Embracing the Social and the Creative

Miriam Ben-Peretz, PhD, is professor emeritus at the faculty of education, University of Haifa, Israel. She has served as the head of the Department of Teacher Education and Dean of the School of Education, University of Haifa. Her research interests are curriculum studies, teacher education, professional development and policy-making in education. Among her books: The Teacher-Curriculum Encounter: Freeing Teachers from the Tyranny of Texts (SUNY, 1990) and Learning from Experience: Memory and the Teacher's Account of Teaching (SUNY, 1995). Her latest book is entitled Policy Making in Education: A Holistic Approach in Response to Global Changes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009). Received the Lifetime Achievement Award, Division B, Curriculum Studies, of the American Educational Research Association (1997). Recipient of the Israel Prize for Research in Education (2006). She is the recipient of the American Educational Research Association, Division K, Legacy Award and an Honorary Fellow of the Open University of Israel (2012). Sara Kleeman completed her PhD at the Institute of Education, University of London in 1999 and became the head of the Elementary Teachers' Department at Oranim. She serves as the head of the Center of Resource, Consultation and Training at Oranim Academic College and as a Coordinator of the Pedagogical Instruction specialization at the MOFET Institute. She is currently focused on the issue of professional development of teacher educators at Oranim and the MOFET Institute, as a researcher and lecturer. Rivka Reichenberg completed her PhD at the School of Education, Bar - Ilan University in Israel (1996). She has served as the Head of Special Education Department at Beit-Berl Academic College of Education, as a senior lecturer and researcher. Her research interests are teaching and teacher education, induction and professional development. She presently serves as the head of the Pedagogical Instruction and Mentoring Specialization Program in Mofet Institute, focusing on the issue of professional development of teacher educators in the colleges and in the Mofet Institute as a lecturer and researcher. Sarah Shimoni, PhD, is a teacher educator and a counselor in research methods and academic writing. Dr. Shimoni is a lecturer at the Levinsky School for graduate studies and does editing work for the MOFET Publishing House in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her research interests are: teachers' and teacher educators' professional development, professional discourse and inclusion of children with learning difficulties in the general education system.