This paper reports on research carried out in 1994, when teachers had
to deal with the Ministry-defined theme of 'Israel in an era of peace', Participants
included 83 teachers employed in state schools - 31 men and 46 women; 48 (Jews)
in schools where Hebrew is the language of instruction and 35 (Palestinians) from
state schools in which Arabic is the language of instruction. In teachers'
responses to queries on historical events there are indications of how teachers
relate to the reality created outside of school. In all the interviews teachers present
themselves as people who avoid confrontation, with a keen awareness that there
are right and wrong ways to deflect clashes. In general, interpretations by Jewish
teachers do not combine easily with a policy of educating students for peace. For
many of them, reality means serving the goals of a state which cannot avoid
conflict, and negating this definition threatens the perception of what constitutes
adequate professional performance. Teachers in Arabic-speaking schools, on the
other hand, while adopting a similar outlook on professional action viewed the
changes in state policy as the promise of comprehensive academic achievement
and of overall progress for education in the Arabic-speaking sector.peer-reviewe
