They are currently right on the cusp between finishing their teaching studies and starting their work as teachers.
Many of the teaching students feel that they are treated as free labor and that they are mainly required to fill the lack of teachers, and sometimes even receive the cold shoulder from the veteran teachers.
They came to the field out of ideology, they are waiting for teachers' salaries to rise, and they also criticize the teacher training colleges.
"If there is a lack of teachers, then they put us in the classroom to be 'babysitters' for the students. It is very frustrating," says Anat Gelfman, 26, chairwoman of the student union at Beit Berel College of Education. Experiences and practical training.
Students feel that they are wasting their training time to replace missing teachers, instead of being close to an accompanying teacher and learning the field themselves." The other side of the same coin holds opportunities. According to her, "there are students who, through the lack, screw into the system as teachers and educators already in the third year." .
It is very easy to underestimate our slip
Not only kindergarteners and teachers, but also teaching students are paying attention to the fight over teachers' salaries between the Teachers' Union and the Ministry of Finance.
These are the educators and professional teachers of the near future.
Very soon they will enter the crowded classrooms, alone, full-time teachers.
They will have to deal with the ills of the education system.
A moment before, we gathered three teaching students to hear what was in their hearts: Anat Gelfman, 26 years old, a bachelor's degree in youth promotion and multi-age special education and a master's degree student in educational counseling;
Alik Feldblum, 31 years old, a third-year student at the Levinsky College of Education in a specialization track that combines multi-age special education and natural science teaching;
Bar Yadid, 25 years old, a third-year student at the kibbutzim seminary, studying history and literature in the secondary track.
Yaffe Ben David, photo: Koko
According to Gelfman, "Teaching students are 'thrown' into the classrooms due to a lack of teachers. On the one hand, the teachers, who have been in the system for years, are worn out because of the status of the teacher, the size of the class, and the treatment they receive from the parents. On the other hand, the salaries are low and unattractive, so young people leave the system or even They don't even get to study the teaching profession even though they want and love the field. For years, educators have been exploited - in the education system, in informal education, in work with at-risk youth: because people come wholeheartedly, it's very easy to underestimate their paycheck."
Prefer to be waiters
Bar Yadid is still a student, but will start teaching full-time in high school next September, and she has a full stomach for the Ministry of Education: "I came from the Regev program (excellent program - n.d.), and at the moment of truth, when I needed help to be accepted into the system, they piled on me A lot of bureaucracy. I have completed most of my degree, but I am considered a teacher without certification. This means that my salary will be even lower than a teacher in training. I live in Givatayim and pay rent, every morning I go to work in an office full time, five days a week, and I will earn less than 6,000 NIS per month. I'm frustrated and I don't want to eat my savings. This is due to low teacher salaries and bureaucracy and the system's inability to think outside the box. Many talented people study with me who, instead of getting a class and starting teaching already this year, prefer to be waiters because there they will earn more ".
Gelfman, photo: Meir Partosh
They arrive unprepared
Alik Feldblum, who serves as a student integration assistant during his studies, thinks that the profession attracts even those who don't need it: "I feel that there are many people in the system, in studies and colleges of education, who are not qualified to be teachers but come to the field from the convenience of working hours and vacation days. In terms of studies , force us to take unnecessary courses in our training that we can skip. We are put under a lot of burden that is not always necessary and not always necessary. It is true, we did not come to vacation at the summer camp, but on the other hand I do not see much of a connection between some of the content we study or the assignments we submit and work Teaching in the field. Sometimes it feels a little disconnected."
Alik's words are not spoken in a vacuum.
A survey conducted by the State Comptroller's office last year among 1,500 principals and published in the State Comptroller's report showed that more than half of the principals (55%) are disappointed with the basket of pedagogical tools with which the new teachers come from colleges to teach. In the opinion of most principals, the new teachers come with insufficient training and in practice prevents them New teachers lead the students, manage the class or solve problems.
Feldblom, photo: courtesy of the photographer
"I'm a person of frameworks and commitment and that doesn't scare me," says Bar Yadid.
"I'm going to be a 7th grade teacher, an age that can be tough. I'm a little afraid of the interaction I'll have with the children, will I encounter cases of disrespect? How and where to set limits for them? What influences them more and what motivates them - is it positive reinforcement or rather Fear of punishment or suspensions?"
We are only seen as babysitters
According to Alik Feldblum, "The students are a product of Israeli society - what society looks like is what we will get in the schools. In society today there is violence against medical teams, bus drivers and educational teams. The children are exposed to this world and the disdain that is shown towards educators and teachers. In a way, many parents We are only seen as babysitters, and this is where the problem begins. In the past, the status of a teacher was more highly regarded, and in many countries the profession is also considered more respectable, it's a matter of society and culture."
Some of the veteran teachers don't always treat students well, quite a few of them turn a cold shoulder to those new teachers they are supposed to train.
According to Anat, "I have student friends who say that the old teachers are very difficult with them and do not pay attention to their lesson plans, and it's a shame - because it comes at the expense of our future knowledge."
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