Inside and outside the integrated bilingual PalestinianeJewish schools in Israel: Teachers’ perceptions of personal, professional and political positioning Maureen Rajuan a, * , Zvi Bekerman b a Achva College of Education, Mobile Post Shikmim, 79800, Israel b Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel article info Article history: Received 6 August 2009 Received in revised form 22 August 2010 Accepted 17 September 2010 Keywords: Integrated education Multiculturalism Peace education Professional expertise Positioning Coexistence JewishePalestinian conflict abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers of the integrated bilingual PalestinianeJewish schools in Israel construct their school culture in relation to various outside pressures in their attempt to achieve educational change. Field notes from an in-service training workshop were analyzed according to three levels of the teaching context: the personal, professional and political. It was found that the teachers perceive themselves as primarily pedagogical experts with a shared vision based on multicul- turalism and coexistence. According to the findings, recommendations are made for improving the positioning of the teachers in relation to pupils, parents and policy-makers. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Integrated bilingual PalestinianeJewish schools in Israel are a bold and innovative initiative by a relatively small group of people who seek to “make a difference” in the education of children living in the current Middle East conflict through collaboration between Jewish and Palestinian teachers, pupils and parents. This unique, and largely marginalized phenomenon, has much to teach us about multicultural education and education towards coexistence. Whereas research findings attest to the lack of core values in education in the schools (Day, Elliot, & Kington, 2005), the inte- grated schools are founded upon an ideological vision that seeks to place value education in the center. The website of the Hand in Hand organization that funds the integrated PalestinianeJewish schools states: While most Israeli school children study democracy as an academic subject, Hand in Hand’s students learn democracy through experi- ence. In daily interactions, students learn to live with difference, complexity and even contradiction. They develop the ability to be flexible, solve problems, make themselves heard, and listen respectfully to others. Pluralism, equalityand democratic process are more than subjects e they are a way of life. The microcosm of society at the classroom level is a constant reference point for theoretical studies in the foundations of civil society including democracy, pluralism and human rights. http://www.handinhandk12.org/ index.cfm?fuseaction¼content.display&pageID¼2 Amidst diverse demands, requirements and expectations of parents and funding institutions, it is the teachers who ultimately create the school’s everyday reality by negotiating their vision with many other visions within many contextual constraints. There is an increasing awareness that sustainable innovation in education is dependent upon the inclusion of teachers’ voice and vision to inform policy-making (Jessop & Penny, 1998). The Integrated Bilingual Teachers In-training Workshop, upon which this research is based, aspires to create a sustained in-training opportunity for teachers to better articulate goals that would help the schools to develop more effective educational practices and, through this effort, to generate a cadre of teachers who will serve as leaders in multicultural education. Based on the notion that the worldviews of teachers direct their teaching and that understanding these perspectives will prove useful in providing direction for the development of good teaching (Pajares, 1992), we chose to focus on the perceptions of the teachers to gain an understanding of “what it feels like” to be a teacher in these schools that are leading the way * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ972 777 661033. E-mail addresses: msrajuan@mscc.huji.ac.il (M. Rajuan), mszviman@mscc.huji. ac.il (Z. Bekerman). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate 0742-051X/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2010.09.009 Teaching and Teacher Education xxx (2010) 1e11 Please cite this article in press as: Rajuan, M., Bekerman, Z., Inside and outside the integrated bilingual PalestinianeJewish schools in Israel:..., Teaching and Teacher Education (2010), doi:10.1016/j.tate.2010.09.009