Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, formerly education minister, first announced plans to improve English proficiency back in August 2017. His goals were to shift the focus of English-language studies toward verbal proficiency, increase the number of students taking four- or five-unit matriculation courses, and recruit higher-quality English teachers, including native English-speakers.
As the son of American immigrants who worked in hi-tech for many years, Bennett clearly understands the importance of the English language to Israel’s Start-Up Nation success. Access to the global economy is predicated on fluent and faultless English. It’s not sufficient for the privileged elite to demand excellence in English education for their children; every Israeli child should be empowered by their schools to speak and write English fluently. Schools in the Arab, religious-Zionist and ultra-Orthodox sectors also need to raise their game.
Herzog College in Gush Etzion is helping to raise the standard of English teaching in Israel, particularly in the religious sector. Jewish studies teachers are often asked to teach English despite having no formal training in foreign language teaching. Because the English teaching profession generally attracts more women than men, we have identified the need to train religious male teachers to teach English in yeshiva high schools. Yehoshua Duker is one of our graduates, currently teaching at Yeshivat Neve Shmuel in Efrat. He has taught all levels there over the years, and is currently teaching the English-speaking students in 9th and 11th grades and a five-point matriculation class in 12th grade. He says: “My studies in Herzog gave me the in-depth background needed to teach the highest levels of high school English, including excellent courses in linguistics and literature. The educational methodology classes gave me the tools I need to deal with high school classes on all levels.”
Herzog College English graduates enter the profession with a strong sense of mission. Their degree course helps the students to shape an educator identity which reconciles a religious way of life with an openness to western culture and its literature. They graduate with an extensive set of 21st century skills which enable them to foster critical thinking and use an array of cutting-edge teaching tools in their lessons. In light of the pandemic, they have also learned how to use digital tools to maximum advantage. Courses are taught partially via remote learning and partially in-person at one of Herzog’s two campuses – the men’s program is in Alon Shvut and the women’s in Migdal Oz. Transportation is provided from many cities around Israel, and teaching practice sessions are arranged for each student close to their home. At the end of their degree, students leave the college with a growth mindset, become innovative and creative classroom teachers, and communicate their passion for English to the next generation of Israeli students.
The English department prides itself on its practicum program, which ensures that each student receives expert mentoring from a pedagogical counselor and teacher mentor. We work hard to connect the practicum program with the academic studies courses, encouraging a constant and lively dialogue between teaching theory and practice.
Our most recent innovation is a course in Learning Community Facilitation, training students to become group facilitators of professional learning communities. Dozens of professional learning communities of English teachers exist throughout Israel and have proved very successful in fostering continuing professional development. We want our students to remain engaged in their own professional development throughout their careers, and as trained group facilitators they will be able to contribute to the enrichment of their local colleagues and the Israeli teaching profession.
English-speaking immigrants to Israel have long lamented the poor standards of English teaching in many schools, but we believe that the situation is improving. We are reaching out to native English speakers – both immigrants and their children – and inviting them to become part of the English empowerment movement. Currently Herzog College offers English as a double-major education degree, allowing students to train in two disciplines. Beginning in fall 2022, we will offer a single major degree, which will enable its students to specialize in English education.
Naturally our students will need good Hebrew, but we will be able to invest more time and energy equipping tomorrow’s English teachers with even higher levels of language proficiency, stronger teaching skills, and greater familiarity with literature and linguistics. At the same time, we invite native English speakers who already have an academic degree to join the English teaching profession through our fast-track retraining course in just two years. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the education of Israel’s children to become fluent English-speakers who can participate actively in the global community, enhance the success of our nation and build better futures for all.
The author is chairwoman of the English Department at Herzog College in Gush Etzion, having made aliyah with her family from Northern Ireland in 1979.