ABSTRACT

This study examined the performance of superintendents and leaders of the Arab education system in Israel in reducing achievement gaps and promoting curricula that empower and advance students. In-depth interviews were conducted with school governance officials in an attempt to address these key issues: (1) The steps administrators in the Arab education system take to reduce underachievement and empower change agents during crises; (2) Arab school superintendents’ and local government education officers’ assessment of government policies as empowering or disempowering; (3) The extent to which superintendents believe that cultural change is required within existing administrative structures before they can empower school communities to become societal innovators for equity, peace, and renewal. The findings were analyzed according to themes and categories, and examined through the lens of the Turbulence Theory. Results revealed that Arab educational leaders strive to reduce achievement gaps by increasing the curriculum’s relevance to the school community, and balancing the community’s demands for quality education with technocratic policy demands by the Ministry of Education. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

摘要

本研究考察了以色列阿拉伯教育系统的管理者和领导者在缩小成绩差距和促进赋予学生权力和促进学生发展的课程方面的表现。与学校治理官员进行了深入访谈，试图解决这些关键问题：（1）阿拉伯教育系统的管理者在危机期间为减少成绩不佳和赋予变革推动者权力而采取的步骤；(2) 阿拉伯学校主管和当地政府教育官员对政府政策的评估是赋予权力还是剥夺权力；(3) 学监认为现有行政结构中需要进行文化变革的程度，才能使学校社区成为公平、和平和更新的社会创新者。根据主题和类别对研究结果进行了分析，并通过湍流理论的视角进行了检验。结果显示，阿拉伯教育领导者努力通过增加课程与学校社区的相关性来缩小成绩差距，并平衡社区对优质教育的需求与教育部的技术政策要求。讨论了未来研究的意义和方向。