Trump Master Teacher Award 2018

The Trump Master Teacher Award was launched in 2012 in order to recognize and celebrate excellent teaching of mathematics and the sciences. The award aims to identify master teachers of these subjects and expose them to the public as role models for high quality teaching practice in Israel, thus stimulating discussion around the question: ‘What constitutes excellent teaching?’ In 2017, we launched a sixth cycle of the award, which attracted 52 candidates from across the country.

Following insights and recommendations received at the 2016 meeting of the foundation’s Advisory Council, we made some changes and modifications to the process. In 2017, the selection committee was comprised solely of teachers and the selection criteria were better aligned with the compass for quality teaching. Each of the final 20 candidates was required to submit a 5-minute teaching film. A small-scale radio campaign called for candidates to apply, and communicated the importance of master teaching to the public. However, its impact was minimal – a survey revealed that only 50% of all Israeli teachers and 32% of the public are aware of the existence of the prize.

Yossi Levanon, a veteran biology teacher at the Dror Educational Campus, was selected to be the award recipient from among five finalists. Honorable mentions were awarded to Michal Sigron, a physics teacher at the Kadima-Mada Kfar Silver School and to Na’ama Tal, a mathematics teacher at the Derech Avot High School in Efrat. The awards were presented to the winners during a special ceremony at the new Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv, which is not yet open to the public.

In 2018, the State of Israel will celebrate its 70^th anniversary and the prize will mark seven years since its inception. Therefore, we are proposing to dedicate this year’s prize to a select group of education professionals who have made a special professional contribution to the ‘five-unit revolution’ over the last seven years. Candidates across the categories of policy, research and practice will be discreetly nominated by leaders in the field, and the winners will be selected in consultation with the six previous award recipients. The awards (30,000 NIS each) will be presented at the end of the 2018 meeting of the Advisory Council in a special Evening of Quality Teaching. A short film featuring the award recipients and their work will be screened at the award ceremony and then on social media.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 281