Springer European Journal of Psychology of Education

Teacher's perceptions of their significance towards their students: the effects of cultural background,
gender, and school role

Author(s): Moshe Tatar and Ruba Da'as
Source: European Journal of Psychology of Education, Vol. 27, No. 3 (September 2012), pp. 351-
367
Published by: Springer
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Eur J Psychol Educ (2012) 27:351-367
DOI 10.1007/S10212-01 1-0075-4
Teacher's perceptions of their significance towards their students:

the effects of cultural background, gender, and school role
Moshe Tatar Ruba Da'as
Received: 16 March 2011 /Revised: 19 June 2011 / Accepted: 29 July 2011 / Published online: 11 August 2011
Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Lisboa, Portugal and Springer Science+Business Media
Abstract The present study investigates in what ways teachers themselves se

significance vis--vis their students. Seven hundred fifty-seven teachers (64%
and 36% males) from 59 Israeli schools participated in the study. We found t
general, teachers view "significant teachers" as those that help and assis students and those that
serve as a personal example for them. Some eff teacher's cultural background, gender, and school
roles on their percept
reported. Teacher burnout was negatively correlated with the positive charac
attributed to significant teachers. Implications for teachers and for edu
institutions are discussed.
Keywords Teacher significance Teacher burnout Cultural background School roles
Many teachers are seen by their current and former students as significant individuals in
these students' lives. Indeed, many adults, when looking retrospectively at their school
days, are able to identify one or more teachers that were significant for them then, and that
continue to be so now. Tatar (1998a) examined the ways in which significant individuals were perceived by
360 Israeli adolescents and by 395 mid-life adults (average age, 40.2) who were asked about significant
individuals from their adolescence. Participants were
asked to choose the most significant family and non-family individuals in their (current or past) adolescent lives and to
indicate which of a number of characteristics applied or did not
apply to the persons selected. The study found that Israeli adults were more likely to
mention their past teachers as significant non-family individuals in their lives than were
their adolescent counterparts (23% versus 6%). They characterized these teachers as significant in terms of
the impact they had on their post-secondary school life, and
especially significant teachers were considered role models from whom they learned a lot.
Pliner (1997), on the basis of individual interviews with 85 midlife adults in the US (then currently 40-49 years
old), examined directly the characteristics of inspiring teachers as
M. Tatar (El) R. Da'as

School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel e-mail:
mstatar@mscc.huji.ac.il
Springer
352 M. Tatar, R. Da'as
perceived retrospecti
Significant teachers w encouragement of the The present study is
of significant teache
characterizations and
of research on the tea
be presented, followed
The teacher as a sign
The significant other siblings - are persons
they receive social sup

their lives (Galbo 198
(d) whose attitudes
conceptions (Margeri Teachers are adults w
child and adolescent

lives: they provide t
well as with emotion individuals on whom
value) (Tatar 1998a)

characteristics of a s
in her or his abilit
children's competence
as well as facilitating
The nature of a teach personal and family sta
needs and attend edu

attitudes towards them
sixth grades character facilitators, reliable, s future (Schiff and Ta
most frequent chara

seriously," "have conf "push them to do well
centered than second students who perceiv
guidance and emotiona

positively regard the
et al. 1990; Dubow et
students expect their Research has repeatedl
teachers and attribute

