Abstract:

This research focuses on four principals of a teachers' college in Tel-Aviv- "The Levinsky College of Education". It focuses on four decades of its 100 hundred years of existence. The research introduces the work and deeds of the first two principals from the years of the establishment of the college, before the State of Israel was born; Dr. Nissan Touroff, the founder and the first principal of the institute, and Dr. Yitzhak Epstein, the third principal. It also presents the educational perceptions and deeds of two principals of our times- Dr. Avraham Rocheli and Dr. Miriam Mevorach, who led the institute through its academization processes in the last three decades.

The main objects of this research are to review and compare the educational deeds of four of the institute's principals in two significant points of time- in its establishment period and in its transitional periods of the academization processes and the accreditation of the B.Ed and M.Ed degrees.

The research holds a qualitative-narrative character and makes use of the qualitative and historical research methods. The stream of research is multiple case-studies in Educational-History.

The findings of the research, presented in "systematic model", depict the educational deeds of the four principals at the time of their cadence. The model includes three main parts (categories): the input that influenced and led to the building of the educational vision of the college and the setting of the educational goals which lastly led to the production of the four significant educational products of the institute - the output. The input factors comprise of two main features- the internal factors and the external factors. The internal factors comprise of two aspects: the personality aspects and the managerial aspects of the four principals. The external factors comprise of three aspects: the historical/political aspect, the educational aspect and the institutional aspect. The vision and the goals set by the four principals also comprise of three sub-groups as well: the ideological-value goals, the educational-pedagogical goals and the communicative goals. The output or the educational products comprise of three sub-groups as well. Two products go back to the establishment era of the institute and they are the construction of the first teaching program of the college and the acquisition of the new teaching method "Ivrit b’Ivrit" (teaching the Hebrew language in Hebrew). The product of the eighties, the years of Dr. Rocheli's cadence, the B.Ed. certificate and the product of the M.Ed. certificate during the years of Dr. Mevorach's cadence. The model is elaborately discussed in chapter 9- the discussion of the findings.

The potential contribution of this research is in the Educational-History domain. The research will hopefully widen and lighten the existing knowledge in various topics such as the system of Teachers' Training in Israel, principals of Teachers' Training Colleges and the academization processes in these colleges. The research offers a closer look, which has not been done before, on four principals who worked at the same educational institute. Looking deeply into their ways of running the institute might add a layer to the existing knowledge regarding presidents of Teachers' Colleges and their roles in relation to the characteristics of the eras in which they operated as principals.

Keywords:

College, principals, teacher's training, qualitative research, History of education, leadership, educational leaders.