Professional Learning Communities (PLC) of Chemistry Teachers
Leading team:
- Dr. Dvora Katchevich
- Prof. Ron Blonder
Project team:
- Sara Akons
- Dr. Rachel Mamlok-Naaman
- Dr. Shelley Rap
- Dr. Ruth Waldman
- Dr. Malka Yayon
Secretariat and Administration:
Shani MotsaBrief
The chemistry teachers’ PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) were launched in 2015 - originated as a joint initiative of the Supervision of Chemistry in the Ministry of Education, Dr. Dorit Teitelbaum, and the Chemistry Group in the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute. Since then, over the last eight years, the chemistry teachers’ PLCs project has had a significant impact on the domain of chemistry education, and -has been found to be one of the most impactful factors of chemistry teachers' professional development. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education, and supported by the Trump Foundation.
Our chemistry group conducts continuous research studies on the subject of chemistry teachers’ PLCs, and other aspects of teachers’ professional development, including knowledge development, sense of community, leading teachers, and the differentiated impacts of the PLCs on teachers at certain stages of their career.
Further reading:
- The website of the chemistry group
- The website of the National Center of Chemistry Teachers
- Professional Learning Communities of Chemistry Teachers
Publications
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Waldman, R., & Blonder, R. (2020). A sense of community in a professional learning community of chemistry teachers: A study of an online platform for group communication. In Y. Ben-David Kolikant, D. Martinovic, & M. Milner-Bolotin (Eds.), STEM teachers and teaching in the digital era: Professional expectations and advancement in the 21st Century schools (pp. 111-139). Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-29396-3
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Blonder, R., & Waldman, R. (2021). The role of a WhatsApp group of a professional learning community of chemistry teachers in the development of their knowledge. In A. Information Resources Management (Ed.), Research Anthology on Facilitating New Educational Practices Through Communities of Learning (pp. 820-843). Hershey, PA, USA: IGI