Jewish Portal of Teacher Education

Source: International Conference on Teacher Education

Once every few years, since 1993, the teacher education system in Israel holds an international conference on teacher education. The Sixth International Conference, titled “Changing Reality through Education”, will be held at David Yellin Academic College of Education in Jerusalem, in cooperation with The MOFET Institute in Tel Aviv on July 2-4, 2013. It will deal with various topics on the public and social agenda.

The conference will reflect the public discourse in Israel and the world at large in the wake of demands for social justice and equality. This call for social reform is accompanied by a growing awareness of the devaluation in the status of public education and teacher education. Accelerated globalization, fueled by technology and a combination of economic and political forces, all impact on society’s perception of the roles of education and the educator. Extensive reforms and advances in education seek to professionalize those involved in teaching. The resulting challenges facing teacher education, teacher educators, and the teachers themselves, are becoming increasingly complex.

The conference aims to provide a forum for researchers, educators and teacher educators to address these issues.

The conference will focus on the role of education in leading social change, based on the premise that education embodies an unequaled potential for the advancement of the individual and society.

The conference will center around two main themes:

• Educators and their influence on learners
• The interaction between society and education

Among the Keynote speakers to address the conference will be:

• Prof. Tamar Ariav, Beit Berl College, Israel
• Dr. Zvi Bekerman, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
• Prof. Michal Beller, National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation, Ministry of Education, Israel
• Prof. Miriam Ben-Peretz, Haifa University, Israel
• Prof. Michael Connelly, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Canada
• Prof. Sharon Feiman - Nemser, Mandel Center for studies in Jewish Education
• Prof. Drew Gitomer, Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE), New Jersey, USA
• Prof. Jonathan Halevy, Sharee Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
• Prof. Taisir Subhi-Yamin, The International Centre for Innovation in Education (ICIE), Ulm, Germany
• Prof. Henry Levin, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA

For conference information and registration, see the conference website.