Cultural influences on pedagogical ideology: implications for educational change in an Arab-Israeli school

This study explored relations between cultural factors and pedagogical ideology in the context of educational-organisational change at an Arabi-Israeli elementary school. The research involved the school principal and 28 teachers and used both quantitative and qualitative methods. It focused on the impact of cultural characteristics (e.g. hierarchy, family, status of women), teachers’ pedagogical ideologies, and openness to innovation. The school implemented a change placing students at the centre of learning processes through playful pedagogy and extracurricular and inquiry-based learning. The innovation encouraged student autonomy and active learning, and teachers who prioritised traditional, conservative values, resisted change. Mediation modelling revealed correlations between teachers’ ideology and five components of Fox’s educational organisational change model: human, pedagogy, organisation, space and matter, and mechanisms. Findings suggest cultural norms shape educational change and must be considered when implementing pedagogical reforms in culturally conservative educational environments.