This study sought to reveal teachers’ personal cultural ideologies as reflected in their conceptions of the curriculum for, and in their actual teaching of, culturally valued texts. The concept “teachers’ personal cultural ideologies” refers to their value orientation toward the curricular and teaching contents relating to, in this particular case, teaching texts associated with their national group identity. The study is based on an investigation of 50 Israeli teachers of the Hebrew Bible working in ordinary public schools. It revealed six different patterns of teachers’ conceptions of the curriculum and teaching for this culturally valued text. Teachers displayed conflicting attitudes toward the expression of personal cultural ideology during the teaching process. Nonetheless, when describing what actually happened in their classrooms, they expressed teaching conceptions that were mostly congruent with their personal cultural ideologies. Although that these teachers taught the same obligatory national curriculum, with its defined cultural-ideological slant, their personal cultural ideologies did not necessarily mesh with the official ideological directions of the written curriculum. This study revealed that during the actual process of teaching, the teacher's personal cultural ideology became dominant, outweighing other types of teaching and curriculum ideology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArgyrisC., and SchonD. A. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2.
AronR. (1977). The opium of the intellectuals. Westport CT: Greenwood Press.
3.
BeattieM. (1995). New prospects for teacher education: Narrative ways of knowing teaching and teacher learning. Educational Research, 37, 53—70.
4.
BerlakA., and BerlakH. (1981). The dilemma of schooling: Teaching and social change. London: Methuen.
5.
BilligM., CondorS., EdwardsD., GaneM., MiddletonD., and RadleyA. (1988). Ideological dilemmas: A social psychology of everyday thinking. London: Sage.
6.
BrunerJ. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
7.
ClandininD. J., and ConnellyF. M. (1996). Teachers’ professional knowledge landscapes: Teachers stories–stories of teachers–school stories–stories of schools. Educational Researcher, 25(3), 24—30.
8.
ClandininD. J., and ConnellyF. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
9.
ConnellyF. M., and ClandininD. J. (1988). Teachers as curriculum planners: Narratives of experience. New York: Teachers College Press.
10.
ConnellyM., and ClandininD. J. (1999). Shaping a professional identity: Stories of educational practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
11.
ConnellyM., and ElbazF. (1980). Conceptual bases for curriculum thought: A teacher perspective. In and and FoshayA.W. (Ed.), Considered action for curriculum improvement (pp. 95—119). Alexandria, VA: A.S.C.D. Yearbook Committee.
12.
CraigC. J. (2001). The relationship between and among teachers’ narrative knowledge, communities of knowing, and school reform: The case of “The Monkey's Paw.” Curriculum Inquiry, 31, 303—331.
13.
EisnerE. W. (1994). Curriculum ideologies. In and and JacksonPhilip W. (Ed.), Handbook of research on curriculum (pp. 302—325). New York: Macmillan.
14.
ElbazF. (1981). The teacher's “practical knowledge” report of case study. Curriculum Inquiry, 11, 43—71.
15.
FangZ. (1996). A review of research on teacher beliefs and practices. Educational Research, 38, 47—65.
16.
FerdmanB. M., and HorenczykG. (2000). Cultural identity and immigration: Reconstructing the group during cultural transition. In OlshtainE., and HorenczykG. (Eds.), Language, identity and immigration (pp. 81—100). Jerusalem: Magnes Press.
17.
FirestoneW. A. (1993). Alternative arguments for generalizing from data as applied to qualitative research. Educational Researcher, 22(4), 16—23.
18.
GeertzC. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
19.
GrossmanP. L. (1990). The making of teaching: Teacher knowledge and teacher education. New York: Teachers College Press.
20.
GrossmanP. L. (1995). Teachers’ knowledge. In and and AndersonL.W. (Ed.), International encyclopedia of teaching and teacher education (2nd ed.). Kidlington, England: Elsevier Science.
21.
GrundyS., and HattonE. J. (1995). Teacher educators’ ideological discourses. Journal of Education for Teaching, 21, 7—24.
