Navigating the Intersecting Divide: The Role of Induction and Mentoring in Negotiating National and Cultural Tension for Palestinian Teachers in Jewish Schools

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the induction experiences of Palestinian Arab novice teachers in Jewish-majority schools in Israel during a period of intense national tension (2023–2025). Amid ongoing teacher shortages in the Jewish sector and a surplus of qualified teachers in the Arab sector, Boundary-Crossing Teaching (BCT) has become a notable phenomenon. Using semi-structured interviews and reflective journals of 23 beginning teachers and eight mentors, the study investigates how minority educators navigate cultural and political divides in a conflict-affected society. The findings reveal that during periods of heightened tension, teachers’ professional identity is often overshadowed by ethnic suspicion, leading to a “dual burden” of professional and national representation. The data shows that teachers navigate national ceremonies through “strategic ambiguity”—performing outward compliance (e.g., standing for the siren) while maintaining internal identity boundaries. Furthermore, the study identifies a paradox in language dynamics: while Palestinian Arabic is often “securitized” and viewed with suspicion in staffrooms, teachers successfully leverage their linguistic background as “intercultural capital” to build empathy with students. The research finds that shared-identity mentors provide an essential “third space” for processing experiences of racism that are otherwise silenced within the school hierarchy. These empirical results demonstrate that teacher retention in conflict zones requires active institutional protection to prevent professional status from collapsing into national categorization.

1. Introduction

1.1. Boundary-Crossing Teaching (BCT) in a Conflict Society

The global educational landscape increasingly prioritizes critical interculturality, necessitating tailored professional development that addresses the unique cultural needs of teachers (Karni Vizer et al., 2025; Liu, 2024). As classrooms diversify, teachers must navigate ethically and politically sensitive differences beyond standard pedagogical expertise (Cherng & Halpin, 2016; Silverman et al., 2024). These expectations are particularly pronounced in societies marked by protracted conflict, where education systems often mirror broader patterns of segregation and inequality (Gutman et al., 2023).

The Israeli education system provides a clear example in this regard. Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel are mostly educated in separate school systems that differ in administration, curriculum, language of instruction, and national narratives, which limits opportunities for meaningful intergroup contact (Lengyel & Rosen, 2015; Saada & Gross, 2019). In this segregated context, recent demographic changes and labor-market developments have encouraged increased integration of Palestinian Arab teachers into Jewish schools, a phenomenon known as Boundary-Crossing Teaching (BCT). This trend has been fueled by a significant shortage of teachers in the Jewish education sector, alongside a surplus of qualified Palestinian Arab teachers who face limited employment options within their own sector (Silverman et al., 2024).

BCT has sociopolitical implications in a deeply divided society. For Palestinian teachers, entering Jewish schools is tied to unequal power dynamics, increased visibility, and ongoing suspicion (Jayusi, 2025; Hisherik et al., 2025). These tensions intensify during the induction year, a Survival Stage for most novice teachers, compounded for minority teachers by marginalization and microaggressions (Arviv-Elyashiv et al., 2022; Saada & Gross, 2019). Consequently, the process transcends the standard need for effective mentoring and supportive conditions to prevent attrition (De Neve & Devos, 2017; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011); it becomes a critical period for navigating institutional barriers, during which professional, national, and moral identities are continuously negotiated.

The events of 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war (2023–2025) further intensified these dynamics. Heightened national suspicion, increased demands for loyalty, and the politicization of everyday interactions profoundly shaped Palestinian teachers’ experiences within Jewish schools, often raising doubts about the possibility of shared living during wartime (Adam, 2023; Jayusi, 2025; Gindi et al., 2024). Against this backdrop, the present study examines how formal induction and mentoring programs support Palestinian Arab novice teachers as they face intersecting professional and identity-related challenges in Jewish-majority schools. Using qualitative data, the study introduces two conceptual lenses, Implicit Resistance and the Burden of Representation, to analyze how induction frameworks serve not only as sites of professional support but also as arenas where national boundaries, belonging, and legitimacy are continually negotiated.

1.2. Boundary-Crossing Teaching and Minority Teachers in Majority Contexts

Scholarships for boundary-crossing teachers and minority educators working within majority-dominated educational systems highlight their unique position in divided societies. Such teachers offer students rare opportunities for ongoing, everyday contact with members of the ‘other’ group, interactions that, under certain conditions, have been linked to reduced prejudice and increased empathy (Cherng & Halpin, 2016; Karni Vizer et al., 2025). In the Israeli context, placing Palestinian Arab teachers in Jewish schools represents one of the few continuous and institutionalized forms of Jewish–Arab cooperation within the education system (Gilat et al., 2022; Jayusi & Bekerman, 2019).

Research further suggests that many cross-border teachers perceive themselves, and are perceived by others, as symbolic figures or informal ambassadors tasked with normalizing the presence of Palestinian Arabs in Jewish public spaces and challenging stereotypes through everyday pedagogical interactions (Gindi & Erlich-Ron, 2023; Saada & Gross, 2019). At the same time, this ambassadorial role is frequently imposed rather than voluntarily assumed, shaped by asymmetrical power relations and dominant expectations that minority teachers will represent their entire community in exemplary ways. Consequently, professional legitimacy becomes conditional, contingent upon conformity with hegemonic norms and ongoing self-monitoring and impression management.

1.3. Structural Segregation, Power, and National Identity in Israeli Education

The structural separation of Jewish and Arab education in Israel forms the broader sociopolitical context within which BCT unfolds. Parallel schooling systems not only reproduce linguistic and cultural differences but also transmit divergent, and often competing, historical narratives and civic imaginaries (Lengyel & Rosen, 2015; Saada & Gross, 2019). Within Jewish schools, Palestinian teachers encounter institutional cultures shaped by Jewish national symbols, commemorative practices, and implicit expectations of loyalty, positioning them simultaneously as partial insiders and marked outsiders.