attribute relatively mo
Tatar 2007; Schiff and
with boys of their a
Springer
Teacher's perceptions of their significance towards their students 353
relationships (Gilligan 1982) and that girls report more often having a very impor
in their lives who is not one of their parents (Greenberger et al. 1998) may sup
findings. Moreover, since boys and girls typically identify with same-sex si
individuals who are present in their lives (Greenberger et al. 1998; Hendry et al. female nature of the teaching profession
(higher percentage of women in school
also contribute to our understanding of why female students report more significan and significance in more ways, than do their
male counterparts.
There may also be specific circumstances that may explain why different attribute significance to their teachers.
Galbo (1989) suggested that pupils wh
guidance outside the school will be especially likely to choose teachers as si
individuals in their lives and to benefit from such relationships (see also Gal recent study (Kesler and Tatar 2007)
analyzed Israeli high school students' per
their significant teachers in light of background variables (e.g., gende
psychological variables (quality of attachment with their parents and feelings of from school). Findings revealed that the
choice of a teacher as a significant in
the students was positively related to the quality of students' relationships with the
(better attachment with their parents was associated with greater tendency t teacher as a significant other) and
negatively related to their feelings of alien school (higher levels of alienation from school were associated with lower
in
choosing teachers as significant others).
Teacher's perspectives of their significance
The studies summarized above stressed the potential importance of teachers in and adolescents' lives and the
effects of these individuals on different aspec students' development. Still, the question of whether or not and in
what wa
themselves see their significance vis--vis their students remains open.
A teacher's role is complex in nature and includes the obligation to facilitate l
parallel with maintaining order in the classroom and the aim of developing pupils' su
alongside the demand to cover a prescribed program of study (Cooper and Mclnt Hare (1993) emphasized that one of the
main dilemmas of the teaching professio balance the need of teachers to be "genuinely interested in and concerned abou
being of their students" and at the same time to be "passionately committed to t
they teach" (p. 162). It may be suggested that the nature and strength of teachers
their pupils (and maybe of their own perceptions of this potential influence) is
related to the extent to which they have developed interpersonal and pedagogical
and Kottkamp 1993), the degree to which their behavior reflects mentor char
(Cullingford 1987), the extent of their knowledge about the contexts and lives of
(Pianta and Walsh 1996), and their sense of teaching efficacy - teachers' situati expectations that they can help their
pupils learn (Ashton and Webb 1986).
Many studies have attempted to uncover the different motivations of pe becoming teachers. In most countries,
material remuneration and/or teach
schedule (relatively "short days" and "long vacations") are not regarded as decisiv Among those factors that do contribute
to an individual's choice of the teaching
are: the desire to work with people - adults or children (Johnson 1990); gainin
status in the community (Sarason 1999); the fulfillment of both "narcissistic need
getting respect and power, and "altruistic aspirations," such as providing their stu
one-on-one instruction and becoming a source of support and help (Friedman
Springer
other words, there are

on their student's lives
The present study
The current research i
1. The influence of v
gender, and role in s
regarding the meanin 2. The extent to which
significance.
Our attempt to map the variables related to teachers' perceptions of their significance to their students
is of special interest for at least three reasons: first, most of the research in this field has
reported on students' perceptions and characterizations of their significant teachers. It is
important and extremely relevant to uncover how teachers themselves understand their
significance. Second, given that it is widely acknowledged that the teaching profession is
particularly stressful, being significant, if at all, may enhance the intrinsic motives of individuals to become
teachers and even mitigate their expected burnout. Third, the present study examines
the potential effect of teachers' cultural background on their perceptions. It defines cultural
background according to membership in a cultural group (in our case, working within a defined
educational sector in the Israeli educational system).
Cultural and religious aspects in the Israeli educational system
The demographic composition of Israel, which is paralleled in the educational system,

