Post-qualification Master’s level studies in Israel teacher colleges: a transmissive or a transformative model of professional development?

Post-qualification Master’s level programs in Israeli teacher education colleges were launched in 2004 under the governance of two nationwide policy bodies–the Council for Higher Education and the Ministry of Education–each holding different ideologies regarding the nature of these studies: one in accordance with a ‘transmissive’ and the other a ‘transformative’ model of professional development. In transmissive models, teachers are viewed as passive recipients, consumers of academic knowledge to be applied in practice, while in transformative ones, they act as self-inquirers, creating their own knowledge and acquiring professional autonomy. The dual subordination of the colleges of education to the two governing bodies raises the question which of these ideologies shaped the nature of the Master’s programs in teacher education. Respondents were 820 practicing teachers who had graduated in the years 2005–2015. The research focused on their motivations to study, their perceptions regarding the added value of the programs, and the effect these programs had on their actual professional development. Findings indicated that the dual subordination of teacher colleges to the two governing bodies, which have conflicting messages, interfered with full adaptation of the transformative model of professional development.