Section archive - Teacher Education

Following the almost worldwide implementation of policies giving all students – including those with special education needs – the right to learn within the general education system, there has been a sharp increase in the number of inclusion assistants (IA). IAs provide special-needs students one-to-one accompaniment, allowing them to function in the general education classroom and reducing the onus on the classroom teacher in such cases. Unfortunately, many, if not most, of IAs enter the system without suitable training or special qualifications and often neither they nor the teachers have a clear idea of how they should fulfill their role. This exploratory study used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to identify and compare how 30 classroom teachers and IAs define the IA’s role. It also studied how eight IAs changed their perception of their roles after attending an IA training course and what the implications of such courses may be.

The paper presents a telecollaboration project between 54 pre-service teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) studying at a teacher training college in Israel and a university in Germany. The telecollaboration involved a collaborative Project Based Learning Task (PBLT) in which the students compared and evaluated the ways EFL is taught in their respective contexts. The purpose of this ongoing study is to provide pre-service EFL teachers with an apprenticeship of learning ways that technology can be used to transcend classroom walls for virtual mobility and cooperation. It specifically intends to determine how such an apprenticeship can strengthen student teachers’ belief in their ability to implement telecollaboration in their own teaching.

Over the past couple of years, I have taught second-year rabbinical students at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah the pedagogy of teaching Talmud and other rabbinic texts. This experience has prompted me to ask whether there is any difference between training rabbis and non-rabbis to teach rabbinic texts. What distinct dynamics are present, of which my students should be made aware, when a rabbi teaches a rabbinic text? In order to explore this question, and as part of a broader theoretical and empirical study of Talmud pedagogy, I recently conducted interviews with several American Talmud and rabbinics educators (of different denominational affiliations) who have taught in rabbinical schools. I asked, “What is different about teaching Talmud pedagogy to future rabbis, as opposed to non-rabbis?” Their responses, presented below, provide useful self-reporting of how they conceptualize their teaching practice in the context of rabbinical school.

Matan is pleased to inform you of an exciting opportunity for aspiring female Jewish educators who are eager to make a positive lasting impact upon the Jewish community: The Bellows Eshkolot Educators Institute for Tanakh and Jewish Studies. In August 2016, Matan opened The Eshkolot Institute to train a cadre of expert female teachers and leaders who are equipped to tackle the specific needs of Jewish schools and their students, and spark passion for Jewish learning, the State of Israel and Am Yisrael. Eshkolot offers current educators and recent college graduates pursuing a career in Jewish education the opportunity to study at Matan’s Jerusalem campus, and an option to earn an MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew University—all within one year.