IMPORTANCE OF INTERNSHIP PROGRAMMES IN TEACHER EDUCATION

The internship program operates within the framework of the Teacher training department of the School of Education, in accordance with internship regulations determined by the Division of teaching internship and new teachers at the Ministry of Education. Within this framework, interns meet at Bar-Ilan once every two weeks for a workshop that lasts four academic hours and is conducted by academic staff with personal experience in teaching in schools, and who have extensive appropriate training in group facilitation, conflict resolution, and professional self-development in the school environment. Internship coordinators maintain personal contact with the tutors, to provide customized internship processes to interns. Workshops in an academic framework enable the creation of a protected "theoretical- academic learning spaces" allowing planned integration between theory and practice. The academic workshop supports professional handling of uncertainty situations, through a combination of rational thinking and complex approaches of cases analyses derived from the interns' experiences, and providing practical tools for finding solutions. The workshop has a special structure (a task force in an academic framework), and it enables the creation of practical-professional knowledge on the basis of theoretical knowledge (teacher training and Bachelor's degree studies), through high-level processes of critical thinking, in-depth understanding, awareness and insight into attitudes, behaviors, and personal motives. All these are required to develop teaching capabilities in various subjects, at the same time developing skills in a variety of interpersonal interactions with students, teachers, and parents required in teaching. The internship program includes training in the simulation center. In addition, the uniqueness of the internship program in special education is manifest in the combination of an experience workshop in psychodrama, custom-tailored to the unique needs of special education teachers