trends observed in the education system (Abu Rahmoun et al, 2021; Da'as, 2017; Hadad et al, 2020; Massry‐Herzallah & Arar, 2019).…”