Section archive - Teacher Education Programs

The purpose of this paper is describe the authors' pedagogical framework for the twenty-first-century learning practices in teacher education. The authors argue that teacher education has been challenged by the need to enhance the new teachers’ ability to implement new pedagogical approaches and take advantage of ICT for teaching and learning. Since the current way of working in teacher education does not match well enough the needs of twenty-first-century learning environments, such as inquiry-based learning approaches that focus upon collaboration and social forms of learning, as well as the use of ICT. According to the authors' approach, pre-service teachers are educated in a way they are supposed to teach their future students.

In this study, the authors examined the design of a short-term study abroad program for inservice teachers and the impact of the program on both teachers’ intercultural competence development and their teaching beliefs and practices. The authors conclude that study abroad programs offer a unique opportunity for teachers to develop intercultural competency and teaching beliefs through intercultural immersion experiences. They also emphasize that teacher educators interested in integrating study abroad programs in professional development programs need to design intentional and meaningful integration of cultural experiences, teaching opportunities, language learning, reflection, and collaboration.

Two facts should be considered by those concerned with the teaching workforce in Israel. The first is that the profession does not attract 'the best and the brightest' needed for education in the 21st century and that for many applicants it is a default option. The second is that rapid changes in the employment market force many workers to abandon one type of work for another. The challenge is to recruit them and then properly train them in both pre-service education and continuous professional development, while creating conditions to insure their retention in the system. In this context the accelerated programs have been found to make a positive contribution. In Israel alternative teacher training programs for retired army personnel are well-known as is the recommendation of the Dovrat committee (2005) to allow graduates with B.A. degrees to enter teaching before obtaining a teaching license.

The authors argue that mathematics and science teachers must be culturally efficacious and engage in responsive practices to work effectively with English learners (ELs). They claim that the design of teacher preparation programs plays an integral role in the efficacy development of the teacher. The findings reveal that program and school-context experiences work in tandem to support mathematics and science teachers’ efficacy in working with ELs. The qualitative evidence indicates that these secondary mathematics and science teachers are supported through Accelerated Teacher Education Program (ATEP) to become culturally efficacious. Specifically, for mathematics and science teachers working with ELs, ATEP program sources of efficacy include the cohort model–community of practice.