provides a unique opportunity to examine the role of this variable in the different aspects of
significance teachers attributed to themselves vis--vis their students. The deep division
between Arabs and Jews that is rooted in a national conflict is reflected also in the
educational system. The teachers, in our sample, work at schools associated with the three larger social and cultural
groups of the country: secular Jews, religious Jews, and the Arab
minority. Teachers working in the independent orthodox religious sector in the Israeli educational system were not
included in the present investigation (see below).
Arabs represent about one sixth of the Israeli population of about eight million
inhabitants and are a non-assimilating minority, clearly distinguished (and segregated) from
the Jewish majority in terms of language and religion (the vast majority of them are
Muslims), place of residence, and traditional and cultural norms. The Christian Arabs
account for 10% of the Israeli Arab population in Israel. In the Israeli demographic mosaic, two minority populations are
of special interest: the Bedouins and the Druzes. The Bedouin
population is a sub-group within the Arab minority in Israel and yet unique, being
culturally, historically, socially, and politically different from other Arab groups (Agbaria
and El-Sana 2006). Most of the Bedouins live in the Negev region (approximately 160,000)
that covers approximately 60% of the territory of the state of Israel, but only 10% of the total population resides in this
area. The local population is characterized by relatively low socioeconomic status and a high rate of unemployment, in
comparison to other segments of the population. The Bedouins suffer from the process of modernization, mostly due to
their unwillingness to abandon their traditional values and the way of life that has characterized
& Springer
them for centuries. There is a clear role division on all the organizational level
men and women, something that is determined at birth. The status of the Bedouin
inferior to that of men, and her role in the family changes throughout her life (A
El-Sana 2006). The Druze community in Israel is one unique group among many nation's ethnic mosaic. They may
be viewed as a minority within a minority: a
ethnic minority within the Arab minority that chose a different path than the (ot
in Israel and a different kind of involvement in the life of the country. The D mainly in the Middle East and are
concentrated in four countries: Syria, Lebano and Jordan. Approximately 90,000 Druze live in Israel today
(Central Bureau of
2005). In 1957, the Druze community was recognized as an autonomous
community. A Druze Religious Council was established along with Druze religio
In 1962, the term "Druze" replaced "Arab" as the "national" classification on citizens' ID cards and birth
certificates. Druze, from that moment on, cease
considered Arabs from an official standpoint (Lustick 1985).
In general, Israeli Arabs have been described as having a communal culture Israeli Jews have more
individualistic values (Glazer et al. 2004; Pines and Zaidm
Group affiliation is strong among Israeli Arabs. It is expressed in group solidarity, commitment, and the expectation of
sharing responsibilities and rewards.
In the field of education, the adoption of the State Educational Law in 1953 w
to institute an egalitarian and universal educational system but ended up replicati
of the old divisions (Zameret 1997). Israel is highly segregated institutio
Horenczyk and Tatar 2004; Tatar and Horenczyk 2003). Although Israeli educ
almost entirely "public" and state-sponsored (in the sense that there are very few
K-12 schools), the educational system is largely divided along national and religi Palestinian Arabs and Jews attend
different schools. Within the Jewish sector, separate "state-religious," "state" (secular), and independent (ultra-orthodox)
sch
Jewish State Religious Education (SRE) in Israel is based on a combination of
(teaching the belief in God, the performance of commandments, and the advanced sacred texts); modern (teaching the
basic skills pupils will need to function as citiz
secular, democratic state); and nationalist (education with a Zionist perspective
intensifying their feeling of identification with the Land of Israel and reinforcing th
of loyalty and belonging to the State of Israel) education (see Gross 2003). Gro
stated that SRE graduates are integrated into key roles in all spheres in Israel and high academic achievements in the
secondary school's matriculation exams and tha
majority among them remain religious to a varying degree of observance af
complete the school socialization process.
Within the Palestinian Arab sector, most of the Muslim children are enrolled in Arab schools, while Christian children
generally attend church-run educational inst In 1976, the educational system serving Druze villages was separated from
the ove school system, and a distinct educational system was set up for the Druze (Halabi many senses, it can be said
that the existing socio-political conflicts and many of
historical processes are reflected in the Israeli educational system (Bekerman 20

and Kaplan 2003; Sprinzak et al. 2001).
Although a significant improvement in the educational level of the Israeli Pa
Arab population has been recorded in the last 30 years, Arab education still lags fa the standards of Jewish education. A
recent report by Human Rights Watch (Cour 2001) claims that schools for Palestinian Arab children offer fewer facilities
and ed
opportunities than are offered other Israeli children. For example, there are f
children per teacher in Palestinian Arab schools than in Jewish schools. Schools in
Springer
educational sector also

laboratories, and eve deeply from higher
examinations (especial
(Abu-Asbah et al. 199
training is provided to
and receive lower sala Arab teachers scored secular Jewish teache
expressed similar cultu religious-cultural value
Hypotheses
1. Teacher's cultural background: in general, we will hypothesize that teachers from

