Authors: Daniel Sperling, Shunit Reiter and Liat Josefsberg Ben-Yehoshua
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The review discusses the status of aging people with intellectual and developmental disability, examines their health-related, emotional, social and cognitive characteristics and looks for the ways to assess, measure, diagnose and discuss the needs of this group of people. Its purpose it to establish an evidence-based infrastructure to examine various treatment and care aimed at this group of people, thereby meeting their needs and special characteristics. The theoretical standpoint of this review combines the humanistic and the social approaches to disability in locating, assessing, and caring for this group of people.
The review includes research and practical knowledge from Israel and other countries, specifically the US, England, Australia and Ireland. Examination of the different social services aimed at this population, the relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies as well as the establishment of social policy addressing the needs and care for these peoples may serve policy makers in constituting and applying policy adequate to their special needs. A policy which will take into consideration the various aspects discussed in this review will correspond to principles of humanism and democracy and promote the wellbeing of aging people with intellectual disabilities in effective and continuing ways.
Authors: Amalia Ran
Chief Editor: Liat Josefsberg Ben-Yehoshua
Academic Advisor: Orna Schatz Oppenheimer, Adi binhas
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Abstract:
This literature review focuses on teacher education and integration of Israeli teachers from Ethiopian descent in the field of education and the schools system in Israel. The review presents the training process of students and graduates within the framework of special and alternative programs as well as in general education programs in academic colleges for education and in universities. Moreover, the review focuses on the integration of Israeli teachers and school principals of Ethiopian descent in the educational field and the teaching profession.
By examining the data on teacher education and terms of employment of Israeli teachers of Ethiopian descent (particularly in recent years, from 2011 to 2016), this review seeks to estimate the extent of their integration in the public sphere in particular, and in the Israeli society in general. This research goal is part of a wider strategic plan to promote the integration of teachers of Ethiopian descent as a social motor and as means for creating educational and public leadership in Israel. We should emphasize that due to the complexity of this subject and the limitations of this literature review, rather than focusing on the cultural, ethnic, racial, discriminatory or other aspects, which impact on the professional integration, we will study in this framework the structural obstacles with which teachers of Ethiopian descent face during their job search and integration in the field, and we will point out alternative ways to overcome these impediments.
Author and Editor: Daniel Sperling
Chief Editor: Liat Josefsberg Ben-Yehoshua
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Abstract
The literature review describes and analyzes various models of inter-cultural online learning and discusses their effect on reduction of social gaps and discriminatory attitudes as well as decrease of digital, educational, and economical gaps among participants. The review analyzes four such models: TEC center (Israel); Dissolving Boundaries (Ireland); Global Class (Canada) and Soyia Connect Program.
Reviewing the research referring to these models point to positive change in the attitudes of participants in these programs towards their peers from hostile or different culture. However, their contribution to inter-group anxiety, prejudice and trust in the long-term Is less clear. This is due to the limitations of the research on these models. These limitations refer to the research longevity, to the question of whether participants represent the general public and to their tendency to reply sincere answers to the research questions given the subject queried.
Aside these difficulties, the review points to the solid support of the contribution of these online learning programs in improving the communication and social skills of their participants. More research is needed, however, to examine in more depth the contribution of these programs to the social sphere in which they operate.
Author and Editor: Daniel Sperling
Chief Editor: Liat Josefsberg Ben-Yehoshua
Academic Advisor: Gal Fisher
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Abstract:
The review examines and discusses different mechanisms of teacher professional development at school. After presenting the importance of teacher professional learning, the review analyzes the question of whether there should exist criteria to assess teacher professional development and discusses the principles upon which such criteria can be established. It then refers to studies on organizational aspects of teacher professional development which are aimed at improving teaching practices and student achievement. It discusses organizational factors that may influence teacher learning at workplace, including structural, cultural and socio-psychological factors. In addition, the review examines the way resources are allocated and used for this purpose. Included in this discussion are the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders at school: managers, supervisors and those with a special position promoting professional teacher development at school.
Another part of the review includes discussion of teacher perceptions and views regarding these organizational factors and on their connection to the perceived contribution of teacher professional learning. Finally, it also examines and discusses various practical models of teacher professional development in the US (video clubs, My teaching partner, National writing program), Finland and Singapore to explore using organizational factors and mechanisms at school to facilitate effective teacher professional learning and promote it.