Empirical research indicates that these structural asymmetries become especially pronounced during periods of political crisis, when national identity is rendered hyper-visible, and minority teachers are subjected to intensified scrutiny and suspicion (Jayusi, 2025). Under such conditions, professional identity is frequently overridden by ethnic or national categorization, transforming routine pedagogical spaces into sites of symbolic boundary-making and exclusion (Erlich Ron, 2025).

1.4. Induction, Mentoring, and Identity Negotiation in Conflict Settings

The induction year is widely seen as a crucial period in teachers’ careers, characterized by emotional vulnerability, identity negotiation, and a greater need for institutional support (Arviv-Elyashiv et al., 2022). For minority teachers, induction often involves managing not only pedagogical challenges but also experiences of marginalization, microaggressions, and threats to their identity (Saada & Gross, 2019). Recent scholarship defines this challenge as the struggle to convert initial teacher readiness into ‘durable professionalism,’ particularly within politically contested spaces where professional tenure is constantly tested by national tensions (Gindi, 2026).

Emerging research emphasizes the potential of culturally responsive mentoring and induction programs to serve as third spaces where minority teachers can reflect on experiences of exclusion, express ambivalence, and negotiate hybrid professional identities (Bhabha, 1994; Hisherik et al., 2025). However, much of this research has focused on relatively stable political environments, providing limited insight into how induction functions during active national conflict, heightened surveillance, and loyalty policing.

1.5. Institutional Architecture: From Buffering to Betrayal

To analyze the organizational context of induction, this study utilizes the concept of Institutional Architecture, grounded in New Institutional Theory (W. R. Scott, 2014). We examine how the regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive pillars of schools shape the novice teacher’s entry into the profession. Within this architecture, we identify two opposing dynamics: Institutional Buffering, in which school leaders filter out external sociopolitical toxicity to protect teachers, and Institutional Betrayal, occurring when the institution fails to protect individuals or actively perpetuates harm through neglect or exclusion. This focus allows us to move beyond individual resilience to examine structural accountability.

1.6. Implicit Resistance and the Burden of Representation

The present study is theoretically grounded in J. C. Scott’s (1990) seminal work on the ‘hidden transcript’, which conceptualizes the subtle agency of subordinates within hierarchical power structures. While Scott’s framework traditionally addresses general social relations, this research extends its application to the specific professional sphere of education during an active national conflict (2023–2025). We identify how ‘implicit resistance’, expressed through strategic silence and calibrated compliance, functions as a necessary professional survival mechanism for minority teachers in a securitized environment. Complementing this lens, we also utilize the Burden of Representation (Iheduru-Anderson, 2025) to analyze the emotional weight borne by Palestinian teachers who feel compelled to function as ‘ambassadors’ for their entire community.

Regarding the second concept, the Burden of Representation, this study builds on the framework established by Iheduru-Anderson (2025), who defines this burden as the combined emotional and social weight borne by professionals from underrepresented groups. While Iheduru-Anderson’s (2025) analysis identifies a paradox of invisibility and hyper-visibility within academia, the present research extends this analysis to the context of active conflict (2023–2025). Within this framework, Palestinian teachers navigate a structural pressure to function as representatives of their social group, transforming routine pedagogical conduct into a form of high-stakes ethnic performance. Together, these lenses illuminate how the induction year, traditionally a survival stage for novice teachers, becomes a site where professional socialization intersects with identity negotiation under sustained political tension.

This study addresses three core research questions:

• How do Palestinian Arab novice teachers navigate the intersection of professional and national identities in Jewish-majority schools during wartime?
• What strategies of ‘implicit resistance’ and identity management do these teachers employ to cope with hegemonic national rituals?
• In what ways does the institutional architecture (induction workshops vs. school leadership) support or betray these teachers’ efforts to sustain their professional standing?

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Research Design

This study employed a qualitative research design to examine the subjective, emotional, and political dimensions of BCT during the induction year. A qualitative approach was chosen for its suitability to explore processes of identity negotiation, belonging, and agency in conflict-affected educational contexts, where professional experiences are deeply embedded in relational, institutional, and national power structures (Ruslin et al., 2022).

The study focuses on Palestinian Arab novice teachers employed in Jewish-majority schools in Israel during wartime (2023–2025), as well as on the mentors who accompanied them during their induction year. The research seeks to understand how these actors interpret, navigate, and respond to the intersecting demands of professional socialization and politicized identity positioning within segregated and conflictual educational settings.

2.2. Participants

Novice Teachers: The study cohort comprised 23 Palestinian Arab novice teachers in their induction year, employed in Jewish-majority schools across the Central, Northern, and Jerusalem districts. They taught a diverse range of subjects, including English, mathematics, science, special education, the arts, and the humanities. The final sample size of 23 novice teachers was determined by a combination of thematic saturation and contextual constraints. By the 23rd participant, recurring patterns of identity negotiation and implicit resistance became evident across the triangulated data sources. Furthermore, the data collection period coincided with the 2023–2025 war, which imposed logistical and security challenges. Several potential participants declined to be interviewed due to heightened national tensions, resulting in the cancelation of planned focus groups and several individual interviews. Data collection relied on the triangulation of sources: 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews and 15 reflective journals, with four participants contributing both data types (see

Table 1. Characteristics of Novice Palestinian Teachers (N = 23) (Interviewees and Journal Contributors).

