The role of teacher ideology in the teaching of culturally valued texts

This study focused on the teaching of culturally valued texts, and was based on the assumption that teacher's views of these texts and their content, and the conflicts engendered by these views, play a significant role in their educational deliberation. Ethnographic-qualitative interviews were conducted with 52 teachers of Bible in Jewish schools. We describe three ideological approaches towards the Biblical text that emerged from their responses: disciplinary, normative-ideational, and cultural. Special emphasis was put on teachers' complex, and often conflicted, views regarding ideological involvement in the teaching of Bible. The implications of these findings for the training and guiding of teachers in the teaching of culturally valued texts are discussed.