different cultural backgrounds will find more relevant for their students those
categories of significance that match their own cultural values and/or that are more
appropriate, in their opinion, to their specific educational sector. We will hypothesize,
therefore, that Jewish religious teachers and Arab teachers will stress more than others
those aspects of their significance that emphasize values, moral attitudes, and religious-
related behaviors due to the importance they attach to these aspects of their teaching as
socializing agents at their educational institutions (Cohen 2007). In addition, we will
hypothesize that Arab teachers will, in general, stress more than their Jewish
counterparts the academic aspects of teacher significance, given that academic
achievement in this sector may be viewed as affording more possible avenues for
their students' mobility and advancement in Israeli society.
2. Teacher's gender: we hypothesize that female teachers will report more categories of
teacher's significance as relevant for their students as compared to their male
counterparts and that female teachers will see themselves as playing roles of assisting
students with their problems and becoming role models for them to a greater degree
than male teachers. This tendency may be based on their higher awareness of these
functions as expressed in their own greater tendency and willingness to turn for help to
both external and internal sources of support and to be ready to receive more emotional
and informational support from both teacher colleagues and school counselors as
compared with their male colleagues (Tatar 2009, see findings in the same vein in
Butler 2007 and Tamura and Ishikuma 2002).
3. Teacher's school role: due to the fact that homeroom teachers in Israeli schools are
responsible for monitoring and facilitating the general academic progress as well as social situation of
the students in their classes, we will hypothesize that homeroom
teachers will attribute relevance to more categories of teacher significance as compared to those identified by
subject-matter teachers.
4. Teacher burnout will be negatively correlated with the positive categories of
significance to their students. Teacher burnout has been found to be correlated with lower levels in
teachers' sense of self-efficacy (e.g., Friedman 2003) and lower
frequency of turning for help either to a teacher colleague or to a school counselor, and
also correlated with a higher frequency of complaints about problems (Tatar 2009). It
may be the case that burned-out teachers are too tired, pessimistic, or frustrated to see themselves as
potentially significant for their students.
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Method
Participants
Seven hundred and fifty-seven teachers (64% females and 36% males) from 59 Israeli
secondary schools participated in the study. Three hundred and nine (41% of the total sample) teach in 28
Jewish state schools (80% females and 20% males), 262 (34% of the total sample) teach in 15 Israeli Arab
schools (45% females and 55% males), and 186 (25%
of the total sample) teach in 16 Jewish state-religious schools (64% females and 36% males). Years of
teaching experience range from 1 to 39 years (M= 14.81 years; SD=
9.17 years. In Jewish state schools, M= 15.25 years; SD=8.81 years; in Israeli Arab schools, M= 13.72
years; SD=9.41 years; and in Jewish state-religious schools, M=
15.73 years; SD=9.04 years). Regarding teacher's job roles in the school: 359 (47%) were
homeroom teachers and 387 (53%) were subject teachers, while 11 teachers did not answer
the question. In Jewish state schools, 151 were homeroom teachers (50%) and 152 (50%)
subject teachers; in Israeli Arab schools, 123 (48%) and 135 (52%); and in Jewish state-
religious schools, 85 (46%) and 100 (54%), respectively. Schools were sampled from the
different geographical areas in the country, and they represent a variety of student body
compositions in terms of socioeconomic backgrounds.
Questionnaires
Respondents were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire consisting of three sections:
1. Respondent's background: gender, years of teaching experience, and job role

(homeroom teacher or subject-matter teacher). In Israel, the administrative and
pedagogical coordination of each class - at both group and individual levels - is
performed by its homeroom teacher.
2. Teachers' attitudes regarding the different respects in which they think they can be
significant for their students. A questionnaire dealing with teachers' perceptions of their
significance vis--vis their pupils was administered. Teachers were asked to indicate the
extent to which a teacher's significance is characterized by 28 descriptors (a significant
teacher was defined as one who has an important influence, positive or negative, on a
student). The respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which, in their opinion, each of the
descriptors characterizes teachers that are significant for their students, on a scale
ranging from 1 ("never") to 5 ("always"). The 28 statements, randomly ordered in the
questionnaire list, were classified into seven content categories that included four items in
each category. Three of these categories have been suggested by Hendry et al. (1992) as a
means to ascertain the characteristics of people who are significant to adolescents (a
culturally sensitive Hebrew translation of the questionnaire was reported by Tatar 1998b):
Believer (e.g., "This teacher has confidence in the students"); Teacher (e.g., "This teacher
explains the subject-matter very well"); and Antagonist (e.g., "This teacher has picked
quarrels with the students"). Two additional categories were suggested by Tatar and
Horenczyk (1996) as characterizing teacher-student relations: Help and Assistance (e.g.,
"This teacher helps his/her students when they need assistance"); and Fairness (e.g.,
"This teacher does not discriminate between pupils"). A sixth category, Academic
Motivator (e.g., "This teacher makes the students learn willingly"), was found to
characterize significant teachers in pupils' perceptions (Tatar 1998b). The last category
Personal Example was included following the analysis of the results from a pilot study
Springer
conducted in Israel i
question, the characte frequent answer (40%
role model, a figure represents what stu respondent's score w
Cronbach's alpha coeff

0.71 to 0.83. Regardi
significance, the me
quartile range 0.05-0.4
different aspects of te
3. Teacher burnout:
characteristics of bu
were selected from
Maslach and Jackson
(1993; Friedman and F
loaded highly on a "t
1999; Tatar and Hor (1993), the internal
Cronbach's alpha valu

