The purpose of the present study was to examine the career choice motivations of Bedouin teachers enrolled in a special education teacher training program. Paradoxically, there was a gradual increase in the enrolment of veteran Bedouin teachers to the program, despite negative perceptions and attitudes toward children with special needs which are prevalent in the southern Israeli Bedouin society. A qualitative method of analysis was selected for this study both because this was a pioneering examination of the subject in the southern Israeli Bedouin society, and because of the attempt to collect as rich information as possible from the participants. 18 male and female teachers were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The results reveal several motivations: Practical, altruistic, personal challenge, social, and career-related. The results of the present study could be useful as a resource for developing an instrument for mapping career choice motivations and for developing a teacher training program that will be tailored to the needs and interests of this unique group.

Aims

In recent years, the faculty at our teacher training college has witnessed an increasing number of veteran Bedouin teachers who enroll in the special education teacher certification program. The choice of a second career in special education qualifies as a particularly interesting research subject, due to several reasons: a) The common prejudice in the Bedouin society regarding children with special needs and consequently toward professionals who work with them in various educational settings. b) The prevalent explanation and interpretation of the birth of children with special needs and their development among members of the Bedouin society, based on religious, biological-deterministic or social reasons, and their subsequent exceptionalization and marginalization. In light of this trend, the purpose of the present study was to examine the motivations for choosing special education as a career among Bedouin teachers in the southern part of Israel.

Methodology

Since the present study was the first to investigate this phenomenon, we believed that using instruments that were developed in other cultures may not be valid for examining the motivations for choosing teaching in special education as a career among members of the southern Israeli Bedouin society. In addition, since we were interested in receiving as rich information as possible that would not be limited by the investigators’ hypotheses, we have selected that qualitative approach for the present study.

Data Collection

During a pilot study that we have conducted, 10 male and female veteran teachers were asked to write the “story” of how they came to choose their profession. It was found out that writing in a foreign language (Hebrew) yielded limited information.

Thus, the present study has used a semi-structured interview. 18 male and female Bedouin teachers were interviewed, and were asked to tell the interviewer about the story of their choice of profession. The interviews were recorder and then transcribed. Analysis of the results was based on the method of grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1994).

Findings

The results reveal 5 major types of motivations

a) Practical motivations:

1. The ratio between the number of children with special needs and the paucity of teachers who specialize in special education does not enable providing professional services to these children.

2. Training in special education is perceived as beneficial to general education teachers, since many children with special needs are mainstreamed in regular classes, and for better handing classroom discipline.

3. Geographic proximity enabled women to leave the house for their training, without their parents or husbands perceiving it as a potential risk for their honor (as opposed to studying away from home and sleeping outside the house).

b) Altruistic motivations: Many interviewees described feeling sorry for the gap between the needs of the children with special needs and the reality of their lives, be it at home or at school. This gap, resulting from biases, from scarce resources and from a shortage in certified special education teachers has propelled them to help these children and has strengthened their obligation to advance their society’s awareness to this issue.

c) Personal challenge motivations: Choosing special education challenges the teachers professionally in that it requires them to respond to the diverse and atypical educational needs of children, and to cope with a population that requires a lot of investment and patience.

d) Social motivations: Teachers perceived their status as special education teachers as enabling them to act as social change agents in several domains:

1. Development of a professional teaching force in the southern Israeli Bedouin society, and reducing the dependency upon Arab teachers who come from the central or northern part of Israel.

2. Development of higher education among younger people by giving them a personal example.

3. Encouragement of women to acquire post-secondary education.

4. Changing the norms in the Bedouin educational system from political to professional.

5. Development of the status of teachers in general and special education teachers in particular in the Bedouin society.

6. Improvement of the treatment of children with special needs

e) Career motivations: Some of the interviewees were satisfied with their professional choice, and have intended to continue working in this field. However, some of them viewed the specialization in special education only as a middle stage in their career development. Among the latter group were some who have chosen to train in special education due to various constraints, and while they have learned to enjoy their work in this field over time, they still aspired to move into another profession. For them, special education was merely a jumping board to the next stage in their career.

Theoretical and Educational significance of the research

The results could be utilized for developing a selection instrument for recruiting candidates for special education teacher training programs. Such an instrument could map out the motivations for choosing a career of teaching in special education, and would help provide culturally sensitive support and mentoring during the program which in turn may reduce dropout.

· The motivations for choosing a career in special education should be taken into account when developing a professionally and culturally adapted teacher training program. For instance, since one of the major motivations of teachers was to act as social change agents inside and outside of the Bedouin society, the teacher training program for Bedouin teachers should included a leadership development component.