Miriam Ben-Peretz

How teachers in different educational contexts view their roles

Abstract Based on the premise that teachers’ perceptions of their professional roles are closely linked to their self images and their impact on the learning and achievement of their students, a study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the context of teachers’ work and their views of themselves as professionals. Sixty teachers in Israeli vocational senior high schools participated in the study. Half taught high-achieving and half low-achieving students. Teachers’ professional images of self were uncovered by asking them to match their images of themselves as teachers with drawings of other, carefully chosen, occupations and to comment on their choices. The use of metaphoric pictures was found to be a meaningful vehicle for raising teachers’ awareness of their roles and functions in school. The major finding of this study was that the teaching context has a significant impact on teachers’ images of their professional selves. The caring metaphor, for instance, is more prevalent in some educational situations than in others, leading to potential pedagogical implications. The rejection of some images proved to be no less important than the positive choices. It is argued that metaphoric pictures could serve not only as research instruments but also as an instructional tool in teacher education programs.

Professional Thinking in Guided Practice.

Abstract The paper describes and analyzes the interactions between university tutors, cooperating teachers, and the student teachers in guided practice situations. The main aim of the study was to gain insights into the mode of interaction and the nature of massages transmitted in a variety of settings of practice teaching. The study reveals the dominance of evaluative comments made by cooperating teachers and their focus on issues of content. Alternative approaches and teaching modes were mentioned only rarely, cooperating teachers seem to rely mostly on their own wisdom of practice and tend to transmit traditions of “succesful” teaching modes. Student teachers were mostly passive and the mode of interaction authoritative. The paper suggests a distinction between an “incremental” versus a “comprehensive” practicum. It is suggested to focus on issue-specific post-lesson conferences which are planned jointly by student teachers, cooperating teachers, and university tutors.

Educators of educators: their goals, perceptions and practices

Teacher educators prepare future teachers, and their own professional development is essential for successful teaching and learning in schools. Our study aims at understanding teacher educators’ professional development (TEPD) from the unique perspective of a group of educators who are regularly involved in planning, managing and implementing varied professional development programs for teacher educators. Data analysis was performed along the lines of the ‘grounded theory’ traditions in qualitative research. Working theories were derived from the participants’ statements as to the preferable course of TEPD. These evolved around three mental images of the professionally well‐developed teacher educator: the model pedagogue; the reflective, self‐studying practitioner; and the developer of professional identities. These three working theories were followed by a fourth one relating to TEPD from the teacher educators’ own point of view. The implications of this study for teacher educators and teacher education are discussed in the paper.

Does Teachers' Negotiation of Personal Cases in an Interactive Cyber Forum Contribute to Their Professional Learning?.

In this article, we explore an interactive learning process in a digital forum that focused on personal cases drawn from student teachers’ classroom experience. To this end, we combined theoretical and methodological frameworks of knowledge‐based and discourse‐analytic perspectives that enabled us to uncover evidence showing what the students may have learnt and how this process of learning unfolded. Following Shulman’s categories of knowledge, a priori content analysis highlighted the contents of the learning process. In addition, the four‐world analysis focused on the interactional dimensions of the forum. The first analysis revealed lack of references to theory and intensive investment in the interpersonal domain (context knowledge category). The second analysis foregrounded the discursive construction of two collectives of student teachers: the experienced and the inexperienced whose verbal behavior echoed the tense co‐existence of new teachers and old timers. The implications of these findings for teacher education programs are presented at the end of the article.

The Content and Context of Professional Dilemmas Encountered by Novice and Senior Teachers

Abstract The study was aimed at disclosing some of the content and context of dilemmas encountered by novice and senior teachers. Six teachers of various seniority ranges, working in various teaching environments, were interviewed using the ‘think aloud’ technique. The interviews were protocolled verbatim. The analysis of protocols yielded several major contexts in which dilemmas occur. The transition from being a student to becoming a teacher was a characteristic context for dilemmas of the more novice teachers. The salient topic in this context concerned their career choice. Dilemmas in the context of classroom teaching and management were characteristic of both novice and senior teachers. Dilemmas in the societal context concerned gaps between ideology and reality, and were encountered by the more senior teachers only. The findings are discussed in the context of professional development.

