Teaching as a second career for former High-Tech personnel
from Hi-Tec to Highschool
The Vision:
The education system is suffering from an acute lack of teachers of STEM subjects in the elementary schools and particularly in the junior high and high schools.
The above program reaches out to engineers in the middle of their careers (ages 45-55), who feel a need to for change, to go through a unique one-year training program and become teachers in the education system.
The Action:
Since the opening of the program in the 2013-2014 school year, more than 1,300 teachers have been trained and over 75% of them are now teaching in the schools. About 60% of them are teachers of mathematics at various levels. The rest are teachers of physics, computer sciences, chemistry, biology and science. The demand for these teachers is great and many of them have become unit heads.
Researching the Program
2016 – the Szold Institute conducted an evaluation research on the program.
Among their findings:
- A much higher percentage of persistence than the norm in the education system.
- The main motivations of these new teachers are the search for significance and the desire to contribute and to change the education system.
- There is a lot of displeasure regarding the bureaucratic institutions of the Ministry of Education.
2002 – the Research Authority of The MOFET Institute conducted another evaluation research.
Among their findings:
- Great satisfaction from this unique training program alongside recommendations to add practical content.
- Here too (as in the previous research) – a lot of displeasure regarding the bureaucratic institutions of the Ministry of Education.
Call for Action:
From here – at The MOFET Institute, we reach out to our colleagues worldwide to contact us in order to share and discuss similar programs, and or other thoughts and solutions to teaching personnel issues.