Tatar and Yahav (19
Horenczyk (2003), the an alpha value of 0.80 was asked to indicate
on a five-point inter
items measuring gene
Procedure
Questionnaires were administered to the teachers in group sessions by research assistants during
staff meetings. Of the 63 schools approached, only four declined to participate in the study. The teachers were told
that the study deals with the significance of teachers for their pupils and that
participation is voluntary. Of the 815 teachers attending the staff meetings in the schools, 768
teachers (94% from those approached) agreed to complete the questionnaire. Of these, 11
respondents failed to address central variables and were excluded from the study.
Confidentiality was assured. Completion of the questionnaire lasted for about 25 min. Two culturally sensitive
versions of the questionnaire were prepared - one in Hebrew and one in
Arabic. All Arab teachers filled in the questionnaire in its Arabic version.
Results
Teacher significance for students
As is shown in Table 1, in general, teachers regarded Help and Assistance (M=4.51, SD=
0.46) as the most important aspect of their significance towards their students. Thereafter, in
descending order, they mentioned: Personal Example (M=4.37, SD=0.5), Teacher (M=
4.28, SD=0.48), Academic Motivator (M=4.22, SD=0.52), Believer (M=4.18, SD=0.64), Fairness
(M=3.52, SD=0.90), and Antagonist (M=2.44, SD=0.67).
Springer
Table 1 Means and standard deviations of the teacher significance categories according
educational sector, role, and gender
Scale Educational sector Role Gender
Jewish Jewish State Israeli Arab Home-room Subject Female Male State Religious (=262) (N=
359) (W=387) (W=484) (W=273) (=309) (=185)
M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
Help and 4.54a 0.44 4.44 a 0.41 4.53 a 0.50 4.56 b 0.43 4.47 a 0.47 4.54 a 0.44 4.47 a 0.48
Assistance
Personal Example 4.36 a 0.54 4.49 b 0.47 4.29 a 0.26 4.45 b 0.51 4.30 a 0.57 4.38 a 0.51 4.35 a 0.60
Teacher 4.25 a 0.45 4.20 a 0.43 4.38 b 0.52 4.30 a 0.46 4.27 a 0.50 4.28 a 0.45 4.29 a 0.52
Academic 4.28 a 0.47 4.07 b 0.50 4.27 a 0.56 4.26 a 0.51 4.19 a 0.52 4.24 a 0.49 4.19 a 0.56 Motivator
Believer 4.32 a 0.75 4.22 a 0.43 3.99b 0.57 4.23 a 0.49 4.14 a 0.75 4.23 a 0.68 4.10 a 0.54
Fairness 3.38b 1.00 3.64 a 0.82 3.61 a 0.79 3.61 b 0.86 3.45 a 0.92 3.50 a 0.92 3.56 a 0.85
Antagonist 2.40 a 0.71 2.38 a 0.59 2.53 a 0.68 2.48 a 0.68 2.40 a 0.66 2.38 a 0.65 2.53 a 0.70
Entries with same letters have no significant differences
A multivariate analysis of variance was performed on the seven categories of teac

significance for pupils. The three between-subjects variables consisted of the typ
educational sector in which the teacher works (Jewish state school, Jewish state-religi
school, and Israeli Arab school), teacher's gender (female or male), and the role playe
the teacher (homeroom or subject-matter teacher) in the educational setting.
The analysis of the between-subject variables showed two main effects - that of
educational sector in which the teacher works and that of the teacher's role. The findi
also revealed no significant effect of teacher's gender on their attributions of t
characteristics of the significant teachers (F[ 7, 727]= 1.37, NS).
The significant effect of the teacher's educational sector (F[ 14, 1454] =9.06, p<
0.001, r/2=0.08) suggests that teachers working in the different educational sector
Israel hold different perceptions of their significance vis--vis their pupils. Univariate tests
that teachers working in the different sectors of the Israeli education system perceive significance differently in five out
ofthe seven categories: Believer (i2,745]=11.03, /*=0
772=0.03), Personal Example (F[ 2,745]=7.93, /?<0.001, 772=0.02), Academic Motivat
(F[ 2,745]=7.51, /?<0.001, rf =0.02), Teacher (J12,745]=7.48, p< 0.001, ^=0.02),
Fairness (F[2,745]=6.37, /?=0.002, ry2=0.017).
Post hoc Scheffe tests revealed that Jewish teachers working at both state and st
religious schools attribute more importance to Believer as significant for their student compared with Arab teachers.
Jewish teachers working at state-religious schools attrib
more importance to Personal Example as significant for their students as compared
both Jewish teachers working at state schools and Arab teachers. Arab teachers attri more importance to Teacher
as significant for their students than Jewish teachers (wor
at state or at state-religious schools). Both Jewish teachers working at state-relig
schools and Arab teachers attribute more importance to Fairness as significant for
pupils as compared with Jewish teachers working at state schools.
The significant effect of the teacher's school role (/17,727] =2.25, /?=0.02, t72=0. suggests that homeroom
teachers and subject-matter teachers perceive differently significance for their pupils. Univariate tests showed that
homeroom teachers perc
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themselves to be more
Fairness (F[l,745]=5. 8
T72=0.007), and Help a
Teacher burnout and c
All teachers reported

