Teachers Unions’ Leadership and Their Impact on Educational Reforms in Israel

Abstract

This article examines the politics of the teacher unions in the education reforms in Israel. In particular, the impact of the Histadrut Hamorim (HH) and the Irgun Hamorim (IH) teacher unions in the three educational reforms that took place in the country, in the years 1968, 2008 and 2011 respectively, was analyzed. For this purpose, a systematic literature review on the topic was carried out. Firstly, the discourse about the teacher unions potential influence upon the education reform decision policies was studied. Secondly, the role of the teacher unions in the education policy reforms in Israel was examined from a historical perspective, with special reference to the two unions under consideration. In conclusion, our study revealed that the impact of the teacher unions upon the education policy formation relating to the reforms as suggested in this piece of work seemed to be concerned with the unions’ political and ideological attachment to the political party in power.