“The role of the teacher is first to see the pupil” (Alon): beyond the superficial familiarity with the inner world of the students using cultural intelligence

This study examines how cultural intelligence (CQ) is enacted, negotiated, and constrained in pre-service teachers’ pedagogical decision-making during practicum in multilingual primary classrooms. Using a qualitative interpretive design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 female pre-service teachers from two teacher education colleges in Israel, including nine Jewish Hebrew speakers and seven Arab Arabic speakers. Data was analyzed through a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic approach anchored in the four CQ dimensions: metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral. Findings show that CQ is enacted through reflective reframing, cultural and linguistic knowledge, interpersonal investment, and adaptive pedagogical strategies, while institutional demands, workload, and sociocultural sensitive situations may constrain its enactment. Theoretically, the study conceptualizes CQ as a situated, contextually mediated capacity rather than a stable individual competence. Practically, it highlights the need for practice-based teacher education that develops pre-service teachers’ capacity to respond effectively to cultural and linguistic complexity in multilingual classrooms.