variance was performed
of teacher's gender, th
subject-matter teacher).
the teacher's educatio
showed that Jewish te 0.77) followed by Jewi
the least burned-out

Table 2 presents the
teacher's significance sectors separately. Re significance in the di religious), Antagonist
correlated with teach

schools we also found
characteristics the mor
higher value to their s
Discussion
Schwab (2001) has stressed that most educators do not enter their field for financial gain but rather on the basis of
their desire to make a positive difference in children's lives. Not every
Table 2 Results of regression for teacher's burnout by educational sector
Variables Jewish State Jewish State Religious Arab
B Beta B Beta B Beta
Category of teacher's significa

Help and Assistance -0.01 -0.01 -0.07 -0.05 -0.25 -0.17* Personal Example -0.11 -0.08 -0.18 -0.13
0.05 0.04
Teacher -0.09 -0.05 -0.11 -0.07 -0.23 -0.16
Academic Motivator -0.18 -0.11 0.04 0.03 -0.17 -0.12
Believer 0.09 0.08 -0.01 -0.00 0.16 0.12
Fairness -0.07 -0.09 0.13 0.17* 0.07 0.07
Antagonist 0.26 0.24*** 0.24 0.22** 0.04 0.03 2 0.11 0.11 0.11
Adj. R2 0.09 0.07 0.08
Regarding Jewish state-school teacher

regarding Jewish state-religious school tea
regarding Arab school teachers the mod
*/?<. 05, **p<.01, ***/?<.001
Springer
teacher becomes a significant other for their students and not every one may be abl
their students. The present study enables us to make a preliminary analysis o
perceptions of their own significance vis--vis their students. In general, our result
teachers attribute many characteristics of significance to their image of the significa
While this may mean that there is no clear differentiation among the vario
characteristics of a significant teacher, a more general view is that a significant tea helping, teaching, and other functions vis--vis
their students. It is noteworthy tha frequently mentioned category of teacher's significance was that of Help and Ass
classic teachers' roles vis--vis their students - such as academic and socialization functions -
were mentioned relatively less whereas the educator as a helper was mentioned relatively
frequently. The helping roles of significant teachers have also been voiced by the teachers' direct clients - the
students themselves (Tatar and Horenczyk 1996; Schiff and Tatar 2003). Teachers' reports stressing their
helping roles correspond with the kinds of rewards many
teachers expect of their work at school: "Teachers' rewards pertain to their students, the most
important of which being a sense of 'reaching' each and every student, and of succeeding in
affecting students both as individuals and as a group" (Friedman 2006, p. 723). Seeing teachers
as legitimate sources of assistance and support may reduce the stigmatization barrier in
students' considerations about whether or not to turn to teachers for help. Teachers' knowledge regarding students'
normative behaviors (i.e., comparing the behaviors of a particular student to
those that reflect normative behaviors and also comparing and being sensitive to possible
changes, over time, in each student's conduct, Tatar 1998b) makes them potentially valuable sources of
support for their individual students. The joint work of teachers as helpers and
mental-health professionals at schools (i.e., school counselors and psychologists) may
contribute enormously to the student's well-being and to a healthy psychological and academic
school climate.
Researchers have tried repeatedly to formulate a definitive description of the "good teacher"
(e.g., Barnett 1994; Zeichner and Gore 1990). Recently, Korthagen (2004) put forward a model that
combines different approaches for the understanding the "good teacher's"
performance. Two of these approaches are relevant to our discussion regarding significant
teachers. The first approach includes the creation of a list of essential qualities of a good
teacher (these qualities are often described in terms of competencies that should be developed
or acquired) by the educators. The second stresses the importance of the specific context
(environment, specific students, and schools) in which teaching is delivered. This perspective is based on the
understanding that the identification and performance of good teachers (i.e., who are they and how do they
act?) is directly related to our interpretation of their actions
within the specific context. The findings of the present study support this combined approach, namely, that
descriptors characterizing significant teachers can be identified, but they should be understood and interpreted within
the social and cultural context in which teachers work.
Context has received increasing attention in educational and psychological research
(e.g., Cole 1996; Lave 1996; Tatar and Bekerman 2002). The notion of context is not simple. Cole
(1996) distinguishes between two possible models that may be helpful in
understanding context. The first sees context as concentric circles, whereas the second is
more related to the etymology of one of the two central words that produce the composite
"con-text" ("text" from Latin: to weave). The first model - concentric circles - is
important in that it reminds us that all phenomena are constituted by other phenomena
positioned above, below, or around them. Though indeed context constitutes and constrains, it
should never be understood as an unchangeable background. The second model of "weaving"
reminds us that the combination of different elements, different threads, recreates and refashions the system of
which they are a part - creating, in concert, new patterns unknown up to that point
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in time. In our study, c

