Do alternative teacher education programs manage to attract different candidates and students?

Abstract

During 2009, three alternative teacher retraining programs in English as a Foreign Language, mathematics and biology were launched for the first time in one of Israel's largest teacher education colleges. The programs, which offered varied economic incentives to participants, were initiated by the state owing to shortages of teachers in these disciplines and the economic crisis in the hi-tech industry. After hundreds of candidates responded to the program's advertisement, 90 candidates were accepted and enrolled following rigorous screening. The purpose of the research reported here was to examine the demographic, academic and occupational profiles of the candidates and students in each of the three programs in comparison with applicants and students in traditional teacher education retraining programs. The research population included a total of 611 candidates who had applied to all the teacher retraining programs offered in 2009. The study's findings indicate that not only did the alternative programs make the teaching profession more accessible to potential candidates; they also attracted students with impressive demographic, academic and occupational profiles that varied considerably from the profiles of the students in the traditional programs. Longitudinal follow-up studies are needed to investigate the adjustment, success and retention rates of these new teachers in the educational system.

Teacher Supply and Demand: The School Level Perspective

“…This finding is in line with the data provided by the Ministry of Education [26]. During the years 2009-2012, as a result of this acknowledged shortage, the Ministry of Education initiated several ad-hoc alternative programs to train university graduates in these three fields [27]. According to the State Comptroller [25], in 2010 only a third of the math teachers on the secular Jewish secondary level had the necessary qualifications to teach.…”

Learning About Learning: Reflections On Efl Teacher Training In Israel In 2018

“…Much of what a teacher needs to know is invisible to the eye of observers. This includes developing the emotional adaptability and resilience to undergo the learning period of their initial professional experiences during which their initial beliefs (formed by their own primary experiences of education) are susceptible to change (Darling-Hammond, 2006;Donitsa-Schmidt & Weinberger, 2014;Kourkouli, 2015).…”