ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The mission of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership is to provide Israel’s education system with visionary leaders who have the passion, commitment and practical wisdom to change Israeli society for the better.
The Mandel School for Educational Leadership was founded in Jerusalem in 1992 as a joint venture of the Mandel Foundation and the Ministry of Education. To date, approximately 500 fellows have completed the program and have assumed influential positions in the education system. Many of them serve as school principals, as civil servants in key positions in the Ministry of Education and in departments of education in local authorities, and in various educational and social organizations.
Each year, the school accepts approximately
20 fellows with proven management skills, strong intellectual capabilities, and the commitment to lead change for the better in Israeli society and education. The fellows hail from all areas of the country, from a variety of academic and professional fields, and from a range of ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, and are all focused on making a significant contribution in the area of education in Israel.
For the duration of the two-year program the fellows receive a monthly living stipend that allows them to dedicate themselves fully to the learning process. This process includes clarifying their personal and professional identity; in-depth theoretical study; exposure to new areas of knowledge; deepening their understanding of the complexity of the field of education; planning an educational initiative; and creating a meaningful personal and professional network. The educational approach of the school was articulated by the late Professor Shlomo (Seymour) Fox and the founding team, and is described in Professor Fox’s
speech inaugurating the first academic year at the school.
About the Learning Process
The Mandel School for Educational Leadership offers a unique program of study in the field of leadership development, which aims to broaden and deepen the fellows’ knowledge and their capacity to contribute to Israeli education. The educational environment at the school is characterized by a plurality of professional and theoretical fields of knowledge and cultural diversity. This environment allows fellows to acknowledge the multiple cultures and identities present in Israeli society, to become familiar with different perspectives and areas of knowledge, to move freely between different ways of seeing and understanding reality, and to use these different perspectives to examine complex situations. The school sees this diversity as a necessary resource for learning and for honing a personal-professional identity that is autonomous, conscious, and critical. Additional factors that enable this unique learning process include the composition of the school’s fellow cohorts and faculty, the structure of the program of study, the content of the courses taught, and the nature of the fellows’ learning products.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM OF STUDY
While the program of study is founded on a number of fixed elements, many of its components are developed on a more flexible basis over the course of the year, in line with the particular traits, needs, and interests of each of the fellows. The scope of the program, its content, and its unique character enable the fellows to conduct an in-depth process in which they clarify their worldview, personal and professional identity, and the educational goals they would like to attain, and translate these ideas into a plan of action.
Read more about the program of study >>
ABOUT THE FACULTY
The school’s faculty members hail from a wide range of fields of knowledge and action, from the worlds of academia and professional practice. The composition of the faculty, its intellectual rigor and openness, and its commitment to the fellows’ learning process all create a learning environment that fosters the ability of the fellows to move freely between theory and practice, and between different areas of knowledge.
ABOUT THE GRADUATES' CAREER PATHS
After completing the program, the fellows return to the field of practice. Most of them enter key positions in the education system and in the public sector. The school’s placement process helps fellows explore different possible directions via which each fellow can make the largest possible contribution to Israeli society.
Once they complete their studies, the fellows join the Mandel graduate community, and their connection with the school is maintained and fostered as a basis for future independent and collaborative learning and partnerships.