role within the organi
important effects on te
One of the most inter was that Arab teachers teacher as compared to
schools). We are witne Arab society, and educ
(Toren and Ilyan 2008

important role in the i
context, the heighten academic impact on t explained also by the teaching practices tha Within the classroom
teacher relationships p
teaching approach (e.g
more authority, and t criticism (e.g., Dwairy
the Teacher category crystallization of thei
Two additional salient state-religious schools
significance for their

Jewish teachers wor
importance to Fairne
teachers working at st
modeling role that re educator. A role mod
attitudes, dress, and m

norms within the rel that come from a mo
values, and social ord

teachers at Jewish re
feel committed to pro their schools, although
student population th framework. Being a F
stressed more in tra

example, many Islamic the individual in a hol
spiritual, emotional, human being with hig
Contrary to our h
perceptions. Female t
through a "double d
Grayson and Alvarez
attribute this "femini not suggest that thei
Springer
perceived by their students. Recently, and not surprisingly, in a different resear

Israeli teenagers, almost three quarters of them chose a female teacher (and quarter a male one) as a significant
other, stressing the expressive features
interactions with this teacher (Kesler and Tatar 2007).
Homeroom teachers attributed more importance to Fairness, Personal Example, and Assistance in their
characterizations of a significant teacher than did the subj
teachers. The relatively intensive and more frequent personal contact between student
homeroom teachers place the latter in a position of seeing their potential signific
hypothesized, in more characteristics than subject-matter teachers. Although we h that homeroom teachers will attribute
relevance to more categories of teacher sign
compared to subject-matter teachers, still, we could expect that subject teach emphasize significantly more and
score higher (at least) on the categories of
Motivator and/or Teacher, which was not the case. We suggest that further research teachers' reports working in different subject
matter areas will provide some of t regarding specific and unique realms of significance of subject teachers.
Teachers' stress levels exert a significant influence on the psychological climate school (Grayson and Alvarez 2008). As
summarized by Betret (2006), burnout is ch by negative feeling toward the people with whom one works (depersonalization att
toward the profession itself, together with a sense of being emotionally exhausted. exhaustion (regarded as the core component of
experienced burnout, e.g., Brouwers 2000) occurs when teachers are unable physically and emotionally to provide for their due to
an overwhelming sense of fatigue and stress. Teachers with higher levels of bu
less tolerant of aversive and challenging students (Kokkinos et al. 2005), display a
the quality of their teaching, are less flexible towards various student needs, and h
overall teacher-student interactions (Capel 1991).
Some of these patterns of characteristics of burned-out teachers are consistent findings that teacher burnout was
positively correlated with the perception of A (a clear-cut expression of negative relations between teachers and their
students). for teachers working at Jewish state-religious school the endorsement of Fairness may require maintaining a
balance between religious-moral practices and a rather
and not clear-cut daily reality, posing teachers in (cultural) conflictive and
situations. Arab teachers might tend to mitigate their burnout by assisting and he
students, a cultural professional role they may be ready to assume as an att
counterbalance the many socioeconomic disadvantages their students face. In
important to understand the socio-cultural context in which teachers work for ana
identifying the psychological and sociological correlates of their burnout.
Implications for practice
The many advantages for teachers, students, and schools when an educator is reg significant individual for his/her
students justify a demand for changes in many organizational cultures in ways that would allow teachers to feel
acknowledged, r and rewarded by school authorities when fulfilling roles of significance. To the assigned to teachers -
including the transmission of impressive amounts of inform
knowledge related to their subject-matters and success in meeting the expecta

