Abstract
This paper reviews and analyzes the major teacher-training developments in Israel, in particular the teacher-preparation offered from the 1980s to the present. This period was characterized by pervasive reports that new teachers and school heads did not feel that novice teachers were well prepared for working in a school at the end of their training. This issue and the disparity between the content of academic teacher education courses and school practicums has prompted a series of changes in recent decades, designed to improve teacher education programmes and ensure that they answer the needs of the educational field. This article examines three teacher education models that developed as a result of the shifts undergone in the discourse of teacher education in Israel in terms of purposes, processes and desired outcomes: a) PDS dialogical-reflective teacher-training pedagogy introduced in order to bring academic content into closer alignment with practical and experiential requirements towards better teacher-preparation for schools; b) the Teach First Israel programme, designed to attract outstanding students who would not otherwise have chosen teaching as their profession; and c) the Academia-Class programme, which incorporates elements from the other two schemes. The paper critically examines each of the models in detail, outlining their innovative aspects with reference to one of the main goals of education in Israel: narrowing educational gaps and reducing socio-economic gaps.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Teaching the World's Teachers |
| Editors | James W. Fraser, Lauren Lefty |
| Place of Publication | Maryland |
| Publisher | Johns Hopkins University Press |
| Pages | 199-225 |
| Number of pages | 27 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781421438290 |
| State | Published - 7 Jul 2020 |