Pseudonym	Age	Gender	Region	Subject	School Type	Data Source
Shams	31	Woman	Haifa	Photography/Cinema	High School	Interview + Journal
Ibtisam	37	Woman	Taybe	Special Ed.	Special Ed.	Interview
Areen	24	Woman	Triangle	Special Ed. (Math/Sci)	Special Ed.	Interview + Journal
Sawsen	30	Woman	Triangle	Special Ed.	Special Ed.	Interview
A’jwan	40	Woman	Jerusalem	English	Elementary	Interview
Rauda	27	Woman	Haifa	Music	Special Ed.	Interview + Journal
Rawan	25	Woman	North	Hebrew Lit.	High School	Interview
Amal	27	Woman	North	Spoken Arabic	Elementary	Interview
Amira	29	Woman	North	Arabic	Elementary	Interview
Wurud	29	Woman	North	Art	Elem. + Middle	Interview
Abir	34	Woman	Triangle	Mathematics	Elementary	Interview + Journal
Kamal	27	Man	Jerusalem	Science	High School	Interview
Lina	29	Woman	Triangle	Inclusive Special Ed.	Special Ed.	Journal
Samira	32	Woman	Triangle	Special Ed.	Kindergarten	Journal
Reem	28	Woman	Triangle	English	Special Ed.	Journal
Layla	22	Woman	Triangle	Special Ed.	High School	Journal
Manal	23	Woman	Triangle	Special Ed.	Special Ed.	Journal
Shiryn	31	Woman	Triangle	Secondary	High School	Journal
Yasmin	23	Woman	Triangle	Elementary	Elementary	Journal
Miriam	26	Woman	Triangle	Elementary	Elementary	Journal
Hanin	26	Woman	Triangle	Special Ed.	Special Ed.	Journal
Nasreen	31	Woman	Triangle	Secondary	High School	Journal
Ali	26	Man	Triangle	Elementary	Elementary	Journal

). This combination enabled access to both retrospective accounts and contemporaneous reflections.

Mentors: In addition, eight induction workshop mentors were interviewed to provide institutional and pedagogical perspectives. The mentor group included six Palestinian Arab and two Jewish mentors with professional experience ranging from 2 to 15 years in facilitating induction workshops (see

Table 2. Characteristics of Induction Workshop Mentors (N = 8).

Pseudonym	Degree	Experience (Years)	Origin	Region
Mona	PhD	2	Arab	North
Sabrin	PhD	8	Arab	Center
Raja’a	PhD	13	Arab	North
Adil	PhD	2	Arab	Center
Barbara	PhD	15	Jewish	Center
Alia	PhD	11	Arab	North
Pazit	MA	10	Jewish	Haifa
Marwa	PhD	15	Arab	Jerusalem

). Mentors played a central role in mediating institutional norms and supporting identity negotiation, making their perspectives essential for contextualizing teachers’ accounts.

2.3. Researcher Positionality and Reflexivity

In accordance with the requirements for methodological integrity in critical qualitative research, we include a reflexivity statement. The research team consists of scholars specializing in teacher induction and multiculturalism in divided societies. Our positioning is defined by an ‘ethical attentiveness’ to the participants’ emotional safety during active conflict. We recognize that our own identities influence the power dynamics of the interviews. To mitigate bias, we employed triangulation across data sources (interviews, journals, and mentor accounts) and conducted iterative peer debriefing (Levitt et al., 2021) to ensure that the themes emerged from participants’ lived meanings rather than being imposed by our theoretical predispositions.

2.4. Data Collection

Semi-Structured Interviews: Conducted with novice teachers and mentors, these were conceptualized as a ‘conversation with a purpose’ (Adeoye-Olatunde & Olenik, 2021). The interview guide was designed to discuss the induction workshop experience and elicit narratives about professional challenges, identity negotiation, experiences of belonging or exclusion, and perceptions of institutional support. Given the political sensitivity of the research context, interviews were conducted with heightened ethical attentiveness to participants’ emotional safety.

Reflective Journals: Produced throughout the induction year as part of formal requirements, these journals documented ongoing reflections. They captured everyday encounters with students, parents, and colleagues, as well as emotional responses, moments of uncertainty, and experiences of microaggressions. The journals were valuable for accessing ‘hidden transcripts’ (J. C. Scott, 1990), experiences that participants were hesitant to articulate in interviews due to fear or self-censorship. The workshop mentors gave the novice teachers letters from the research team describing the research and consent forms to be filled out if they agreed to participate. The research team received the reflective journals only from the teachers who consented to participate.

2.5. Data Analysis

Data analysis followed the six-phase framework of Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019, 2021). Analysis began with repeated close readings to achieve deep familiarity with the data. Initial coding focused on recurring patterns related to professional vulnerability, national identity, emotional labor, and coping strategies. Themes were then developed through sustained engagement between participants’ narratives and relevant theoretical frameworks, specifically implicit resistance, the burden of representation, and institutional architecture. Rather than imposing predefined categories, themes were refined to capture both participants’ lived meanings and the structural conditions shaping their experiences. To enhance methodological transparency and demonstrate the thematic filtering process,

Table 3. Examples of the Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) and Filtering Process.

