Dialogical Professional Development Schools in Israel

• In Event: 70.042 - International Teacher Education: Promising Pedagogies

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses a pedagogy of reflection defined as a dialogical-reflective professional development school (DRPDS), in the context of university pre-service education in Israel. The pedagogy of reflection relates to dialogue not only from a theoretical, historical context but also by way of example i.e. it offers the possibility of engaging in empowering dialogues within traditional teacher-training framework. The work outlines the importance of the pedagogy of reflection in the multicultural educational space of preservice education in Israel, analyzing the university model enacted. The pedagogy of reflection in the context of the educational dialogue of educators is outlined as a tool for student empowerment, achieved through a community of learners that dedicates space to the development of their professional identity within the profession, while taking a moral stance towards the educational discourse, minimizing judgmentalism and prejudice, and creating national/gender equality. The goal is to examinie the fundamental questions underlying educational practice, while at the same time, reinforcing student teachers' sense of organizational belonging within the system. The paper draws on elements of dialogical philosophy exemplified in the thought of Burbules (1993, 2005), Nelson (1949), Isaacs (1999), and Heckmann (1987) and the reflective basis of educational and organizational performance exemplified in the writings of van Manen (1991). I present two examples from a project in which teaching units based on dialogue and reflection were developed within the dialogic community. This is an example of collective empowerment and collaboration to solve pedagogical and social classroom problems.

Authors

• Arie Kizel, University of Haifa

• Arie Kizel, University of Haifa