Purpose: Educators are recognized as key agents of social change, responsible for shaping future citizens. Beyond imparting knowledge, teachers are crucial in addressing societal challenges such as sustainability, democracy and social equality. This study aims to investigate the attitudes of Jewish and Arab students toward democratic values and…

The importance of multiculturalism in education in general and in academic institutions for teacher training in particular, it receives a lot of attention in the academic-educational research field. Most of the studies held in Israel about teacher training accompanied by a multicultural approach as part of an educational concept discussed the…

A differential cultural aspect manifested when we compared the experiences of 96-Jewish and 107-Arab PSTs who participated in a collaborative academy-class-practice- model (ACPM), or a traditional-practice-model (TPM). The attempt to implement the collaborative ACPM was hesitantly accepted by Jewish-PSTs, whereas the Arab-PSTs welcomed it warmly.…

This paper presents the results of a three-year study of the impacts of teaching about the experiences of trauma on students studying to become teachers. The project's overarching objective is to develop an effective trauma-informed pedagogy that can support students who learn about the experiences of the 'Stolen Generations', the Holocaust, wars,…

This is a qualitative study that examines Jewish and Bedouin preservice teachers' (n = 76) meaningful experiences in a project-based learning framework, in which they participated as part of their pedagogical coursework. The main goal of the study is to gain insight into participants' meaningful experiences, i.e. thoughts, feelings, and emotions…

This research discusses the instruction of multiculturalism in Arab-Israeli teacher training colleges and seeks to discover whether its trainees are committed to educate for multiculturalism. It is a pioneering project as it inquiries how Arab students at departments of teacher education in Israeli Colleges learn about multiculturalism. On the…

This paper focuses on student attitudes about using a virtual world (VW) learning platform. VWs allow students to meet via avatars and experience events that simulate real social experiences. It can also enhance student motivation, learning and collaboration. However, studies have reported that many students and teachers find VW difficult to use,…

The current pilot study aimed to evaluate the perceptions of Arab and Jewish teacher trainees regarding the impact of variables on preparation for teaching. This study included 314 participating teacher trainees from two colleges in Israel. One hundred forty-eight (47.1%) of them studied in a Hebrew-speaking college and 166 (52.9%) students…

The goal of the current study was to examine teaching students' positions and perceptions regarding the transition to an online format for practical teaching during COVID-19, and whether differences exist between Jewish and Arab students' positions. The study also examines teaching students' technological and pedagogical self-efficacies for…

The fact that Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) also includes historical consciousness is known, but this dimension of ICC has so far been largely unexplored. This article aims to show that virtual cooperation between universities from two different countries can promote not only ICC but also critical historical thinking. Using…

A quarter of a century has passed since lawmakers enacted the New Jersey Holocaust education mandate, and it seems responsible and timely to ask if it, the original Holocaust education mandate, actually encouraged substantive learning about the Holocaust. Despite repeated fanfare about the mandate and its inclusion in educational curricula…

This study focused on Arabs and Jewish pre-service teachers' perception of body image. Body image is a major component of our well-being. Western culture attributes specific characteristics to women based on their body shapes, which significantly influences their functioning. The aim of this study was to examine cultural differences in attitudes…

How can we bridge the emotional and cognitive study of Holocaust testimonies in Israel? Can empathy be used as a stepping stone to critical reflection? And how can teachers address the manipulative popular interpretation of these testimonies in Israel, which seemingly place them beyond critical reflection? We examine these questions through an…

Recognizing the need to prepare elementary education teacher-candidates to implement state-mandated curriculum, a Genocide Studies Unit was developed. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Unit in building preservice teachers' knowledge-base and efficacy levels with a mind toward preparing teachers to implement difficult content more…

Understanding the nature of science (NOS) is one of the challenging objectives in science education due, in part, to the complex relationship between religion and science. This study examines how NOS teaching affects the perception of the NOS amongst religious, as compared to secular, students. The participants included 205 religious and secular…