Arye Perlberg

Stress in Academe A Cross-Cultural Comparison between Israeli and American Academicians

This study of the sources and patterns of occupational stress experienced by Israeli faculty members is a partial replication of a study of faculty stress in American universities reported by Gmelch, Lorvich, and Wilke (1983, 1984). A total of 100 faculty members drawn from all Israeli universities were sampled. They were asked to fill out a Hebrew version of the questionnaire developed by Gmelch et al. to measure the degree of stress resulting from various sources and the overall intensity of stress experienced on the job. Comparison of the responses to the questionnaire revealed a high degree of similarity between the two cultures in the patterns of the results. Both the Americans and the Israelis ranked the sources of stress similarly. The intensity of stress experienced by Israelis, however, was reportedly lower than that of their American colleagues. Possible explanations for this difference are offered.

Sources of stress in academe - the Israeli case

The effects of stress on the physical and psychological well being of people in different professions and occupations have become, in the last decade, the focal interest of researchers and clinicians. There is a growing body of evidence that stress, adversely affects the performance, productivity, job satisfaction, health and the general quality of life of professionals and people in general (Farber, 1983; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Originally, research on stress focused on the “helping professions” and “human services” occupations (Cherniss, 1980; Farber, 1983). More recently, other occupations which involve continuous, intensive interpersonal relationships between people, have been investigated and were found to be a potential source of stress (Holt, 1982). The growing interest in the study of stress and its manifestations resulted among others in newly defined concepts such as: burnout, tedium, wear and tear, deadwoods, midlife crisis, etc. (Maslach and Jackson, 1979; Manuso, 1979; Freudenberger, 1980; Pines, Aronson and Kafry, 1981; Farber, 1983).

When Professors Confront Themselves: Towards a Theoretical Conceptualization of Video Self-Confrontation in Higher Education.

The use of video self-confrontation (VSC)Throughout the paper, the abbreviation VSC will be used for video self-confrontation. as a method to reinforce desired behaviors or induce changes in human behavior, has been increasing in recent years. The major reviewers of the literature on VSC in the last three decades point out that there is relatively little qualitative and quantitative research which explores the underlying processes of VSC and its theoretical conceptualization. Moreover, there is still a need to prove many of the claims advanced by practitioners about the effectiveness of VSC.This article reviews two of the theoretical conceptualizations and tentative explanations of the VSC process. The first is based on affect, such as self-confrontation, dissonance, anxiety, stress, distress and eustress. The second explanation is based on a cognitive and information-processing approach and includes: feedback, self-concept, self-efficacy and attribution theories. The article describes an emerging integrated conceptualization which may provide better insight into the process which should be the focus of further studies.The main purpose of VSC in higher education is to improve teaching-learning processes. Facultys commitment to this purpose is determined by many factors, such as: their perception and attitudes towards the research/teaching dichotomy and the universitys reward system; their motivation and concepts of self-efficacy and self-fulfillment; and their attribution mechanisms of success or failure in teaching. All these factors greatly influence their readiness to be motivated in VSC processes and the effectiveness of their VSC uses. VSC is a powerful technique which has a great potential in facilitating behavioral changes. It can cause harm or be wasted if not used properly. Suggestions for optimal uses are presented.

Patterns and styles in the supervision of teachers

This paper is an edited version of ‘The patterns and styles in the supervision of teachers in individual conferences following classroom observations’, which was first presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association at Chicago in 1972. This edition of the original material has been prepared for the British Journal of Teacher Education by George Brown, University of Nottingham.

Evaluation of Instruction in Higher Education: Some Critical Issues.

Critical issues arising from the evaluation of instruction in higher education are reviewed. The purposes of evaluation (for reward and accountability, for improvement of instruction) and identity of the evaluations (students, reporters, peers, administrators, consultants) are discussed and a plea made for tying evaluation to systematic training schemes.

The Use of Laboratory Systems in Improving University Teaching.

The problem of improving university teaching is reviewed and is seen as part of the process of re-education and change analysed by Lewin (1948) and others. A “teaching laboratory” is proposed including provision for feedback mechanism, self-confrontation processes, simulation and micro-teaching. Case studies of the use of micro-teaching and video recording are reported.

Training of teachers in strategies that develop independent learning skills in their pupils

Summary This study explored various aspects of independent learning and should be considered a multi‐purpose project. In the first place, an attempt was made to identify some salient components of independent learning. We would not claim that independent learning consists of these components only; on the contrary, we assume that there are individual differences in the style and techniques of the independent learner. The justification for training teachers in this strategy is that it tries to develop more favourable pupil attitudes towards learning and thought processes such as fluency, divergency, analysis, synthesis, etc., which are considered important educational goals. Skills in locating and using materials and sources of information are agreed upon as important, but little is done to improve them. The second phase of the study focused on the teacher training strategy. The usual inservice education programmes, in universities or other settings, consist mainly of lectures and discussions. Workshops or ...

Towards new teacher education models

∗This paper is based on a report of a Research Project of the Israel Foundation Trustees in the framework of a Ford Foundation Grant carried out in 1977 (Perlberg & Kremer, 1977). Another paper based on this report, entitled ‘Systems Approach and the Renewal of Teacher Education’, focuses more extensively on Competency Based Teacher Education (CBTE) and was submitted for publication in the British Journal of Educational Technology.

An interdisciplinary research approach to manpower planning and development-an Israeli case study

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to describe a model for interdisciplinary research and to analyze the problems inherent in the application of this methodology. The discussion is illustrated by an analysis of a case study of the seafaring occupations in Israel.