Biology teachers' professional development

National Center for High School Biology Teachers

In collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Education we are leading the National Center for High-School Biology Teachers in Israel (~2,000 teachers). Our efforts are geared towards communicating current biological research and current knowledge about the teaching and learning of biology in the science education research field, while creating a participatory and supportive environment for the teachers’ community. We operate a wide range of in-service professional development activities: courses for leading teachers, seminars for updating teachers’ scientific knowledge, numerous in-service professional development courses in accordance with teachers' requests from the field. 

One of the activities the National Center is advancing for promoting the implementation of contemporary biology into school is sending weekly scientific newsletters that summarize current scientific research advances and trends.

Professional Learning Communities of High School Biology Teachers

The high-school biology teacher communities are a place for sharing innovative and creative thinking about difficulties and challenges in teaching biology. In collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Education we are supervising ~20 leading teachers who lead in pairs 10 professional learning communities (PLC) of biology teachers (~180 teachers) throughout Israel. The leading teachers’ community meet during the academic on a bi-weekly basis at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and each pair of leading teachers meet with their community members close to their homes. One of the issues the teachers work together to resolve is diagnosing comprehension difficulties of students and providing a tailored response to deal with these difficulties.