demands, of their students' parents and communities - space should also be add
efforts and behaviors that promote the different aspects of teacher significa
significant teachers may fulfill a varied range of roles - emotional, social, and vis--vis their students, the desire of
teachers to become significant should not be
Springer
a luxury or an excep
analysis of teachers' significance should b
ethnic) in which their
Limitations and further research
Further development and refinement of adequate specific scales for the purpose of investigating
teachers' significance vis--vis their students is required. Building on our findings showing
interesting - but moderate - effects, we propose that future studies include additional variables
of other kinds which may increase the explained variance. These should include personal/
personality variables related to the teachers or variables concerning to specific characteristics of
the organizational culture of the educational institutions in which teachers work. Moreover,
future research should investigate in greater detail the perceptions of additional school actors,
such as principals and parents who play crucial roles in educational settings, thereby adding
very interesting perspectives to the topic. Qualitative analyses (based, for example, on in-depth
interviews and observations of teachers, students, and the interactions among them) may contribute to a better
understanding of whether and how teachers become significant and,
particularly, what behaviors indeed reveal and are perceived by the students as relevant vis--vis the different types of
significance. Moreover, given that different student's personal variables
(gender, age, socioeconomic background, etc.) may correlate with the efficacy of different "types of
significance," the issue of teacher significance remains open to further scrutiny.
Finally, although we investigated a culturally heterogeneous group of teachers, we feel that at
this preliminary stage of investigation, caution should be exercised when making overall
generalizations.
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Ruba Da'as. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, School of Education, Mt. Scopus, 91905 Jerusalem,
Israel
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and minorities. Arab education in Israel.
Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:
Da'as, R., & Tatar, M. (2006). The significance of teachers as perceived by Israeli Arab teachers,
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Springer

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Teacher's perceptions of their significance towards their students: the effects of cultural background,

gender, and school role

Teacher's perceptions of their significance towards their students:

Moshe Tatar Ruba Da'as

Abstract The present study investigates in what ways teachers themselves se

Keywords Teacher significance Teacher burnout Cultural background School roles

M. Tatar (El) R. Da'as

The teacher as a sign

The significant other siblings - are persons

they receive social sup

child and adolescent

value) (Tatar 1998a)

needs and attend edu

most frequent chara

centered than second students who perceiv

guidance and emotiona

teachers and attribute

Teacher's perspectives of their significance

other words, there are

The present study

The current research i

Cultural and religious aspects in the Israeli educational system

The demographic composition of Israel, which is paralleled in the educational system,

historical processes are reflected in the Israeli educational system (Bekerman 20

educational sector also

expressed similar cultu religious-cultural value

1. Teacher's cultural background: in general, we will hypothesize that teachers from

Respondents were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire consisting of three sections:

1. Respondent's background: gender, years of teaching experience, and job role

role model, a figure represents what stu respondent's score w

Cronbach's alpha coeff

Cronbach's alpha valu

Teacher significance for students

Scale Educational sector Role Gender

Entries with same letters have no significant differences

A multivariate analysis of variance was performed on the seven categories of teac

Teacher burnout and c

All teachers reported

the least burned-out

correlated with teach

Table 2 Results of regression for teacher's burnout by educational sector

Variables Jewish State Jewish State Religious Arab

B Beta B Beta B Beta

Category of teacher's significa

Academic Motivator -0.18 -0.11 0.04 0.03 -0.17 -0.12

Believer 0.09 0.08 -0.01 -0.00 0.16 0.12

Fairness -0.07 -0.09 0.13 0.17* 0.07 0.07

Adj. R2 0.09 0.07 0.08

Regarding Jewish state-school teacher

in time. In our study, c

schools). We are witne Arab society, and educ

(Toren and Ilyan 2008

the Teacher category crystallization of thei

Two additional salient state-religious schools

significance for their

attitudes, dress, and m

values, and social ord

student population th framework. Being a F

stressed more in tra

spiritual, emotional, human being with hig

perceived by their students. Recently, and not surprisingly, in a different resear

Implications for practice

knowledge related to their subject-matters and success in meeting the expecta