22.
GudmundsdottirS. (1990). Values in pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Teacher Education, 41(3), 44—52.
23.
HoferB. H., and PintrichP. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Belief about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67, 88—140.
24.
JorgensenD. L. (1989). Participant observation: A methodology for human studies. London: Sage.
25.
LammZ. (2000). The ideology and the educational philosophy. In and and HarpazY. (Ed.), Pressure and resistance in education: Articles and conversation (pp. 217—254). Tel Aviv, Israel: Sifiat Poalim. (in Hebrew).
26.
LampertM. (1985). How do teachers manage to teach? Perspectives on problem in practice. Harvard Educational Review, 55, 178—194.
27.
LarssonR. (1993). Case survey methodology: Quantitative analysis of patterns across case studies. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 1515—1546.
McClintockC. C., BrannonD., and Maynard MoodyS. (1983). Applying the logic of sample surveys to qualitative case studies: The case cluster method. In and and MaanenJ.V. (Ed.), Qualitative methodology (pp. 149—178). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
30.
MeighanR. (1981). A sociology of education. London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
31.
MerriamS. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
32.
NisanM. (1983). Two approaches to the study of the development of moral judgement: Distinguishing between them and a proposal for their integration. In NisanM., and LastU. (Eds.), Between education and psychology (pp. 383—405). Jerusalem: Magnes Press. (in Hebrew).
33.
NisanM. (1988). The child as philosopher of values: The development of a distinct perception of values in childhood. The Journal of Moral Education, 17, 172—182.
34.
NisanM. (1996). Personal identity and education for the desirable. Journal of Moral Education, 25, 75—83.
35.
OlsonJ. K., and EatonS. (1987). Curriculum change and the classrom order. In CldrerheadJ., and LondonJ. (Eds.), Exploring teachers’ thinking (pp. 179—194). London: Cassell.
36.
PajaresM. F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307—332.
37.
PolanyiM. (1967). The tacit dimension. Garden City, NY, Doubleday.
38.
RichardsonV. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. In and and SikulaJ. (Ed.), Handbook of reseach on teacher education (pp. 102—119). New York: Macmillan.
39.
SchoneveldJ. (1976). The bible in Israel education: A study of approaches to the Hebrew Bible and its teaching in Israel education literature. Amsterdam: Assen.
40.
SchwabJ. J. (1969). The practical: A language for curriculum development. School Review, 78, 1—23.
41.
SchwabJ. J. (1973). The practical 3: Translation into curriculum. School Review, 81, 501—522.
42.
SchweidE. (2000). Jewish humanistic education in Israel. Tel Aviv Israle, Hakibbutz Hamehuchad. (in Hebrew).
43.
SeidmanI. E. (1991). Interviewing as qualitative research. New York: Teachers College Press.
44.
ShenharA. (1994). Nation and world. Jerusalem: Government Educational Department. (in Hebrew).
45.
ShkediA. (2001). Studying culturally valued texts: Teachers’ conception vs. students’ conceptions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 333—347.
46.
ShkediA. (1998). Can the curriculum guide both emancipate and educate teachers?Curriculum Inquiry, 28, 209—229.
ShkediA., and HorenczykG. (1995). The role of teacher ideology in the teaching of culturally valued texts. Teaching and Teacher Education, 11, 107—117.
49.
SpradleyJ. P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
50.
StakeR. E. (2000). Case studies. In DenzinN.K., and LincolnS.L. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd. ed., pp. 435—454). London: Sage.
51.
StraussA., and CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research. London: Sage.
52.
TillemaH. H. (1998). Stability and change in student teachers’ beliefs about teaching. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 4, 217—228.
53.
TriandisH. C. (1996). The psycholgical measurement of cultural syndromes. American Psychologist, 51, 407—415.
54.
Van DijkT. A. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary approach. London: Sage.
55.
YinR. K. (1994). Case study research: Design and method. Beverly Hills CA: Sage.
