Guidelines for Teacher Training
In recent years the question of teacher training and the educational system have been at the center of public debate in Israel and the world at large. Various committees/bodies have been formed to deal with the matter.
In the course of the years, the Council for Higher Education has considered the subject of teacher training as well as the question of the need to make changes in the curriculum for the training of teachers in order to raise the quality of the instruction and increase the percentage of graduates who choose teaching as a career.
In May of 2005 the Council decided to establish a committee headed by Prof. Tamar Ariav, which would submit proposals for guidelines for a teacher training curriculum, a guide which would be common to all institutions of higher education offering programs for the training of teachers . According to its Letter of Appointment, the Committee was mandated to deal with the academic standing of curricula leading to a Teaching Certificate and to upgrade the “guiding model” for teacher training programs leading to the degree of B.Ed.
The Committee was composed of experts in the field of education from the universities, the colleges for education and the Ministry of Education. During its work, the Committee consulted additional experts in the field of education and representatives of the higher education institutions with teacher training programs, and earned their broad support for its recommendations.
The final report of the Ariav Committee, in which the subject was examined in depth, was discussed by the Council of November 21, 2006. With due recognition of the value of the report to advancing the system of teacher training, the Council decided to adopt the Committee’s suggestions in the report. Follow this link to view the decision as it was approved by the Council for Higher Education
The Guidelines for Teacher Training establish the outline for programs of teacher training in every academic framework recognized by the Council for Higher Education. They replace all previous guidelines of the Council for Higher Education.
Following this decision, all curricula for teacher training will be examined (whether they are in the context of an academic degree or for a Teaching Certificate) according to the guidelines and every institution will have to conform to them.
Note that according to Paragraph 13 in the matter of a “transition period”, institutions which now have curricula for teacher training must complete compliance with the abovementioned guidelines by the beginning of the 2010/2011 academic year.
Reporting on compliance of the existing curricula is to be submitted directly to the Council of Higher Education, and may be started immediately. Existing curricula which conform to the new guidelines can be made operational on the receipt of specific approval from the Council for Higher Education. Only after receiving approval is an institution entitled to implement a curriculum in the new format.
As a first step, every institution must report its assessment of its deployment with respect to the decision of the Council of Higher Education within a year of its publication (December 2007).
New requests to implement a program of study for teacher training in the context of studies toward an academic degree will be examined according to the following:
1. Requests which were submitted and for which a committee has already been established to examine them will be updated and examined according to the new guidelines prior to the stage of accreditation.
2. Requests which were submitted, but for which no committee has yet been formed to examine them, will be updated and examined according to the guidelines from the moment an examination committee is appointed.
3. Requests which will be submitted in the future will be examined according to the guidelines from the moment they are submitted.
Requests to implement new programs of study in academic colleges of education will be subject to the planning/budgeting approval of the Ministry of Education prior to being submitted and examined by the Council for Higher Education.
On January 23, 2007 a monitoring committee was appointed to implement the Guidelines for Teacher Training, headed by Prof. Tamar Ariav. As a first step in the process of implementation, the committee decided to draw up two documents whose aim is to assist institutions in modifying their existing curricula to conform to the new guidelines and to submit them for approval to the Council for Higher Education.
(1) Instructions for submitting a report on existing programs of study for a Bachelor's degree combined with a Teaching Certificate (the present document).
(2) Instructions for submitting a report on existing programs of study for a Teaching Certificate for academics.
It is possible to download the instructions from the Council for Higher Education web site.
For Additional Information
Contact the unit for accreditation of colleges of education:
Dr. Varda Ben Shaul, In Charge of Accreditation of Colleges of Education: varda@che.org.il
Ephrat Saguy, Senior Coordinator for Accreditation of Colleges of Education: efrat@che.org.il
Batya Hekelman, Coordinator for Accreditation of Colleges of Education batya@che.org.il
Telephone: 02-5679929, 02-5679905, 02-5679954Fax: 02-567-9955
Address:
The Council for Higher Education
Unit for Accreditation of Colleges of Education
43 Jabotinsky Street POB, 4037
Jerusalem 91040