Innovative teaching is sometimes perceived as opposite of traditional teaching, since it is regarded as student-centred and takes on the form of guided construction. This distinguishing feature led to an expectation that traditional teaching practices will be replaced with innovative ones for the purpose of fostering learning. The goal of the…

This study examines undergraduate students' perceptions of academic teaching and factors that affect these perceptions, whether social background, secondary education, academic background, or learning habits. The study is based on the findings of a previous study conducted by the authors, which indicated two patterns of learning habits among…

The world is undergoing a major transformation that requires new skills and qualifications, new ways for people to know about skills and qualifications, and new ways to acquire skills and qualifications. This toolkit is about skills and qualifications, and the benefits they provide for people in a changing environment. It focuses specifically on…

Innovation is essential for the education sector. The ways in which curriculum decision making is organised reflects different implicit approaches on how educational systems pertain to promote innovation in education. Curriculum holds an outstanding place when seeking to promote innovation in education, as it reflects the vision for education by…

Reports curriculum concerns of Israeli secondary school teachers. The study indicates that subject matter decisions have high priority and that teachers express ambivalence in attitudes about their role in curriculum implementation. (KC)

Investigated the relationship between the school context and teachers' views of themselves as professionals. Israeli vocational high school teachers, who taught high- and low-achieving students, matched images of themselves as teachers with drawings of other occupations and commented on their choices. These metaphors helped raise teachers'…

Investigates effects of skill flexibility on Israeli secondary teachers' work attitudes and job performance. Both role and functional flexibility were associated with improved teachers' work performance; role flexibility is linked to high organizational commitment and low powerlessness. Principals appreciate skill flexibility, but organizational…

Examines the effect of Israeli secondary teachers' multiple roles and skill flexibility on three work attitudes: burnout, tendency to quit, and organizational commitment. Finds, for example, that skill flexibility mediated the effects of demographic variables (age, education, nationality, school size) on all three work attitudes. Draws…

Examines Israeli teacher autonomy in a centrally developed high school curriculum. Describes how teachers view this shift of control and the 50 percent assessment-by-teacher system. Concludes teacher autonomy is not necessarily dependent on the system being noncentralist and that guided freedom increases teacher power and potential effectiveness.…

Attempts to show that under certain circumstances, hidden curricula of schools perform an important function in maintenance of character myths. Applies Ernest Gellner's concept of conceptual incoherence to the role of the "Mechanech" (similar to American homeroom teachers, with responsibilities for pastoral care and moral education) in…

A study of the Israeli "bagrut" (maturity examination) correlated number of absences from class with class grades ("magen") and with examination grades for 300 students. Although negative relationships were found in both cases, the subjectivity of internally based, subject-teacher assessment makes it a questionable part of the…

The purpose of this study was to use parallel measures, in a sample of Israeli classrooms (18 teachers classes) to assess the perception of behavior and adequacy of role performance of self and others. Findings suggest that teacher self-concept is associated with student self-concept and achievement levels. (Author/DS)

Interviews were conducted with six Israeli junior high school teachers with the aim of identifying personal dilemmas they faced as teachers. Three of the interviewees were novice teachers; three more experienced. The subjects taught in Arab villages, a religious vocational Jewish school, and in a Kibbutz. Several educational contexts which give…

An alternative to the traditional standardized test of language proficiency administered to Israeli students at the end of secondary school is proposed as a means of giving schools more autonomy in the testing process. The test was designed based on the following assumptions: (1) the test matches the curriculum and not vice versa; (2) the…