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The aim of this study was to uncover our graduate students' perceptions of who is a good professor. Although the data were collected and analyzed on an Israeli sample, the findings can contribute to the planning of graduate programs for experienced teachers and can extend the theoretical understanding of how to promote learning among experienced adult learners in general. The qualitative phenomenological study examined ninety experienced teachers, who were students at a graduate college of education. They were asked to indicate three characteristics and describe classroom events that reflect a "good professor." In addition, we analyzed the feedback questionnaires that were administered at the end of each semester. The data presented students' perceptions of the "good professor." The findings revealed three domains of characteristics: first, the relationship between professor and students; second, methods of instruction; and third, the professors' knowledge. The same domains were found in the students' descriptions of the teaching events and in their feedback at the end of the semester. Their expectations and needs are different from those of undergraduate students.

This paper explores perceptions of professional identity among experienced early childhood educators (ECEs) who are novice students in a new master's degree program in ECE. We sought to examine the changes experienced by these educators. The study used qualitative content analysis, which included an open-ended questionnaire that was administered twice to the participants: at the beginning of their first year of study and at the end of the second year. The findings indicate a change in the participants' perceptions of their multi-dimensional professional identity. They began to examine the early childhood educational system with a critical point of view based on their academic and pedagogical conceptual vision, and became aware of the contingent political consequences. We believe this study will enable us to advance the ECE system and promote academic research conducted by professionals.The study examines the professional identity of graduate students who are professional and experienced early childhood educators (ECEs) and at the same time novice graduate students. Considering these two sides of the same coin enables us to learn how these students understand the professional world of Early Childhood Education (ECE) and how they change during the course of their advanced studies in a master's degree program in ECE. This study is anchored in two points of view. The first, a global perspective, finds expression in the importance that many countries worldwide attribute to early childhood education. The other, a local perspective, examines the local context, and in particular the students studying in the ECE master's degree program. These two perspectives are interconnected and based on the general importance emerging from research and from reports on early childhood education.

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This article describes preschool teachers' espoused mental models (EMMs) or, in other words, their naïve understanding of young children's learning. Our research goal was to examine differences within the teachers' EMMs regarding the minds and learning of young children from different cultural backgrounds. The subjects included 18 preschool teachers from the center of Israel, all of whom belonged to the mainstream cultural background and taught in the national school system. Their classes consisted of 5-to 6-year-old children from the mainstream cultural group as well as children from Ethiopian immigrant families. We conducted individual semistructured interviews that were transcribed and analyzed to identify the original EMM structure. While analyzing the parts of the narratives that referred to Ethiopian children, we discovered a metacategory that did not exist in the original model: Culture. This finding contributes to the construct of espoused mental models for teachers of children from diverse populations. PrologueWhile serving in various posts in the field of teacher education, I periodically visited a regional school whose student population was multicultural and came from different socioeconomic backgrounds. During my observation of an activity led by one of our students in a first-grade classroom, I noticed that the teacher failed to integrate a child from an Ethiopian immigrant family into the group activity. The child was disruptive and finally left the group.The incident aroused my curiosity, and I asked the boy what his name was and why he was not interested in participating. He looked at me, asked my name, and told me that it did not interest him: that the other children were not his friends and that he did not want to spend time with them. I then asked him if he would draw a picture for me (the activity in class was to draw a picture to illustrate a story they had been told). He shrugged and went off to disturb the other groups. I asked the school's young division coordinator about this boy David and received a compelling explanation about how these (Ethiopian) children were behind in their reading and writing skills and soon developed a 2-year learning deficit in comparison to the other children. She said, "There's nothing we can do; that's just the way it is with them."As I was leaving the building at the end of my visit, David ran over to me and handed me a drawing with a dedication: "To Miriam from David!" I hugged him and thanked him; I have that drawing to this day. It is a lovely drawing made by a well-developed, intelligent, first-grade boy. Later on, I explored the question of the gaps that arise at the beginning of

This study examined the professional and personal transition undergone by eight experienced early childhood (EC) teachers after completing their graduate studies. The data were collected through interviews and online communication. Three main categories arose in the qualitative content analysis of the text: 1) personal process of change, 2) professional development, and 3) awareness of the process of learning. We also found that participants used metaphors to emphasize their personal implicit beliefs. The participants' perceptions of the transition from an intuitive practitioner to a professional novice researcher and from EC teacher to EC educational leader had an enormous impact on their personal development and their changing position in their work environment. The educational establishment perceived their new skills and abilities and offered them new positions.

This study examines changes at a large teacher education college in Israel and considers how teacher educators perceive these changes. The research tools included protocols documenting formal meetings of college decision makers, questionnaires distributed among the college teaching faculty, analyzed quantitatively, and in-depth narrative interviews with twenty faculty members, analyzed for qualitative content. Results point to two aspects of change: the declared aspect of the college decision makers and the perceived aspect of the teacher educators who must implement decision makers' policy. Findings indicate that the two aspects do not entirely coincide, though they overlap on some parameters, especially those related to the teaching environment and to the well-being of teacher educators.