Teacher education for classroom management in Israel: structures and orientations

In our paper, we examine how classroom management is taught in teacher education in Israel. Three questions are addressed: (1) What is the structure of programs for classroom management (site, timing, duration, number of courses, mandatory/optional)? (2) How is classroom management conceived (technical/pedagogical, individual/systemic)? (3) Does the preparation in classroom management relate to issues of cultural and ethnic diversity? Almost all teacher education programs offer at least one course on classroom navigation and management. However most of these courses are elective rather than mandatory. Classroom management is mainly treated as a technical/behavioural issue. Cultural issues, which are of major importance in the heterogeneous Israeli classrooms, are not on the agenda in most of these courses.

Identifying with Horror: Teaching about the Holocaust—A Response to Simone Schweber’s “Simulating Survival”

Reading and rereading Schwebers masterful description and analysis of a case of using simulation to teach about the Holocaust I found myself in a strange situation, simultaneously convinced and troubled by the narrative and the conclusions drawn by the author. The detailed record of one teachers complex, imaginative, and extended simulation of the lives of Jews trying desperately to survive the horrors of the Holocaust is an outstanding example of documenting and learning from educational practice. In front of my fascinated eyes there came to life a classroom in which one dedicated teacher succeeded in getting her students to step to some extent into the shoes of other peoples experiences. I felt I knew both the teacher and several of the students-Pepe, Vanessa, Desmond, James, Calypso, and Adrienne. I cared about them and worried about their fate in the almost realistic simulation. This ceased to be for me an instructional

Revisiting curriculum inquiry: the role of visual representations

How do visual representations (VRs) in curriculum materials influence theoretical curriculum frameworks? Suggesting that VRs’ integration into curriculum materials affords a different lens for perceiving and understanding the curriculum domain, this study draws on a curricular perspective in relation to multi‐representations in texts rather than the predominant cognitive, art, communication, or media perspectives. It examines VRs’ impact on the meaning of the text and on central curriculum theories and concepts, highlighting VRs’ important, but overlooked, role in curriculum deliberations. For examining VRs as linked to the text and to curriculum frameworks, the part–whole relationship approach was used on three levels. It is suggested that VRs’ versatility speaks simultaneously to all of the curriculum commonplaces, thus possibly serving as a unifying factor during processes of curriculum deliberation.

A curriculum development case study in biology: two levels of interpretation

Summaries English In this article, the authors examine the nature of curricular decision‐making at two levels which relate, respectively, to external curriculum developers and to teachers as curriculum users. At the first level, the process of translating scholarly, scientific material into formal curriculum materials is influenced by the curriculum developers’ interpretation of curricular constraints and intentions. At the second level, the adoption or adaptation of curricular materials in classroom teaching is influenced by the teachers’ perception and interpretation of the curriculum materials. As a study of an Israeli curriculum unit has revealed, there are significant differences between curriculum developers on the one hand, and curriculum users on the other, in their interpretation of curricular constraints, intentions and implementation possibilities.

Tensions and paradoxes in teaching: implications for teacher education

Abstract This paper focuses on the tensions and paradoxes in teaching. At present time, teacher education has the obligation to prepare teachers for diverse student populations, living in a highly varied context. This situation creates several competing expectations of the meaning of teacher education. For instance, preparing for professional autonomy in a world of externally imposed educational policy. The tension between achieving immediate results and success in external exams versus the need to prepare students in an era of migration and growing multiculturalism in school contexts is addressed. It is argued that a common knowledge base is a necessary response to growing multiculturalism while simultaneously leaving space in the curriculum for multicultural aspects of the student population. These double requirements have implications for teacher education which are discussed in the last section of the paper.