Fostering higher‐order thinking in science class: teachers’ reflections

The study reported in this article aimed at exploring what teachers know and do about fostering higher‐order thinking skills in teaching science, and how they see themselves involved in achieving this end. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with 11 teachers experienced in teaching high school physics, which is considered a relatively difficult but well‐established discipline. The findings highlighted a diversity among the teachers in four areas: meta‐strategic knowledge of the concept of higher‐order thinking; practical utilization of instructional strategies related to fostering higher‐order thinking in the classroom; beliefs about students’ abilities to acquire higher‐order thinking skills; and self‐perception regarding teaching towards higher‐order thinking. Regarding the second area, for example, some of the teachers reported using teaching strategies in class that could impede the development of students as autonomous thinkers; others occasionally try to foster higher‐order thinking among their students but regard this as a way of conveying subject content better; only a minority of the teachers see the fostering of higher‐order thinking as an important objective of teaching physics. In summary, teachers are frequently puzzled or uncertain about the entire issue of fostering higher‐order thinking in school. Introducing elements of constructivist pedagogy combined with the specific steps aimed at fostering higher‐order thinking into the science class is required to make the development of higher‐order thinking a regular ingredient in science teaching within the current schooling.     

High density: School counselling in Israel

School counselling in Israel may be of crucial importance not only to the pupil's well-being but even to the pupil's very existence. However, the uniqueness of Israeli existence turns issues like crisis intervention, cultural awareness, self- and group-identity, and at-risk children into crucial, rather than recommended, determinants of efficient counselling.     

DNA Methylation: A Mechanism for Embedding Early Life Experiences in the Genome

Although epidemiological data provide evidence that early life experience plays a critical role in human development, the mechanism of how this works remains in question. Recent data from human and animal literature suggest that epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, are involved not only in cellular differentiation but also in the modulation of genome function in response to early life experience affecting gene function and the phenotype. Such modulations may serve as a mechanism for life‐long genome adaptation. These changes seem to be widely distributed across the genome and to involve central and peripheral systems. Examining the environmental circumstances associated with the onset and reversal of DNA methylation will be critical for understanding risk and resiliency.     

An Examination of a Counsellor Self-Efficacy Scale (COSE) using an Israeli Sample

This study explored the reliability and validity of a counsellor self-efficacy scale (the COSE) with an Israeli sample of candidates seeking entry into a university graduate program in school counselling. The COSE measures were compared to measures of self-monitoring and evaluation of adaptability to counselling studies that were determined before admission to the program. Findings question the reliability of the COSE for Israeli counselling students, suggesting that the construct of counsellor self-efficacy might be culturally dependent. This has major implications for counsellor education and the measurement of counsellor efficacy.     

The school psychologist as a facilitator of a community-wide project to enhance positive learning climate in elementary schools

This study describes a community-wide experimental change program that was initiated by a school psychologist who served as a system facilitator and change agent. The program strived to improve social climate in the classroom, and was executed in the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade classrooms of an entire school system in northern Israel. This paper describes the program's design and rationale as well as its activities. Thirty-three classrooms participated, all of which were assigned randomly into three treatments: two experimental programs working on topics in classroom life, one in small-group settings and the other in whole-class settings, and one control (no program). Classroom climate was measured twice (pre-and posttest) during the school year by answering a modified Hebrew version of the Walberg and Anderson questionnaire developed by Hertz-Lazarowitz and Sharan (1979). Results indicated that increase in positive social climate control occurred in the experimental small-group program in all grade levels. The whole-class treatment showed improvement in higher grades, whereas the no-program control classrooms showed a significant decrease in classroom climate during the year. Three main factors were explained as contributing to the impact of the program on positive social climate. From an organizational perspective, (a) the participation and collegial support of teachers within the school with (b) the active leadership of the school psychologist helped improve social climate. Lastly, (c) the children's responses revealed the importance of experiencing cognitively and affectively the content of the program. This program, with certain modifications, became a consistent part of the school curricula.     

A comparison of multiple facets of self-concept in gifted vs. non-identified Israeli students

This study compares facets of self-concept in gifted and non-identified Israeli adolescent students. The self-concept mean score profile of gifted vs. non-selected Israeli students was significantly different, with gifted students reporting higher mean levels of academic self-concept, but lower mean levels of social, personal, and physical self-concepts when compared with their non-identified counterparts. Overall, gifted students showed different patterns of self-concept than their peers. The data are discussed in view of theory and past research in the gifted literature.     

Increasing the effectiveness of learning how to teach in preservice education

Interchange - In the context of re-examining teaching practice as an integral part of teacher education, two hypotheses were tested by a year-long experiment in preservice education of elementary...     

Criminal activity among Jewish and Arab youth in Israel

This study examines data deriving from the self-reported criminal activities of Israeli Jewish and Arab street corner youth and junior and senior high-school students in Israel. Differences were found between the groups as regards type and levels of criminal activity. The findings indicate that (a) street corner youth committed more crimes than did students; (b) Arab juveniles committed more crimes than did Jewish juveniles; and (c) Arab street corner youth committed more crimes than did members of the other groups. The data are analyzed to determine if the differences revealed between the two ethnic groups reflect (a) possible discrimination against Arab juveniles by the criminal justice system in Israel, and (b) the influence of Arab-Jewish tensions in the region. Special attention is given to the types of juvenile crime typically committed during the current disorders in the occupied territories.