Raw Data Excerpt (Participant Narrative)	Initial Semantic Codes	Analytical/Latent Theme
“I stand [during the siren], everything is normal… [But inside I say]: I do not want to stand… these are your soldiers, I cannot.” (Ibtisam)	Performative compliance; Internal monolog; Symbolic nonconformity.	Implicit Resistance (J. C. Scott, 1990)
“I changed from Rawan, the colleague, to Rawan, the Arab… this instability is very unpleasant.” (Rawan)	Ethnic profiling; Fragile professional status; Frame-switching.	Conditional Belonging & Politicized Professionalism
“I need to be the representative… in my behavior… so I change all the stereotypes they have in their minds.” (A’jwan)	Ambassadorial role; Impression management; Collective accountability.	Burden of Representation (Iheduru-Anderson, 2025)
“The principal gave me full backing… she did not protect the child because of a mother who has connections.” (Rawan)	Managerial protection; Moral signal; De-securitizing identity.	Institutional Architecture: Buffering
“He [the principal] told me, ‘You see that door? That is the exit door. If you are not comfortable… leave’.” (A’jwan)	Conditional hospitality; Professional precarity; Active exclusion.	Institutional Architecture: Betrayal (Smith & Freyd, 2014)

provides concrete examples of the transition from raw participant narratives to initial semantic codes and analytical themes, illustrating how empirical data were synthesized with the study’s theoretical lenses.

As shown in Table 3, themes were filtered through a recursive process. We first identified semantic patterns in the narratives (e.g., mentions of white shirts or sirens). These were then ‘filtered’ and elevated to analytical themes by applying the conceptual lenses of Implicit Resistance and the Burden of Representation, ensuring a synthesis between empirical evidence and theoretical depth.

2.6. Ethical Rigor and Trustworthiness

The study’s methodological integrity was strengthened through triangulation across interviews, journals, and mentor accounts (Levitt et al., 2021). The research was conducted during an ongoing war (2023–2025), which created significant constraints, including interview cancelations and the cancelation of a planned focus group due to security concerns. Participants’ hesitation and self-censorship were treated not merely as limitations but as meaningful empirical data, reflecting the climate of surveillance and precarity. All participants were assigned pseudonyms, and identifying details were removed to ensure confidentiality. Informed consent was obtained, and ethical approval was secured in accordance with institutional guidelines.

3. Results

3.1. Theme 1: Politicized Professionalism and Conditional Belonging

For Palestinian Arab novice teachers in Jewish-majority schools, professional identity is constituted within a highly politicized field, where national belonging and security issues permeate everyday pedagogical spaces. Consequently, these teachers operate under a regime of conditional belonging, in which professional legitimacy is fragile and contingent on hegemonic norms (Gilat et al., 2022). Within this structure, the burden of representation (Iheduru-Anderson, 2025) forces them to constantly navigate the tension between acting as individual educators and being profiled as representatives of a stigmatized collective, rendering their professional standing perpetually vulnerable to securitized scrutiny.

3.1.1. The Hyper-Visible School: From Colleague to Security Threat

National tensions, particularly during the 2023–2025 wars, transformed schools into what participants described as environments of intense scrutiny, approximating a space of hyper-visibility where minor deviations carried severe consequences. The case of Ibtisam illustrates the speed at which professional status can collapse under such conditions. During the war, an inside joke circulated in a private WhatsApp group was inadvertently forwarded to the school staff group:

They handed out popsicles… on the note, they wrote sentences like ‘We will eat popsicles in the sea of Gaza’… I took a picture for my friends… someone wrote ‘We are all candies in the wrapper of the Israeli flag’ and someone else wrote ‘Pigs’… I accidentally forwarded the picture to the teachers’ group… They sent me to a disciplinary hearing… and fired me.

Ibtisam’s account demonstrates how an unintended act was swiftly transformed into a political indictment. Her established professional reputation and positive relationships with parents and colleagues (“There are parents I visit, and we ask about each other”) proved insufficient to protect her. This incident exemplifies how the security logic overrides pedagogical logic, and errors are treated as evidence of disloyalty rather than as human lapses (Jayusi, 2025; Gindi et al., 2024).

A similar instability was articulated by Rawan, who described the rapid shift from collegial belonging to ethnic suspicion following security events: “If a terror attack happens, I feel discomfort from my colleagues… they look at you as if it is your fault, you Arabs… I changed from Rawan, the colleague, to Rawan, the Arab… this instability is very unpleasant.”

This forced frame-switching underscores how professional identity is subordinated to national categorization, revealing the tenuous nature of inclusion within Jewish school spaces during times of crisis.

3.1.2. Experiencing Hostility as a Symptom of Structural Power

Within this broader structure of politicized professionalism, direct hostility from students and parents manifests as a reflection of societal narratives that breach the classroom walls. Manal described a parental accusation that reframed her religious identity as a security threat: “The parents wrote that there is an Arab teacher who is teaching our children the thoughts of the terrorists… He told me: ‘My father said anyone who fasts and prays and is Muslim is a terrorist.’”

This illustrates identity threat, whereby normative religious practices are essentialized and weaponized to delegitimize professional authority. The emotional toll of such encounters is expressed in Sawsen’s account of a young child’s rejection:

He told me, ‘Are you Arab’? … I do not want you here… [he was] talking about Hamas and the security situation… I brought it up in the induction workshop… And I received guidance… I felt I was this little [hand gesture] … I felt like I could not survive… I was blessed with a very good, perfect counselor; she is like a sister, like a friend, and like a mother… She accompanied me and strengthened me… It took a lot of time to watch, help, and connect me with this child, and thank God we succeeded. We got to the point where he would hug me and forget about it [the politics].

Sawsen’s description of feeling ‘small’ reflects the embodied impact of racism and exclusion. However, her ability to process the incident within the induction workshop and eventually restore the relationship with the child demonstrates a form of constrained agency, resilience enacted within a hostile structure.

