Teacher Education in Israel: the present situation

After presenting the essential principles relevant to the education of teachers, according to which the Israeli educational system is organised, the article examines teacher education patterns in the various institutions in Israel. These are divided into institutions for the education of teachers in nursery schools and elementary schools run by the State, and schools of education in the universities which train teachers for secondary schools.

Ideological concepts divide the institutions of both kinds into those that train teachers for religious and non‐religious nursery schools and elementary schools.

The teacher training institutions in Israel (together with the whole educational system) have been immersed, during recent years, in a process of reform which reflects the changes that Israeli society has undergone since the establishment of the State.     

Analyzing Medical Students' Definitions of Sex

An inaccurate definition of what constitutes sex can negatively impact the sexual health and wellbeing of patients. This study aimed to determine which behaviors medical students consider to be sex. Survey questions about various sexual behaviors were administered to medical students. All participants agreed that penile-vaginal penetration is sex. More than 25% of participants did not consider genital-genital contact without penetration, oral-genital contact, foreign object in rectum, and forced vaginal/rectal penetration as sex. Nonheterosexuals were more likely to consider genital-genital contact without penetration sex. We determined there was less than complete consensus among future physicians on what activities are considered sex.     

Recurring patterns in the development of high school biology students’ system thinking over time

The goal of this study was to identify and understand the mental models developed by 67 high school biology students as they learn about the human body as a complex system. Using concept maps, it sought to find an external way of representing how students organize their ideas about the human body system in their minds. We conducted a qualitative analysis of four concept maps created by each student throughout the 3-year learning process, which allowed us to identify that student’s systems thinking skills and the development of those skills over time. The improvement trajectories of the students were defined according to three central characteristics of complex systems: (a) hierarchy, (b) homeostasis and (c) dynamism. A comparative analysis of all of our students’ individual trajectories together revealed four typical learning patterns, each of which reflects a different form of development for systems thinking: “from the structure to the process level”, “from macro to micro level”, “from the cellular level to the organism level,” and “development in complexity of homeostasis mechanisms”. Despite their differences, each of these models developed over time from simpler structures, which evolved as they connected with more complex system aspects, and each indicates advancement in the student’s systems thinking.     

THE COMPLEXITIES OF TEACHING HISTORICAL CONFLICTUAL NARRATIVES IN INTEGRATED PALESTINIAN-JEWISH SCHOOLS IN ISRAEL

This paper addresses the complexities encountered by teachers and students when dealing with conflictual historical narratives in the context of integrated bilingual schools in Israel. The narratives presented are based on rich ethnographic data gathered from a long-standing research effort in the schools. They offer insights into how those involved in the educational initiative draw selectively from formal and informal sources in order to support their identification and sense of belonging within their particular political, national and religious communities. The vignettes rendered present a complex picture that is not necessarily encouraging in terms of the potential of education to help overcome situations of intractable conflict.     

Helping Students Develop Statistical Reasoning: Implementing a Statistical Reasoning Learning Environment

This article describes a model for an interactive, introductory secondary‐ or tertiary‐level statistics course that is designed to develop students' statistical reasoning. This model is called a ‘Statistical Reasoning Learning Environment’ and is built on the constructivist theory of learning.