| Ohalo College | |
| Mottoeng: | Ohalo College is a pioneering academic center, shaping and empowering future generations |
| Established: | 1964 |
| Type: | Teacher training college |
| President: | Eitan Simon |
| Location: | Katzrin, Golan Heights |
Ohalo College (Hebrew: מכללת אוהלו, Mikhlelet Ohalo), also known as the Ohalo College of Education, is an Israeli leading institution that specializes in teachers' and kindergarten teachers' training toward a B.Ed. degree in various disciplines, including biology, mathematics, English, special education, Jewish Studies, and physical education, as well as toward an M.Ed. degree in Management and Organizational of Education systems. The college currently has 2,500 learners, of which 60% are students in the Education and Teaching professions, while the rest are in continuing education programs, advanced studies, professional development and external studies. Since 1998 it has been located in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Ohalo College was established in 1964 in memory of Berl Katznelson by the Ministry of Education and the Centre of Education and Culture of the Histadrut as a teacher training college near Kvutzat Kinneret by the Sea of Galilee.[1] Since its establishment, the college has developed and has offered new four-year teacher training courses to include physical education and special education. In 1998 it moved to its current location in the Israeli settlement of Katzrin in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and since then students of the college are able to specialise in general education combined with special education. Since 2000 the college has offered B.Ed. courses, and from 2001 it has been recognised as an institution of higher education.
Currently the college offers B.Ed. courses as well as continuing education courses. There is a proposal to introduce Master of Education courses as well in the future depending on the approval of the Council for Higher Education. The current tracks and units of study are aimed at qualifying teachers for all age groups from birth to the twelfth grade in high schools (age 18). The tracks and units are as follows:
The college offers a range of facilities and services:
Every year since the late 80s Ohalo College exchanges student delegations with Alice Salomon college[2] of Hanover, Germany, in order to bring together Israeli and German youths. The main aim of the project is to create a dialogue on Holocaust issues. In addition, the German youth is exposed to the relations between the Arab and Jewish sectors in Israel.
Ohalo college currently offers a B.Ed. degree with a concentration on English Teaching. Starting in 2008, the English Department initiated two significant changes. It submitted a program to the Israeli Ministry of Education for a complete B.Ed. program in English [3] and has almost doubled the number of courses that it teaches. The department introduced new courses in Media, Linguistics, Culture and Literature [4] and hired new faculty members who are well published scholars and experts on pedagogy, literary and cultural theory, linguistics and almost any other conceivable facet of English Studies.[5]
Ohalo College provides the northern region in Israel with a four-year program in English Culture, Literature, Media, and other facets of English Studies. The English department is also a local provider of English cultural events to the region, hosting a poetry reading in April 2010.[6]