The event will showcase quality teaching, convene foundation partners, and focus on student-centered clinical expertise
Almost five years have passed since the Trump Foundation was established, and our portfolio of grants and projects has grown, developed and diversified. With over 143 grants, which have already been approved, our partner organizations are aiming for a mutual goal to increase the number of excelling students. Each of them brings its unique expertise, tackling the issue from different angles, ranging from the recruitment and training of new teachers, to providing online access to high quality teaching, and the professional development of veteran teachers. On a daily basis, we work with each of the programs independently in order to maintain high standards of planning and execution. However in order to achieve sustainable impact, they need and wish to learn from each other and to collaborate with one another.
To this end, over the past year, the foundation has gradually taken upon itself the role of a convener, trying to help grantees to share knowledge and to create professional networks between their programs. In 2014, as the first step in this direction, we hosted a special event for 185 participants, convening grantees and partners for an Evening of Quality Teaching. This created an opportunity for sharing and learning for our grantees and partners and demonstrated different components of quality teaching in practice. The evening took place at the final day of the biannual meeting of the foundation’s Advisory Council, chaired by Professor Lee Shulman, and marked three years to the foundation.
Towards the forthcoming Advisory Council in 2016, we propose hosting a similar event, dedicated to showcasing quality teaching. The evening will focus on student-centered clinical expertise, which is a central feature of our strategy to expand the circle of excellence in mathematics and the sciences.
The proposed evening will explore the following questions in a number of different ways:
– Best Practices: What does best practice of clinical expertise look like in interactions with students, in the classroom, and in the professional community of teachers?
– Learning Environment: How can a teacher develop a learning environment based on openness, cooperation and trust, and the belief that every student can succeed?
– Diagnostics: Which components should be included in a “tool-kit” for clinical teaching in order to help teachers diagnose student learning?
– Adaptation: In what ways can teachers adapt their teaching to the abilities, difficulties, learning style and pace of every student in a large heterogenic class, without compromising high standards?
– Feedback: How can ongoing data on the learning progress of each student help teachers give better feedback to students, and improve their own teaching?
The event will take place in Jerusalem on November 3rd, 2016, and will include a cocktail reception, discussions and activity, followed by lectures over dinner. We will invite 250 guests, including high-ranking Ministry of Education executives, colleagues from high tech, local authorities, school networks, members of the foundation’s Advisory Council, grantees and teachers. In planning for the event, we intend to hire a freelance project coordinator for 7 months to prepare and coordinate content and materials.
* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 205