10318 Implementing Innovations in Educational Systems 1

Credits: 6 advanced credits in Education

Prerequisites: 36 credits, including two of the following: Curriculum Design, Development, and Implementation; Individualized Instruction; Challenges of School Management; Introduction to Sociology; Sociology of Education; Organizational Behavior; Philosophy of Education; as well as Participation in Psychological and Educational Research. Students must also fulfill all English requirements and take bibliographic instruction in the Library.

The course is based on The Meaning of Educational Change, by M. Fullan; Towards an Educational Revolution, edited by D. Inbar (in Hebrew); and a reader (in Hebrew and English), edited by Sarah Guri-Rosenblit and Avikam Gazit.

The course analyzes the problematics and complexity of introducing changes into educational systems, based on a range of organizational theories and accumulated practical knowledge from various parts of the world. Special emphasis is placed on reforms and changes within the Israeli educational system.

Topics: Approaches to analyzing social organizations and educational systems; Factors influencing the implementation of innovations in educational systems; The human factor in implementing change in educational systems; Processes of introducing change; Evaluating changes – measuring effectiveness and success.


1Students may write a seminar paper in this course, although it is not required.