Section archive - Teacher Education

This case study explores how teacher education curriculum in a college in Israel responded to the Covid-19 outbreak. The article focuses on the clinical component of the preservice curriculum (practice teaching and methods courses). It reveals that curriculum became malleable in two major ways: there was (1) a shift to learner-centered well-being and social emotional learning (SEL); and (2) an adaptation of teaching methods.

The purpose of this study is to assess the level of digital literacies and digital readiness of students majoring in education. The research method includes a questionnaire comprising 54 items. The sample consists of 1265 students. The results show that more than half of the participants report an overall high level of literacy in all areas. Their sense of readiness for teamwork and their ethical readiness is high. Nonetheless, a low sense of readiness is found in a first and advanced order of readiness. The practical implications of these findings are crucial, as they can assist faculty and educational policymakers identify the strengths and weaknesses of students’ digital literacies.

In September, the London School of Jewish Studies is introducing a new programme combining leadership skills and Jewish studies. The Teach to Lead programme, based on the Teach First model, will develop high-calibre Jewish studies teachers across primary and secondary schools. The new cohort will be tasked with re-envisioning Jewish education for the 21st century to ensure we don’t only replicate old methods and approaches but bring new perspectives and solutions. They will have the opportunities to learn from practitioners around the Jewish world. They must be able to think creatively about what our young people need today to respond to Jewish ideas and how to nurture thinking Jews who are strong in their identity, knowledgeable about their heritage and passionate about their Jewish faith.

The paper will first describe the challenges that the Israeli teacher education colleges faced during the Coronavirus outbreak. It will then present an initiative launched by the Israeli Ministry of Education (MoE) to open an alternative route of an initial teacher education programme geared towards academics who lost their jobs as a result of the epidemic and are interested in re-training themselves to become teachers. The final part will discuss the main conclusions and reflections on the situation which can be drawn at this point in time.