In this paper I would like to outline some of the work I do around the world, developing and contributing to professional education programmes for practitioners across a range of professions, using an action research methodology. Here I especially focus on my work with teachers; and I highlight the point that some of the most problematic yet…

Examines three models of teacher professional development in Israel. One model emphasizes higher academic studies, one is a school-based organizational model that ties faculty development to school reforms, and one emphasizes a teacher-led personal route to professionalism in teachers' own classrooms. The paper examines means of support available…

Explains that every school system faces the challenge of how to manage staff more effectively, introducing several articles that focus on whether: large-city school systems are more bureaucratic, a system of family school choice is more efficient or effective, tuition is an answer to a reduction in public education finance, and there are common…

Three expert and three novice student teacher supervisors were interviewed on the ways in which they perceived their professional development, focusing on knowledge and change, reflection and criticism, theory and research, ideology and values, human relations, and difficulties. Results indicated substantial differences in the developmental stages…

The postgraduate Teacher Thinking Seminar (TTS) was created to explore the implications of constructivist theory for teachers' education and development. Using participants' own practical knowledge, the main strategy was the dialectical process of group reflection. The article elaborates four seminar examples, suggesting that TTS can effectively…

Describes how the teaching style of two law professors in Israel was changed after a treatment for improving instruction. Identifies three factors that influenced student opinions about their teaching effectiveness: personal characteristics and aptitudes that negatively affected classroom behavior; lack of sufficient pedagogical knowledge; and…

Describes the Teacher-as-Ethnographer inservice training program, an anthropological model for training Israeli educators to diagnose and cater to the learning needs of culturally diverse students. Participants, including teachers of all levels and other school staff, learned and used ethnographic methods of data collection and analysis to conduct…

An action research group for Israeli English-language teachers helped them learn from and support one another while introducing portfolio assessment as an integral part of their teaching. Using portfolios for foreign language teaching, learning, and assessment increased learners' responsibility and improved classroom work. The action-research…