Activity type:
Activity period: 2020-2021
In recent years, a leading stratum of outstanding teachers in fields of science has begun to emerge, taking on roles that involve development, accompaniment and guidance in their subject areas – they are master teachers. These teachers manifest excellence in their fields – whether as instructors and mentors to their teacher-colleagues, or as educational and professional knowledge leaders in subject matter areas. In Israel, at present, there are no institutionalized professional development tracks targeting this stratum of teachers.
The Trump Foundation, which works to promote excellence in mathematics and science education in Israel, approached Yozma – Center for Knowledge and Research in Education with a request to form a thinking and development group. The objective of the group is to extract knowledge regarding the needs, challenges and aims of master teachers in the sciences field.
The development group is comprised of master teachers in the fields of mathematics, physics and chemistry who meet monthly to discuss the characteristics of their role and the milestones needed for its continued development. The group’s output will be a position paper that will drive establishment of institutionalized professional development tracks for master teachers.
The meetings of the working group will, among other things, address the following topics:
- Expressions of master-level teaching in the science fields in Israel
- The uniqueness in the profile of master teachers in the various knowledge areas
- Analysis of the optimal conditions for professional development of master teachers
Group members (in alphabetical order):
Assaf Dvir | Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium; Levinsky College of Education
Dr. Dvora katchevich | Weizmann Institute of Science
Yaffa Korlanskey | Weizmann Institute of Science; Leo Baeck High School, Haifa
Dr. Smadar Levy | Weizmann Institute of Science
Fatena Marjie| Ministry of Education
Kobi Schwartzbord | Weizmann Institute of Science; Leo Baeck High School, Haifa
Geula Sever | Hof HaCarmel Joint School and Ministry of Education
Eli Shalev | Hebrew University High School in Jerusalem; Hemda Rehovot-Ness Tziona
Anna Vaknin | Amal Educational Network
Dr. Ruth Waldman| Weizmann Institute of Science; Atid Lod High School for Sciences