Search

The Dovrat Committee (2004) in Israel, pointed up the need for radical change in teacher training programs and recommended introducing school reform programs, such as the New Horizons and the Courage to Change reforms, implemented in the Israeli education system over recent years. The article reviews future teachers' needs that necessitate changes in the education provided by teacher training colleges. It describes research examining teachers' professional identity development and desirable characteristics for the future teacher. Participants were 23 student-teachers studying in an M.Teach degree course. The research investigated their attitudes and perceptions concerning the image of the future teacher.

The Corona pandemic caused 'disruption' in the world of higher education and required a transition to emergency remote teaching (ERT). Lecturers and students experienced disruption in the familiar processes of teaching and learning. Yet, about a year after the outbreak of the pandemic, a routine of remote teaching was reached. The study examines the perspectives of students at a teacher training college in northern Israel regarding their satisfaction with the remote learning during that year. The findings indicate challenges and successes as well as better academic preparedness for the second semester. A significant increase in the students' satisfaction occurred in all indices examined. A strong connection was found between the students' emotions and coping with remote learning and their appreciation of the lecturers' and the college's functioning. During the second semester, the students reported greater motivation to study, higher concentration, greater participation in lessons, greater interest in the studied material, and fewer distractions than in the first semester. The students adapted, participated more and felt greater engagement with their studies, and hence, their satisfaction with remote learning increased. These insights are valuable when dealing with education, remote teaching in general, and designing teaching and learning in higher education in particular.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to respond in new and unconventional ways. Quick thinking and unusual flexibility were required whilst operating under conditions of uncertainty and fear. This article deals with agility in the implementation of distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic as it occurred at Ohalo College of Education with the outbreak of the epidemic in Israel in March 2020. Within 48 hours from the moment that Israel's government announced a nation-wide lockdown, the College shifted from frontal teaching and learning to social distancing and distance teaching. The College adopted agile leadership that led to moving 700 courses to distance learning and teaching, with 150 lecturers and 1,500 students in their homes; the semester continued, but differently, in light of the lockdown and limitations ordered by the government. It is clear that such swift organization, executed with maximum flexibility, did not benefit from proper planning and was far perfect. This article offers a look at academic agility as demonstrated during the transition of a college of education to distance learning under emergency conditions. It will be examined through an analysis of survey responses from students. The goal of the survey was to assess students' attitudes toward the implementation of this strategy.

The present article aims to throw some light and clarify the image of the "teacher leader" as it is seen from the viewpoint of graduates and trainees in the M. Ed. program at the Ohalo Academic College. This research offers a porthole through which it is possible to observe their future role. The main research questions examined (1) How is the image of the teacher-leader visualized by the research's population? (2) What is the desired image of the teacher-leader as described by the respondents? Which leadership traits are seen by the respondents as the most dominant/meaningful? (3) Is there a difference between the respondents' perception of the term "teacher-leader" and their perception of the term "teacher"? (4) Is it possible to identify a main pattern that emerges from the analysis of all the respondents' answers to the statements and the open-ended questions? The responses to the research questions were derived from mixed method data collection and analysis. The research instrument was a validated questionnaire that was distributed to graduates and trainees in the studied program (N = 137). 54 questionnaires were completed. The main findings indicate that all the indices investigated in the quantitative part of the questionnaire, received high grades. Thus, the image of the teacher-leader is described as an exalted role, with distinguished characteristics and especially personal relations with pupils and their staff. The mean personal relationship index was the characteristic that received the highest grades (4.76). The reliability of the indices, as measured by Cronbach's a (a = 0.853) was found to be very high. In the qualitative part of the questionnaire, respondents were asked to conduct a deep observation and express it in their own authentic words: the respondents' "voice". Analysis of the responses found that the most dominant categories related to the index of personal characteristics (49) in relation to the "teacher-leader" and the teacher. Two main axes were identified from the processing of the different findings: a high level for the index of interpersonal relations with pupils and colleagues, and the central position of personal characteristics. In short, analysis of all the findings identified that there was a main trend whereby the graduates and trainees of the program see the image of the teacher-leader as holding distinct personality traits for leadership. These characteristics were translated in practice into strategies for educational work that could empower pupils, which would be expressed in improved learning achievements.

The study aims to evaluate in real time the level of PTs' satisfaction with distance learning in three main aspects: lecturers, college's functioning and self-appraisal of learning practices with distance learning in a teacher training campus. It can be defined as an action research, to understand and improve the quality of the educative process in an agile way during the crisis. Through the lens of performance improvement theory, we sought to determine if Preservice Teachers satisfaction with learning remotely would change over time because of institutional preparedness and faculty support. The sample group consisted of n=183 PTs 'in the first semester (31% Return percentage), N=193 in the second semester (32% Return percentage) and N=284 (47% Return percentage in the third semester (out of 600 Preservice Teachers'). The findings indicate both challenges and successes. In the second and third semesters, PTs' reported higher levels of motivation, desire to learn, concentration taking an active part in class, and interest in the studied material, focusing on the lesson and ignoring distracting factors compared to the first semester. Preservice Teachers" coping with distance learning during the third semester were significantly better than the previous two semesters. Their evaluation of the lecturers' at third semester was significantly higher. Preservice Teachers has perceived the lecturers' role as an anchor of stability in the sea of change. The findings indicate the speed at which PTs's adopted the innovative changes during the crisis. However, their evaluation of the college at the second semester was better than at the first and third semesters. These findings are important, as they shine a spotlight on associations between PTs' satisfactions during times of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presco points out the complexity involved in evaluation in higher education, particularly in teacher training colleges. New curricula at the Ohalo College included several structural changes in the student-teachers' practical work experience and the structure of the practicum in the studied discipline. Following these changes we initiated a process to formulate common standards for the evaluation of student-teachers' test lessons. The research tool was a questionnaire administered to a population of 256 student-teachers studying in courses for pre-school and school teachers at the college. The study was designed to examine whether the current methods of evaluation achieved their goal in light of changes in the curriculum. Additionally, new evaluation tools were designed to be used in the near future and these will be tested in a second stage of the research. The evaluation tools were designed in order to ensure a common basis of criteria for evaluation and a common professional language for all the studied disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]