Search

COVID-19 requires educational leaders to collectively make sense of their inclusive practices. This qualitative study explores how COVID-19 crisis shaped Israeli superintendents' and principals' role in fostering school sense-making processes during a reform based on Amendment No. 11 to the Special Education Law. Data were collected with 22 Jewish and Arab district and school leaders via Zoom interviews. Data analysis yielded three major themes: (1) Developing a shared vision and direction; (2) Building school capacity for inclusion: (a) nurturing a culture of collective responsibility (b) maintaining mental-resilience skills and well-being; and (3) Fostering school collaboration and trust with stakeholders.

The present study examined self-efficacy in teaching multicultural student populations in academic settings. Three indicators were used to examine teacher self-efficacy: teachers' self-efficacy beliefs regarding teaching multicultural student groups (TSEB), teachers' efficacy in the academic organization (TEAO) and professional teaching efficacy in multicultural student groups (PTEM). Data were obtained from a questionnaire administered anonymously to faculty members teaching in four faculties: humanities, law, health professions and business administration. The findings revealed a significant correlation between TSEB and PTEM. Teachers who reported positive beliefs and attitudes toward teaching multicultural student groups in academia also reported high efficacy in teaching these groups. Furthermore, TEAO correlated significantly with PTEM. The article discusses the research findings and examines future research directions.

COVID-19 requires educational leaders to collectively make sense of their inclusive practices. This qualitative study explores how COVID-19 crisis shaped Israeli superintendents' and principals' role in fostering school sense-making processes during a reform based on Amendment No. 11 to the Special Education Law. Data were collected with 22 Jewish and Arab district and school leaders via Zoom interviews. Data analysis yielded three major themes: (1) Developing a shared vision and direction; (2) Building school capacity for inclusion: (a) nurturing a culture of collective responsibility (b) maintaining mental-resilience skills and well-being; and (3) Fostering school collaboration and trust with stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth involvement in radicalization and terrorism activity has increased over the last decade. The present study aimed to determine whether minor lone-actor terrorists feature unique individual characteristics, and identify situational factors related to these attacks. A comparative analysis was conducted with 83 minors and 82 mature lone-actor terrorists in Israel who committed terrorist attacks between January 2015 and December 2016. Results indicated significant differences between underage and adult lone-actor terrorists in three of the four "pillars of opportunity" (target, training, and facilitating conditions), as well as in the death toll. These findings suggest close affinities between the socio-psychological needs and challenges youth face in their adolescence phase and their modus operandi for terror acts. We discussed these findings in the context of existing research on youth radicalism and lone-actor terrorism, offering further directions for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with the relationship between school violence prevention training and teachers' perceived self-efficacy in handling violent events. Three indicators were used to examine teachers' self-efficacy: personal teaching efficacy (PTE), teachers' efficacy in the school as an organisation (TESO), and teachers' outcome efficacy (TOE). Data were obtained from an anonymous questionnaire administered to 147 teachers. The findings revealed a significant correlation between participation in school violence training and TOE, whereas training did not correlate significantly with PTE and TESO. Teachers at elementary and junior high schools reported higher levels of TOE in dealing with violence than high school teachers. A significant relationship was found between teachers who reported receiving high levels of support from the school and TOE in dealing with violence. (Contains 3 tables.)

Palestinian women have played an increasingly active role in terrorist activities in the past two decades as part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The present study aims to examine differences in the characteristics of female Palestinian terrorists and in the patterns of their terrorist activity between the Second Intifada and the Third Intifada. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of male Palestinian terrorist activity between the two Intifada periods was conducted in order to explore whether trends in female terrorist activity were unique to women or reflected global trends. Data are based on 171 female and male Palestinians that carried out terrorist activities. The findings show that age, terrorist method and organizational affiliation correlate significantly with the Intifada period. Significant differences were not found in the main motive for female terrorist activity. The analysis shows that overall trends of Palestinian female terrorist characteristics and their involvement in terrorism were similar to those of male terrorists. Moreover, during the Third Intifada female terrorists mainly acted alone, reflecting the current growing global trend of lone-actor terrorists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading an inclusion and integration reform during COVID-19, educational leaders embraced a multicultural approach responsive to students’ uniqueness. This qualitative study explores how elementary school principals and counselors developed multicultural school competencies (MSC) during the pandemic to promote inclusive multicultural education. Interviews with 25 Israeli educational leaders yielded three main themes: (1) demonstrating multicultural commitment; (2) building relational skills; (3) fostering social-emotional learning. Findings indicate that school counselors played a critical role in developing MSC during the pandemic. We outline a new model that enables multicultural school leaders, principals, and counselors to re-skill and up-skill MSC in a post-pandemic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the construction of incidents of gang rape in Israeli newspapers between the years 2000 and 2010. The study examines the differences between the news media framing of gang rape and individual rape. Results indicate that the coverage of gang rape significantly differs from that of individual rape. Newspaper coverage over-emphasizes instances of gang rape in relation to individual occurrences of rape by means of sensational headlines and “yellow” journalism. Moreover, the construction of gang rape reflects a convergence of gender, race, and class oppression through the blaming and marginalizing of victims, criminalizing rapists from socially marginal groups, and absolving offenders most closely associated with the upper middle class. These findings suggest that the Israeli media play a key role in perpetuating patriarchal hegemony and social inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

School is one of the main arenas of violence among children and youths. Findings indicate that home-school cooperation is a key component for the success of combating school violence. Using qualitative interview data, this paper analyzes 48 teachers and school staffs perceptions of sell=efficacy in dealing with parents concerning school violence. Three indicators were used to examine teachers' self-efficacy: personal teaching efficacy (PTE), teachers' efficacy in school as an organization (TESO), and teachers' outcome efficacy (TOE). Findings revealed that PTE was found to be high and complicated: most teachers' believe in their capabilities to collaborate with parents, but have low expectations from this cooperation. The majority of teachers described TESO as high: the interpersonal relationships among the team are supportive in dealing with parents. Likewise, teachers' experience and gender is considerably correlated with TOE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]