3.1.3. The Ambassadorial Role: Survival Strategy and Emotional Labor

Faced with these high risks, teachers described adopting an involuntary ambassadorial role as a strategy for professional survival. This aligns with the concept of the Burden of Representation, in which minority educators feel compelled to demonstrate exemplary professionalism to counter collective stereotypes (Iheduru-Anderson, 2025). A’jwan articulated this form of identity management:

I do not think I am an ‘Arab teacher in a Jewish school’… I am an English teacher, that’s it… but I sometimes tell myself I need to be the representative… in my behavior… so I change all the stereotypes they have in their minds.

This constant self-monitoring reflects intense emotional labor and impression management, transforming routine teaching into a form of political performance. As Alia, an experienced mentor, observed: “They are convinced they are really doing good… they want to represent their society positively… so the students recognize good people, not necessarily terrorists… and all the stereotypes they think about Arabs.”

This internal pressure was palpable in Yasmin’s journal, where she noted the cognitive exhaustion required to calibrate her reactions to microaggressions constantly:

A student might ask an inappropriate question related to Arab origin in a negative context… I struggled to find the right way to react, whether to ignore it, not to escalate… or react firmly… It requires great mental resilience to handle such situations while maintaining professionalism.

Taken together, these findings reveal that for these teachers, the burden of representation is not episodic but structural. It intensifies during periods of national crisis, amplifying the emotional load and reinforcing the fragility of their professional standing.

3.2. Theme 2: Navigating National Memory: Implicit Resistance in Rituals

National memorial days—specifically Holocaust Remembrance Day and Memorial Day—emerged as acute flashpoints, transforming the school into a space of heightened national performance. The findings reveal that for Palestinian teachers, these events represent a collision between their professional obligations and their national memory. Rather than succumbing to a choice between assimilation and overt rebellion, the teachers adopted sophisticated strategies of implicit resistance and identity navigation. By maintaining a hidden transcript (J. C. Scott, 1990) behind a facade of compliance, they safeguarded their internal identity as they navigated the demands of the hegemonic Jewish space.

3.2.1. Strategic Ambiguity and Agency Under Constraint

A central strategy employed by the teachers was strategic ambiguity, allowing them to evade political confrontation without explicitly validating the Zionist narrative. A’jwan demonstrated this in a dialog with her students regarding the siren on Memorial Day1, navigating the tension between professional safety and ideological integrity:

They asked me: ‘If you hear the siren, do you stand and show respect?’ I told them: ‘If I am at home and sitting, no.’…It was hard for me to explain to them that everyone… for them it is Independence, for us it is something else.

A’jwan’s discourse is calculated and cautious. She avoids explicit terms like ‘Palestine’ or ‘Nakba,’ which are considered taboo in Jewish-Israeli society, particularly since October 2023. This act represents agency under constraint (Karni Vizer et al., 2025). She does not lie to the students, nor does she capitulate; instead, she carves out a linguistic space that hints at a counter-narrative without exposing herself to sanction. Notably, even within the safe space of the research interview, she uses a vague phrase, “something else”. Yet despite her caution, her implicit opposition is evident when she reveals details of her conduct at home to the students, even though she had the opportunity to avoid it. In doing so, she maintains a boundary between her professional persona and her personal truth.

Ibtisam described a similar process of performative loyalty, creating a split between her physical actions—standing when the memorial day siren sounds—and her internal monolog. While her body performs compliance (standing when the siren sounds), her consciousness maintains a rigid identity boundary: “It is fine, like standing… I stand, everything is normal, you cannot be different… [But inside I say]: Come on, I do not want to stand… these are your soldiers, I cannot… also, this is about respect.”

This internal splitting represents a mechanism of the hidden transcript (J. C. Scott, 1990), in which the subordinate group enacts a public performance that satisfies the powerful while privately rejecting its meaning. For Amal, participation in ceremonies was an act of instrumental compliance designed solely to avoid the panoptic gaze of the school community: “They sang songs out of pain, and I did not have a feeling for it… I stood with everyone… A white shirt is a white shirt, why not a black shirt? I did not like to be exceptional.”

Amal’s focus on the ‘white shirt’ reduces the national ritual to a mere dress code. This instrumentalization allows her to participate physically while remaining emotionally absent, thereby neutralizing the event’s threat to her identity. Shams summarized the profound personal cost of this silence, highlighting the dissonance between professional role and personal self:

Even when I disagree with the content at school or with students’ behavior, I avoid expressing my opinion. I knew my role was professional, not personal, but deep down, I wanted to maintain my identity and the principles I grew up with.

3.2.2. Respectful Detachment Versus Universal Empathy

Other teachers employed a strategy of respectful detachment, framing their participation not as identification with the narrative, but as a professional duty to respect the ‘other.’ Shirin defined this boundary clearly: “I participated in the ceremony, stood with them in cooperation and with some empathy… I stopped out of respect for the situation, out of an internal sense of the importance of these memories for others.”

The emphasis on ‘for others’ serves as a cognitive buffer, allowing Shirin to validate Jewish grief without appropriating it. Similarly, Samira found agency in silence, using it to maintain a safe distance:

I felt disconnected… especially when I stood as an Arab among teachers radiating strong feelings of heritage, while I experienced the events completely differently… I chose to be in a respectable place, to be there in silence… even if I did not experience everything everyone else experienced.

In contrast, Reem navigated this tension through strategic avoidance, physically absenting herself from the preparation phase to preserve her sense of belonging during routine times:

A week before Memorial Day, there was always talk among the staff about preparations… I was not involved because I would not be present on this day, so I did not take part in the arrangements… Usually, I feel part of the team.

