“Exemplary” teachers: The perception of prospective teachers of role model teachers and their contribution to their professional identity

This study examined the characteristics of “exemplary” teachers according to Israeli–Arab prospective teachers, and the influence of those perceptions on their professional identity. The study is based on the qualitative paradigm using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 33 students studying education in an academic college located in the center of Israel. Findings show that their professional educational identity begins to form while still at school, with exposure to an exceptional teacher in their past. The teacher’s digression from the traditional model of pedagogy in Arab education led them to the formulation of modern mindsets as educators and agents of change.