שטחת התוכן ושטחת הפדגוגיה בתרבות תחום הדעת

In Israel, as in many countries, the organization of the teaching in schools is characterized by a division into disciplines. This creates sub-cultures that are shaped around the various disciplines. The present article aims to shed light on the disciplinary culture phenomenon and its influence on teachers’ work in Israel’s educational context. The article focuses on two facets that may represent the disciplinary culture: the content facet (teachers’ perception of the structure of the discipline) and the pedagogy facet (teachers’ perception of how to teach the discipline). The research findings are based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 18 female and male teachers teaching a range of disciplines in Israeli middle and secondary schools. They yield a comparative description ,of the cultures shaped around the following disciplines: mathematics, physics science, literature, Bible, history, language, and English, while relating to the two above-mentioned facets. Furthermore, they reveal that these facets are perceived differently by teachers of diverse disciplines and that there is an affinity between them. Consequently, the classic typology of the disciplines, which differentiates between natural sciences and humanities, is challenged. An analysis of the /teachers’ perceptions indicates a possible range of four sets of disciplines: hard closed, soft/open, dynamic/flexible, and dual. The theoretical and practical implications of the research findings regarding teacher preparation and curricular .reforms are presented in the Discussion and Conclusion chapter