Conversely, a minority of teachers bridged the conflict through a universalist humanist narrative, creating a third space (Bhabha, 1994) of shared emotion. Lina described a moment of genuine convergence: “It was a moving day. Very, very sad to hear crying… I felt I was part of the school because they told us what this day means.” Nasreen reinforced this approach, bypassing the national conflict through human empathy: “The survivors’ personal stories deeply touched my heart… I dealt with the feelings by listening… identifying on a basic human level.”

In summary, the negotiation of national narratives reveals that Palestinian teachers do not act as passive recipients of hegemonic rituals. Instead, they employ a spectrum of implicit resistance strategies, ranging from the internal rejection described by Ibtisam to the instrumental compliance of Amal and the strategic avoidance of Reem. Even those who connect emotionally, like Lina, do so through a universalist lens that transcends specific national boundaries. These findings suggest that for minority teachers, professional survival involves continuous, invisible identity work. They succeed in functioning as Israeli teachers externally while safeguarding a distinct Palestinian ‘self’ internally, preventing total assimilation into the dominant narrative.

3.3. Theme 3: Institutional Architecture: Buffering, Brokering, and the Third Space

This theme examines the structural capacity of the educational ecosystem to support the boundary-crossing teacher. The findings reveal that resilience is not solely an individual trait, but a product of an institutional architecture (W. R. Scott, 2014) composed of two distinct arenas: the school (the site of practice) and the induction workshop (the site of processing). Effective alignment of these support mechanisms is essential for mitigating the ‘reality shock’ (Veenman, 1984) intrinsic to the induction phase, thereby serving as a critical factor in preventing attrition and ensuring the retention of minority teachers within the system. When aligned, these arenas function as a protective shield; when fractured, they lead to institutional betrayal.

3.3.1. Within School: Management and Mentoring as Protective Shields

Effective school leadership proved critical in stabilizing the BCT’s position. Institutional buffering went beyond mere technical support; it served as a moral signal redefining the community boundary. Rawan’s account of her principal’s intervention when a student exhibited exclusionary views regarding Arab culture illustrates this dynamic. By refusing to capitulate to racist parental pressure, the principal effectively disrupted the external political logic: “The principal gave me full backing… she did not protect the child because of a mother who has connections… I really appreciate her for that.”

This act de-securitizes the teacher’s identity. The principal used her institutional authority to assert that professional norms supersede ethnic prejudices. Similarly, the in-school mentor acted as a cultural broker, translating implicit codes and leveraging social capital. Barbara, a Jewish mentor, demonstrated this by actively intervening to dismantle social isolation:

So, one of them [Arab intern]… said she feels alienated… Immediately… I turned to the pedagogical coordinator there. And then the coordinator did a very nice job and gave her a place… and now she is part of the team.

Here, the mentor acts as a bridge, converting her own status into access for the marginalized teacher. This active buffering fosters a broader sense of safety and peer acceptance.

3.3.2. The Workshop as a Third Space: Unmasking and Identity Work

While the school provides professional protection, the induction workshop emerged as a unique third space (Bhabha, 1994), a home away from the hegemonic gaze where teachers could shed their professional masks (Goffman, 2023). Unlike the school, where teachers often engaged in self-monitoring, the workshop, facilitated mainly by Palestinian Arab mentors, enabled the authentic processing of political pain and identity conflicts.

Samira described the workshop as an emotional and professional anchor: “We waited for Thursday… I learned things that helped me, for example, about the holidays… [The mentor] provided crucial information. Beyond pedagogy, the workshop functioned as a site for identity validation.” Sawsen, who faced racist remarks from a student, “I do not want you here… Hamas”, used the workshop to process the trauma that she had to repress in the classroom: “I raised it in the workshop… and received guidance… on how to solve it… I felt I could not survive [without it].”

The shared national identity with the mentor allowed for ‘back stage’ discourse (Goffman, 2023). As Sabrin, a mentor, noted: “They are free to talk. If it were [a Jewish mentor], it would be harder… Because I am Arab, it helps them open up”. This space transformed the sense of alienation into a collective professional strength, allowing teachers to return to the ‘front stage’ of the school with renewed resilience.

3.3.3. The Collapse of the Buffer: Institutional Abandonment and Conditional Hospitality

Conversely, when this architecture fails to protect the employee, the result is institutional betrayal (Smith & Freyd, 2014). A’jwan’s experience with a principal who designated the exit door as a solution to her distress exemplifies conditional hospitality. She describes how a single statement can shatter a new teacher’s confidence: “He [the principal] told me, ‘You see that door? That is the exit door. If you are not comfortable in this school, leave.’ Meaning, he really made me feel… as if he was telling me, you do not belong here.”

This interaction creates a professional environment defined by precarity. Similarly, Shams described social avoidance as a form of passive exclusion. The staff’s refusal to engage directly, using the counselor as a buffer, relegated her to a ‘sterile’ professional zone: “I noticed that they are afraid to ask me questions… every time they wanted something, they sent the counselor”.

In conclusion, a successful induction architecture requires dual-layered support: active buffering and brokerage within the school to manage the ‘front stage,’ combined with a safe, identity-affirming third space in the workshop to process the emotional labor of the back stage arena. Resilience is therefore not merely an inherent trait of the teacher, but a collaborative product of an ecosystem willing to invest in the inclusion of minority staff.

3.4. Theme 4: Linguistic Power Dynamics: Between Securitization and Intercultural Capital

Language and cultural differences emerged as contested terrain within power relations. The findings reveal tension between the stigmatization of linguistic difference, in which Palestinian Arabic becomes an object of suspicion, and teachers’ capacity to convert their cultural backgrounds into ‘intercultural capital.’

