The 26 graduates of the first cohort of the Rothschild-Weizmann program for outstanding teachers in science and mathematics will today receive their certified degrees in science teaching from the Feinberg seminary at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
The 26 graduates of the first cohort of the Rothschild-Weizmann program for outstanding teachers in science and mathematics will today receive their certified degrees in science teaching from the Feinberg seminary at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
The unique program, the first of its kind in Israel, gives high school teachers a master's degree in science from the Weizmann Institute of Science. In the coming year, about 100 teachers will study in the program in three cycles.
The assumption underlying the program is that it is possible to promote the scientific education system by cultivating excellence in teaching. Therefore, the Rothschild-Weizmann program addresses a selected layer of teachers and works to promote their education in the fields of science and science teaching. Following this vision, and in consultation and cooperation with the institute's scientists, an intensive curriculum was put together, which includes the expansion and deepening of scientific knowledge in all its fields, direct meetings with scientists and visits to the institute's laboratories, familiarization with scientific innovations, the acquisition of innovative teaching approaches, participation in research in the fields of teaching The sciences carried out at the institute, and experience in leading unique educational initiatives. For the purpose of the program, the faculty of the science teaching department and many scientists from the various scientific departments at the institute were mobilized for the development and teaching of about 50 unique courses.
The Rothschild-Weizmann program, funded by a ten-year donation from the Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation, was founded three years ago at the initiative of the institute's management and the science teaching department. The program is headed by Prof. Shimon Levit from the Faculty of Physics and Prof. Batsheva Alon, head of the science teaching department. A steering committee headed by Prof. Israel Bar-Yosef, Vice President of the Institute for Resource Development and Dean of Educational Affairs, outlines the conduct of the program.
"Graduates of the program can act in positions of influence at different levels in the education system" says Prof. Alon. "The teacher can function within his school, help in the community, operate at the national level or participate in the development of learning materials or activities with fellow teachers." To this end, graduates are offered follow-up programs, which include the creation and leadership of innovative educational initiatives, while collaborating with the science teaching department and other departments at the Weizmann Institute of Science, as well as with the Davidson Institute for Science Education.
