Bedouin special-education teachers as agents of social change

This study probes the career motives of minority special-education teachers in the Bedouin Arab society of southern Israel. The results, obtained via in-depth interviews of teachers, show that the teachers aspire to become agents of social change in three spheres: In the external sphere, they aim for professional autonomy and independence within the Israeli Arab education system. The internal sphere includes a moral-awareness aspect of their society's view of special education. The personal sphere includes a practical aspect, in which the teachers wish to upgrade their professional qualifications in order to cope better with challenges that they face in the field. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.