מגדר ניהול ומוטיבציה בקרב מורים במערכת החינוך הערבית בישראל

Abstract

The research investigated perceptions of teachers in the Arab education system in Israel concerning the effect of their principal's leadership and gender on their motivation, relying on Hofstede's cultural dimensions as an analytic tool to understand the Arab school, and aimed at answering the following research questions: (1) How do teachers perceive the leadership style of their principal, taking principal gender into consideration , and what influence do these perceptions have on their motivation? (2) What are the influences of the different dimensions of culture described by Hofstede on the teachers' motivation? To tackle these questions, we interviewed 18 teachers from different schools in the Arab education system, 10 female teachers and 8 male teachers. The research revealed three themes which describe teachers’ perception of the leadership styles of their principals, taking the principal gender into account: the principals' involvement and sharing of school operations and decision-making with the teachers; the extent of autonomy given to teachers; and establishing principalteacher relationships. The paper concludes with implications of these leadership styles for teachers' motivation for work and suggestions are given to improve Arab principals` work, thus enhancing teachers` motivation.