3.4.1. Converting Vulnerability into Relational Assets

At the classroom level, certain teachers exercised pedagogical initiative by reframing linguistic deficiency as a resource for connection-building. Wurud leveraged her Hebrew errors to disrupt conventional power dynamics between teachers and students. By inviting student corrections, she humanized her authority and narrowed cultural distance: “Yes, the kids would… sometimes I would make mistakes in words, and the kids would, like, correct me … it was educational.”

When institutionally supported, Arab culture shifted from disadvantage to ‘intercultural capital.’ Amira commended her principal for recognizing Muslim holidays not as a symbolic gesture but as legitimate institutional knowledge, an approach consistent with intercultural pedagogy principles (Banks, 2015):

During the holidays, on the Prophet’s birthday, the principal would always share with the group… he would explain what [the holiday] was. He did not settle for ‘Happy Holiday.’ Instead, what is the holiday… what is its definition, and what do they do about it? So that was very helpful.

Similarly, Abir noted how the religious observance of Ramadan became a point of empathy and connection, shifting the gaze from suspicion to curiosity: “Always in Ramadan they pity me… The teachers and kids too, ‘Abir, when will it end?’… I did a unit on it… I also entered the 3rd grade, and they are interested.”

3.4.2. Systemic Barriers: Cognitive Load and Bureaucratic Neglect

Despite these individual successes, the structural toll of the language barrier remains heavy. Adil emphasized the cognitive load of juggling multiple linguistic systems: “We are talking about science teachers… dealing with four language systems… it creates a cognitive challenge.” Sabrin pointed to bureaucratic failures in language support, which teachers interpreted not as technical delays but as symbolic systemic rejection: “They get language support… but unfortunately, all this is done toward the end of the year… This leaves them exposed and makes them feel that the system does not really want them.”

3.4.3. The Securitization of Arabic

Most critically, Raja’a revealed how the Arabic language undergoes securitization within the staffroom. Her observation exposes a hierarchy of foreignness in which Arabic is perceived as a threat. At the same time, other languages are accepted as benign diversity: “There was a comment from one of the teachers: ‘It’s not okay that they speak Arabic’… They compared them with Russian teachers… why don’t they comment on them? Why? Two teachers speaking Arabic is problematic.”

This theme reveals the dual character of language and culture during the induction process. Teachers like Wurud and Amira demonstrate that with institutional affirmation and strategic engagement, cultural differences can foster connection and enrich school communities. Yet the systemic reality remains constraining. The politicization of Palestinian Arabic (as Raja’a describes) and institutional neglect (as Sabrin notes) indicate that the educational system has not yet entirely shifted from pathologizing difference to valuing it as an asset. Genuine integration demands the de-securitization of Palestinian Arabic and recognition of Palestinian teachers’ cultural resources as essential components of the school’s pedagogical richness.

4. Discussion

4.1. Theorizing Survival and the Conditions for Critical Interculturalism

The integration of Palestinian Arab teachers into Jewish-majority schools has traditionally been examined through the lens of professional socialization or cultural adaptation. However, the findings of the current study suggest that during periods of intractable conflict, this framework is insufficient. We propose reframing the induction year not merely as a phase of career entry, but as a high-stakes arena of political survival. By synthesizing the participants’ narratives through the conceptual lenses of Implicit Resistance (J. C. Scott, 1990) and the Burden of Representation (Iheduru-Anderson, 2025), we argue that behaviors often interpreted as compliance, such as standing for the siren or rigorous self-monitoring, function as calculated survival mechanisms within a securitized institutional architecture. This synthesis indicates that for these teachers, professional identity is not a fixed asset but is continuously negotiated against the threat of national suspicion.

4.2. The Induction Workshop as a Third Space for Identity Negotiation

The findings confirm that the induction workshop functions as a third space (Bhabha, 1994), where teachers can shed the masks (Goffman, 2023) they are compelled to wear in the Jewish school. This framework enables the authentic processing of the intense emotional labor and identity conflicts inherent in boundary-crossing teaching, (Darr, 2020). The study, however, nuances this finding by illustrating that the workshop’s status as a sanctuary is contingent rather than guaranteed, depending mainly on a shared national identity between mentor and mentee. The presence of a Palestinian Arab mentor transforms the space into a backstage arena (Goffman, 2023), thereby removing the need for self-censorship and enabling authentic engagement with professional identity amid conflict.

4.3. Implicit Resistance as Professional Survival

The study offers a new theoretical lens for understanding minority teacher behavior: implicit resistance. This functions as a rational response to structural power asymmetries within Jewish-majority school systems. Rather than engaging in overt opposition, which entails professional risk, boundary-crossing teachers adopt strategic compliance, including silence, ambiguity, and emotional distancing, to preserve their identity while maintaining professional legitimacy. This perspective identifies these behaviors not merely as pedagogical adaptations or difficulties with induction, but as political survival mechanisms. This dynamic extends J. C. Scott’s (1990) concept of the hidden transcript into the professional sphere of education in conflict contexts. Examining the experiences of Palestinian Arab teachers during this period of heightened national tension (2023–2025) may provide a helpful perspective on the intersection of professional identity and political survival. Within this framework, participation in national commemorative practices exposes a latent political curriculum in which alignment with dominant national narratives becomes a condition for professional inclusion.

The application of J. C. Scott’s (1990) lens in this study was guided by empirical data, particularly participants’ descriptions of their conduct on national memorial days. The findings, such as teachers standing for the siren while internally rejecting the Zionist narrative, revealed a clear ‘hidden transcript’ where professional compliance serves as a mask for identity preservation. We used Scott’s framework to conceptualize the rational survival strategies identified in teachers’ accounts of navigating hegemonic rituals in Jewish-majority schools.

