Travelling Far—Drawing Closer: Journeys That Shape Identity

Abstract

This article presents findings from a qualitative narrative research study conducted during a journey to Ethiopia undertaken by graduates of an academic program in Israel in 2005. The study focuses on the significance of the journey as a process that helped reconstruct their identity. During the journey, twelve Ethiopian education graduates were interviewed about the experience of returning to their country of origin. Content analysis was applied to the interviews, which were conducted in the research field and in which the participants spoke spontaneously about their identity exploration process. Three content categories of identity—personal, cultural, and professional—were obtained. The findings of the research also indicate that the personal stories gave rise to an additional stratum in the construction of field experience, namely, the comparison, confrontation, and questioning of their belonging as mechanisms whereby the participants shape their identities.

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Notes on contributors

Orna Schatz-Oppenheimer

Orna Schatz-Oppenheimer holds a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Educational Psychology. She is a lecturer in the Education Department at the Hebrew University and teaches in the MEd program at David Yellin Academic College. She conducts and develops programs for Ethiopian students’ teacher training at four academic colleges in Israel. Her interests include qualitative–narrative research, professional identities, and narratives of novice teachers. She has published numerous books and articles.

Esther Kalnisky

Esther Kalnisky is a lecturer and researcher in the fields of multiculturalism, identities, professional orientation, access to higher education, and alternative teacher training. She also coordinates the special program for promoting higher education for Ethiopian students at Achva Academic College. She has managed and developed the first program for training teachers from Ethiopia in Israel. Dr. Kalnisky is the academic director of the portal in Spanish edited by Mofet Institute and the coordinator for professional ties with Ethiopia and Spanish-speaking communities in building vivencial study programs for principals and teachers.