Ruth Abramovitz

Can brief workshops improve clinical instruction

Context  The impact of faculty development activities aimed at improving the teaching skills of clinical instructors requires elucidation. Since 2003, all instructors at our school of medicine have been required to undertake a brief workshop in basic clinical instructional skills as a prerequisite for promotion and tenure. The impact of this has, so far, remained unknown.

Ethical Leadership in Education and Its Relation to Ethical Decision-Making: The Case of Arab School Leaders in Israel.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate ethical leadership in the context of the Arab educational system in Israel. It questions the relations of ethical leadership dimensions with decision making as well as background characteristics of the educational leaders.,Arab educational leaders (n=150) from diverse Arab schools responded to valid research tool of 40 items constructed of six subscales: three ethical leadership dimensions (critique, justice and care) and three leadership work aspects (ethical sensitivity, climate and decision making). Averages were calculated for each subscale.,Significant relations were found among ethical leadership dimensions and decision making, the leaders’ school type and their seniority.,This study is based on research in diverse countries, using a common conceptual frame. Its limitation is the sample’s narrow scope.,The study results may inform the developing ethical qualities in educational leadership.,The authors recommend widening the scope of the sample examined to further clarify the concept of ethical leadership and its implications to the practice of educational leadership.

Academic choices and motivation: Diverse groups in Israel

Abstract Israel is a multi-cultural society with a Jewish majority and a large Arab minority. This study aims to examine whether Israeli Arab and Jewish students have different motivations and consider different factors when choosing a college for postgraduate studies. A case study, during the academic year 2010–11 administered questionnaires to 290 Jewish and Arab postgraduate students in a private academic college in order to investigate students’ motivations for postgraduate studies and choice of college. Findings indicated that the strongest motivation expressed by all the students is a desire for self-fulfilment. Motivation for social mobility and to help to empower their society is more important for Arab students. Convenience considerations (proximity to home, flexible entrance standards and employment prospects while studying) determined college choice for Jews and Arabs more than college reputation and teaching quality. Yet Arab students attach more importance than Jewish students to the college’s quality. It is concluded that postgraduate programmes should be more sensitive to diverse students’ needs.

Teachers’ perceptions of school principals’ leadership styles and parental involvement – the case of the Arab education system in Israel

Abstract This study deals with teachers’ perceptions of principals’ leadership style as it affects parental involvement (PI) in the special context of the Arab education system in Israel. Contemporary perceptions of education within the Western individualist society, including in the majority society in Israel, regard the full spectrum of PI, ranging from supervising homework to taking part in pedagogical decision-making, as very beneficial for children’s education and support it. Yet the social context of the Arab minority, which is both traditional and collectivist, may induce Arab teachers to different views. In this study we correlate the teachers’ PI perceptions with the leadership style of principals at their schools. We presented two kinds of Likert-type questionnaires to a sample of 200 Arab elementary school teachers. Our findings indicate that, contrary to what was expected, Arab teachers support PI as beneficial for the children’s education. When they perceive the principal as efficient, they tend to be rather reserved about pedagogical PI. If the principals are passive, teachers welcome PI. It is concluded that Arab teachers can serve as agents of change in their society toward more democratic values. There are limitations to the validity of such a conclusion for the whole population of the Arab teachers as this is their view in theory, not tested with actual behaviors.

Faculty‐development activity to promote effective communication between instructors and students

Background:  Educators claim that conflicts and teacher–student miscommunications interfere in achieving optimal learning outcomes.

Teachers’ attitudes toward the appointment of women as school leaders The case of the Arab education system in Israel

The trend towards gender equality in principalship appointments continues to interest researchers, especially when it appears in traditional societies that maintain patriarchal, anti-feminist attitudes and values. Arab society in Israel is undergoing transition from traditionalism to modernism. Arab women hold the majority of Arab school teaching positions, but patriarchal opposition erupts when they aspire to attain principalship positions. This article reports on a study that examined attitudes of teacher colleagues towards the appointment of women principals. The findings indicated that women principals were perceived as creating a pleasant atmosphere at school, yet all the teachers agreed that women had inferior abilities to conduct relations with external bodies. Male teachers expressed significantly more patriarchal attitudes than female teachers. Surprisingly, teachers with higher-level education expressed more resistance to female leadership than those without academic degrees. The discussion suggests ways to achieve gender equality in the appointment of school principals in Arab society in Israel.

Teacher-related factors in assimilation of technological change in schools: The case of an Arab school in Israel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore teachers’ attitudes toward the implementation of new computer technology to improve teaching and learning products at a private Arab school in Israel. Specifically, the aim was to individuate teachers’ factors associated with higher productivity of this technological change. Design/methodology/approach The research used the mixed-methods approach to enrich the data derived from a case study. It employed a questionnaire of 81 items administered among 55 teachers and in-depth interviews with both teachers and senior management team members at one private Arab school in Israel. Findings Results show some features that characterize the teachers who rated the productivity of this new management change highly. Those teachers tend to have high expectations of the change and to view the change implementation process favorably. Teachers with such characteristics tend to be female teachers. The influence of teachers’ education was latent. Their teaching experience influenced only their expectations and views of the process, but not their perceptions of the change products. Research limitations/implications The paper focused only on one private school known for its excellence and teaching staff, and thus may not apply to the entire Arab education system in Israel. Nevertheless, the findings indicate how to increase teaching productivity when planning the management of technological change for increased teaching benefits in schools with similar characteristics. Originality/value This paper explored a case in which technological change was implemented through a careful process of management planning, in order to facilitate the construction of a model of indicators to facilitate change.