4.4. The Heavy Cost of the Burden of Representation in Conflict Settings

The findings of this study reinforce the conceptualization of the burden of representation as a ‘minority tax’ that compels educators from marginalized groups to work harder to reach the professional ‘starting line.’ In Jewish schools, Palestinian teachers are frequently required to engage in ongoing impression management (Goffman, 2023) to counter negative stereotypes, turning everyday professional conduct into a form of ethnic and national performance (Cherng & Halpin, 2016). Although they seek to be recognized simply as educators, the system constantly interprets them as representatives. This research aligns with Iheduru-Anderson’s (2025) assertion that underrepresentation creates a paradox of simultaneous invisibility and hyper-visibility, where the personal conduct of minority professionals is intensely scrutinized as a reflection of their entire community. While Iheduru-Anderson identifies this burden as a product of systemic racism and gendered exclusion within academia, the present study extends this conceptualization by applying it to the context of active national conflict (2023–2025).

For Palestinian teachers in Jewish-majority schools, the pressure to perform as ambassadors is not merely an effort to navigate professional hurdles in career advancement, but a fundamental mechanism for political survival. The study shows that this emotional labor is structural: routine pedagogical conduct is transformed into a form of high-stakes ethnic and national performance, where any minor lapse or ‘hidden transcript’ can be swiftly turned into a political indictment. This relentless demand to counter negative stereotypes or to function as ‘super-teachers’ drains the cognitive and emotional resources needed for teaching, placing these educators at heightened risk of burnout and attrition, a dynamic widely associated with increased teacher turnover (Madigan & Kim, 2021).

The study moves beyond the focus on individual resilience described by Iheduru-Anderson (2025) as a survival tool, toward a proposed Whole-Ecosystem Approach (WEA). The research argues that the burden of representation during conflict cannot be effectively navigated through personal fortitude alone, as reliance on individual strength often masks systemic failure. Instead, it requires robust institutional architecture to prevent institutional betrayal. This includes creating identity-affirming ‘third spaces,’ such as induction workshops facilitated by shared-identity mentors, that enable teachers to process the political and emotional costs that must remain suppressed on the classroom’s front stage.

4.5. Toward a Whole-Ecosystem Approach (WEA)

The findings indicate that effective support for Palestinian Arab teachers in Jewish-majority schools must extend beyond the confines of induction workshops. Our data reveals a critical structural gap within the ‘institutional architecture’ (W. R. Scott, 2014) of the induction process: while these workshops successfully function as a ‘third space’ for identity validation, they often operate in isolation from the school’s ‘first space’. Without consistent ‘institutional buffering’ from school leadership, the professional resilience fostered in these workshops becomes difficult to maintain. The diverse experiences of participants highlight that a sustainable ecosystem requires a deliberate alignment of pedagogical mentoring with administrative advocacy. When these systems are decoupled, a form of ‘institutional betrayal’ (Smith & Freyd, 2014) occurs, wherein the institution provides professional training but fails to protect the teacher from external political pressures. Consequently, this study proposes a Whole-Ecosystem Approach (WEA). By extending existing ecological models (e.g., Zavelevsky & Lishchinsky, 2020) to the specific context of intractable conflict, the WEA framework posits that a viable ecosystem must synchronize pedagogical support with active political protection to ensure long-term professional integration.

First, pre-service preparation would do well to shift from liberal cultural competence to critical intercultural pedagogy (Karni Vizer et al., 2025). This includes structured engagement with dominant national narratives and advanced professional Hebrew training prior to entry, reducing the cognitive load and linguistic insecurity described in the findings. Furthermore, institutional accountability is paramount, as school leadership, particularly principals, serves as the primary safeguard against institutional betrayal (Smith & Freyd, 2014). Administrative support is a key predictor of resilience, whereas institutional silence signals complicity; therefore, training for Jewish principals on managing diverse staff in wartime is essential. Finally, mentoring roles should be expanded beyond pedagogy to include institutional mediation and advocacy, positioning mentors as identity brokers who actively dismantle barriers within the school system. Taken together, these findings suggest that the induction of Palestinian teachers into Jewish-majority schools represents a complex professional context shaped by power asymmetries and ongoing national conflict. Novice teachers must navigate dual pressures of professional socialization and representational burden, often employing implicit resistance strategies to maintain personal and professional integrity. However, when induction workshops provide protected reflective spaces, and schools offer institutional support through leadership and mentoring, BCT can enable professional growth rather than mere survival. Sustainable integration requires a shift from viewing identity as a hurdle to be mitigated, to recognizing it as a site of active negotiation where minority teachers’ cultural resources are valued as intercultural assets.

4.6. Limitations and Future Research

A significant limitation was the methodological impact of the ongoing war (2023–2025), which reduced the planned sample size and necessitated canceling several focus groups and individual interviews due to security concerns and participants’ hesitation. While thematic saturation was reached within the current cohort of 23 interviews, as recurring patterns of implicit resistance and conditional belonging became evident, the climate of fear and self-censorship during wartime likely influenced the depth of political discourse. This constraint, however, underscores the ‘hidden transcript’ (J. C. Scott, 1990) that characterizes the induction of minority teachers in conflict zones, where silence is a form of survival. Future research should employ focus groups to examine how peer networks among minority teachers facilitate collective strategies for navigating political identity. Additionally, longitudinal studies following teachers into their second and third years are needed to examine whether the representational burden leads to burnout or to the development of stronger coping mechanisms. Finally, future inquiries should assess the impact of structured institutional training for Jewish principals and staff on minority teachers’ sense of safety and professional integration.