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Ayelet Becher

Contact Info

The Open University of Israel Department of Education and Psychology 1 University Road P.O.B. 808 Ra’anana 4353701, Israel
Office:972-9-778-1954 Email:ayeletbe@openu.ac.il

Additional Information

My CRIS profile

Areas of Interest
  • Professional and vocational education
  • Educational knowledge and practice
  • Higher education
  • Teacher education
  • Workplace learning
  • Mentoring

Ayelet Becher, a lecturer in the Department of Education and Psychology, is an educational researcher specializing in professional education, mentoring and professional learning in teaching and other interpersonal vocational fields. Her studies focus on how societal and institutional factors shape educational practice, curricular design and epistemological beliefs within professional education frameworks situated whether in higher education or workplace settings. Her research work is based mainly on qualitative-interpretative methods including ethnography and discourse analysis tools. 

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2004 - 2006
B.A Department of Learning, Instruction and Teacher Education,
University of Haifa
2004 - 2006
B.A Department of Hebrew and Comparative Literature
2008 - 2012
M.A Department of Learning, Instruction and Teacher Education,
University of Haifa
2013 - 2018

PhD Department of Learning, Instruction and Teacher Education,
University of Haifa
2018 - 2020
Post doctoral studies - Department of Education,
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

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Dynamics of knowledge 'supply and demand' between university and workplace bodies in professional education curricula: The cases of teaching and social work.

Supervised by Prof. Lily Orland-Barak, University of Haifa, January, 2018. [279 pages].

Orland-Barak, L. & Becher, A. (2011). Cycles of action and systems of activity: Complementary lenses for interpreting professional learning. Mind, Culture, and Activity: An International Journal, 18(2), 115-128.

Orland-Barak, L., Kheir-Farraj, R. & Becher, A. (2013). Mentoring in contexts of cultural and political friction: Moral dilemmas of mentors and their management in practice. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 21(1), 76-95.

Becher, A. & Orland-Barak L. (2016) Integrating social activity theory and critical discourse analysis: A multilayered methodological model for examining knowledge mediation in mentoring. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 29(4), 498-519.

Becher, A. & Orland-Barak, L. (2018). Context Matters: Contextual factors informing mentoring in initial teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 69(5), 477-492.

Lefstein, A., Louie, N., Segal, A. & Becher, A. (2020). Taking Stock of Research on Teacher Collaborative Discourse - Theory and Metgod in a Nascent Field. Teaching and Teacher Education, 88, 102954

Becher, A. & Lefstein, A. (2020). Teaching as a Clinical Profession: Adapting the Medical Model. Journal of Teacher Education.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120972633

 Becher, A. (2021). When Context Meets Knowledge in University Professional Education: Organizational Factors Influencing Coherence in Teaching and Social Work. Higher Education , 1- 19 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-021-00680-0

Ganon-Shilon, S. & Becher, A. (2024). Principals’ sense-making and sense-giving of their professional role tensions: School leaders’ professionalism and creative mediation strategies during Covid-19 crisis. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 17411432241264693. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432241264693 

Becher, A. (2024). Holding our Ground in the Face of Public Mistrust: The Future of Professionalism in Teaching and Teacher Education. Journal of Teacher Education, 00224871241268552. https://doi.org/10.1177/00224871241268552 

Becher, A. (2011). Breaking the Circle of Solitude: Teacher Learning in Small-Group. Book Review of: Craig, C. J., & Deretchin, L. (Eds.). (2009). Teacher Education Yearbook XVII: Teacher Learning in Small-Group Settings. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Curriculum Inquiry, 41(1), 161-166.

Becher, A. (2023). Teacher Education: Developments, Characteristics, and Challenges. In: A.Kizel, (ed). Philosophy with Children and Teacher Education: Global Perspectives on Critical, Creative and Caring Thinking (22 pp.). Routledge.   https://www.routledge.com/Philosophy-with-Children-and-Teacher-Education-Global-Perspectives/Kizel/p/book/9781032080574

Orland-Barak, L., Kheir-Farraj, R. & Becher, A. (2023). Mentoring in contexts of cultural and political friction: Moral dilemmas of mentors and their management in practice. In: Craig, C., Mena, J., and Kane, R. (Eds.), Studying Teaching and Teacher Education: ISATT 40th Anniversary Yearbook. Emerald Publishing Limited.