Over the past few years, the civics curriculum for Israeli high-schools has become the centre of a heated political debate. Following this debate, in May 2016 a revised official textbook was introduced. This paper draws on an in-depth analysis of the revised official textbook, comparing it to the previous official textbook published in 2000. The…

This article is a commentary on the seven articles in this special issue of EJTE on teacher quality from international perspectives. In the article, Marilyn Cochran-Smith points to differences as well as common themes and details across the articles in the issue. The article discusses the emergence of teacher quality as a global concern, including…

This article discusses a qualitative case study that investigated the micropolitical processes inside an Arab junior high school in Israel during the enactment of the New Horizon reform. Our analysis focuses on how the school's educational staff interprets and translates the reform into practice, how their professional identities have developed…

Policymakers often overestimate the power of agentic players in the system and their own as the causes for the successes and failures of reforms. These are but a small part of the powers in play. The article sheds light on contextual factors that are underestimated when planning and implementing reforms in education. The study utilises a case…

The return of religion and religiosity, on almost all social, cultural, and political fronts, has informed the academic agenda of the last decade. It is marked by a growing scholarly use of the concept of the "postsecular." Against this background, this article brings the concept of the postsecular to bear on the transformation of…

The objective of this article is to examine the Israeli perceptions towards the Bologna Process as well as outline its reactions to it. Specifically, the article investigates the landscape of interests among Israeli policy-makers (from both political and institutional levels) in relation to the European higher education reforms. Through interviews…

Since the last few decades of the twentieth century, increased independence and autonomy of local schools through the implementation of school-based management (SBM) have become widespread in Western education. SBM is designed to operate within a more general framework of decentralisation of the educational authority. This research set out to…

The mandatory curriculum mooted by the Israeli Ministry of Education for implementation is designed to include the most important body of knowledge to be taught and acquired by every student in the educational system. In addition to the knowledge present in the mandatory curriculum it also includes the learning skills and social values necessary…

Examines the impact of teacher unions in two centralized educational systems--France and Israel--on school reforms. Document analysis and interview data suggest that, since 1970, teacher unions in both countries have been demanding and receiving more say in educational policy reforms. Despite similarities in tactics, French unions are more…

Analysis of the historical origins and development of Israel's universities helps understand the phenomenon of transfer and adaptation of Western concepts of higher education in developing countries. Despite major historical changes and the establishment of the Israeli state, the prestate ethos still dominates. (Author/MSE)

This collection of nine articles presents case studies of educational reform and change in 10 nations, focusing on the changing role of government involvement in higher education. The articles are: (1) "University-State Relations in Britain: Paradigm of Autonomy" (Peter Scott); (2) "Changing Conceptions of State-University…

The Palestinian Jewish educational system grew out of urban schools established in the 1800s through the philanthropic efforts of the European Jewish communities and out of rural schools established at Kibbutzim from the turn of the century. Standards were set first by a Teachers' Association, then by the worldwide Zionist Organization, and…