Author: Amalia Ran
Chief Editor: Liat Josefsberg Ben-Yehoshua
Academic Advisor: Gal Fisher
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Abstract:
This literary review seeks to assess the contribution of advanced degrees for promoting the quality of education with special focus on master degrees in education, in order to estimate the justification of governmental support for such policy. There are several goals for the policy of encouraging educators to complete advanced degrees and of maintaining continuous learning by providing salary incentives: to respond to the shortage of qualified teachers in the education system; to keep qualified teachers in the education system; to contribute to teaching improvement; and to improve students’ performance in exams.
Author: Daniel Sperling
Chief Editor: Liat Josefsberg Ben-Yehoshua
Academic Advisor: Rivka Wadmany and Ofra Inbar
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Abstract
The literature review describes models of various programs of teacher education around the world. After short introduction of such programs including theoretical approaches to their understanding, the review offers a detailed examination of different traditional and alternative programs in the US, Finland, Singapore, England, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand. In the last part of the review a discussion of the main findings addresses many aspects arising from these models. Such aspects refer
to the relative weight and content given to the practical experience of student teachers within these programs, to the programs’ staff, to their theoretical strength, to the extent that they include reflection and to the different perceptions that constitute their formation and content. Also discussed are the influence of standards for teaching profession on these programs, the admission requirements and the responsibility on the admission process, the extent to which these programs are centralized/decentralized as well as on their cultural sensitiveness and adaptability. The discussion of the different models and the comparison between them may pave the way to establish a required teacher education program that will advance and promote the charater to the proper teachers to be.
Authors: Amalia Ran
Chief Editor: Liat Josefsberg Ben-Yehoshua
Academic Advisor: Adam Haisraeli
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Abstract:
This literary review focuses on policies of non-formal education around the globe with particular emphasis on governmental and national policies concerning social, moral and community education during school hours and in extracurricular frameworks for 12-18-year-old students. The review examines which agencies, institutions and formal organizations offer non-formal education activities for the target population, which perceptions guide national goals, which official governmental policies in regards to non-formal education exist in different countries, and how these countries subsidize these goals through different ministerial agencies.
Research indicates that non-formal education assists in fostering interpersonal relationships, in promoting the ties with the community, in developing norms and skills required for the labor market, and in dedicating a growing awareness for global and social affairs, such as war against violence, racism, environmental affairs, otherness, multiculturalism, resolving conflicts in peaceful measures, etc. Research found that voluntary activities in youth movements and in other youth organizations in the community contributed to the acquisition of moral values and of higher social awareness toward adolescents’ lives as adults in the society. The reviewed countries recognize the importance of non-formal education and assume the ministerial responsibility concerning supervision on different programs, which are embedded in the formal education system. Moreover, the reviewed countries encourage the ties between governmental agencies and between the representatives of different organizations of non-formal education (for example, student councils and youth councils), while assisting in isseminating contents on social equality, political and social activism, cultural enrichment, and proficiency in 21-century skills.
Authors: Amalia Ran
Chief Editor: Liat Josefsberg Ben-Yehoshua
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Abstract:
The Draft for Instructing Guidelines was proposed by Ariav Committee in the year of 2006 in order to consolidate a uniformed policy for teacher education in Israel in the Colleges of Education and the universities. The draft was the last link in a series of reforms on the academic, organizational and systematic aspects of teacher education programs in institutions of higher education in Israel. It focused on three principal fields: Improving the quality of graduates in teacher education programs; adjusting teacher education programs to current trends in developed countries; reinforcing the status of teacher education programs in the system of higher education in Israel. This literature review focuses on investigations completed in the years 2006-2016, which studied the weaknesses and strengths during the process of implementing the guidelines
in teacher education institutions in Israel, as well as the difficulties in this process, challenges and different assessments for measuring the success of implementing the guidelines. In this review, we will analyze researches that focused on three aspects: historical and cultural aspects; statistical data and quantitative assessments; and institutional and pedagogical characteristics. Moreover, this literature review summarizes several recent scholarly works (2016), which examine the implementation of the guidelines in contemporary curricula, particularly in “alternative” programs, as well as teacher education programs in designated professions (mathematics, English and sciences), and in incorporating the subjects of diversity and cultural/national differences in teacher education. In this way, the present literature review seeks to enhance the task of the Committee for Reexamining the Structure and Guidelines for
Teacher Education in Institutions of Higher Education in Israel on behalf of the Council of Higher Education, by examining the implementation of the guidelines and by assessing the prospective challenges to professionals in the field of teacher education in Israel.