Charlemagne, the 8th-century Frankish king, was reputed to have said, “To have another language is to possess a second soul.” While proficiency in English may not grant Hebrew-speaking Israelis an additional soul, it is a compulsory subject in elementary and high schools, the primary language of international business, and is required for university entry.
“English is a core language that opens doors to many opportunities,” says Tziona Levi, director of the Languages Department at the Education Ministry. “English can inspire hope. When you’re strong in it, your path forward often feels more open and inviting.”
At first glance, it would seem that the group best suited to teach English in this country would be olim from English-speaking countries, who are familiar with the language, and speak and read it fluently. But it is a bit more complicated than that. English teachers must not only be able to speak the language at a mother-tongue level but also be well-versed in the pedagogical fundamentals of education – and capable of managing crowded, occasionally rowdy, Israeli classrooms.
Levi says that while there are 19,000 English teachers in the Israeli school system – from elementary school through high school – there is a serious shortage of professional, qualified ones.
In an effort to tap into the pool of native English speakers and increase both the quality and quantity of English educators in Israel, Herzog College recently opened a teacher-training program for olim from English-speaking countries, enabling them to qualify for an Israeli teaching certificate. The program began in September, with 14 Anglo-Israeli women participating in its first cohort.
While many members of the program’s inaugural class are veterans who have lived in Israel for 20 or 30 years, others made aliyah from the United States within the past several months. Classes at Herzog focus on the pedagogical skills that teachers need to teach English in the ESL (English as a second language) classroom.
Students in the program will also become familiar with Curriculum 2020, the Education Ministry’s English program, which aligns Israel’s English language curriculum with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment, as well as the curriculum required for the bagrut (matriculation) exams.
Mimi SchuldenfreiI, program coordinator of the Herzog program, says, “We feel that our students are a natural choice to help with preparation for the English bagrut, since they have a higher level of English than some other teachers. ESL is a very important subject. Just because people know how to speak and understand English, that doesn’t mean they can understand the needs and the challenges of someone for whom English is not a first language.
“The goal of the program is to put competent and confident teachers into the Israeli school system,” she explained. “There is a huge lack of English teachers. We’re providing teachers who speak English naturally, which is a great advantage for many students.” Significantly, the program aims to acclimate English-speaking teachers to the unique atmosphere of Israeli classrooms. “Making aliyah and coming from the Diaspora to the school system here is a big change,” she notes.
Class sizes in Israel are much larger than what most teachers have experienced in their previous careers in the Diaspora. Large numbers of students in classes present not only an issue of classroom management – particularly among Israeli students, who can be more outspoken and informal than their American counterparts – but also require teachers to communicate effectively with students in the same group who may be at different levels of English comprehension.
It is for this reason that the Herzog program provides students with exposure to the realities of the Israeli classroom from the outset. “This program is unique,” explains Schuldenfrei, “because from day one, even before they start their formal studies, they’re in the classroom. They’re seeing what goes on. They’re meeting teachers – not only English teachers – but also teachers in the teachers’ room. That builds the sense of community from a teacher’s perspective as well.
“Many times,” she adds, “even though teachers may be competent in English and may have a degree in English, when it comes to being in an Israeli classroom, they’re not ready. So, we’re really preparing them this year – on the academic level and on the social and cultural level – to walk into the Israeli classroom.”
This year, the 14 students in Herzog’s program participate twice weekly in actual English lessons at four schools in Jerusalem – Pelech Boys, Pelech Girls, Shacharit, and Mekor Chaim – and spend an additional day and a half every week studying pedagogy.
Schuldenfrei says that the Herzog students are already performing valuable work in the Jerusalem schools,