The impact of school culture on implicit theories: the case of Arab teachers’ perceptions of the ideal student

We examined the mental frameworks (schemas) teachers use to define the characteristics of an ideal versus non-ideal student in the classroom. These perceptions serve as criteria for evaluating students and profoundly shape a teacher’s behaviour. Using implicit followership theory (IFT), we explored how organisational (school) culture shapes teachers’ perceptions of ideal and non-ideal (anti-prototype) students. The study involved 460 Arab teachers from 43 public schools across Israel. We found organisational culture reinforced perceptions of the ideal student’s characteristics, but did not appear to affect perceptions of the anti-prototype. We also investigated the relationships between school culture and teachers’ perceptions within the context of gender. Our findings underscore the significance of organisational culture in shaping teachers’ perceptions of students and shed light on student success.