In a visit of the 18th class of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership to the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev, the fellows conducted an informing, colorful "city midrash" in Beer Sheba
On May 16 the fellows of the 18th class of the Mandel Center for Educational Leadership in Jerusalem, visited the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev. The visit focused on the subject of community-oriented leadership and an introduction to the center's activity in the Negev.
Advocate Jacob Steinberg, the MCLN Director, presented Mandel Center's Theory of Change and training philosophy to the fellows of the School for Educational Leadership. Mr. Steinberg also shared with the visitors the different aspects of the collaborative work done at the center and his efforts to promote its faculty. Dr. Ilan Virtzberger, Chief District psychologist of the Psychological-Educational Service spoke of the collaboration with the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev. In the framework of this collaboration, the professional identity of the educational psychologists operating in the region is more clearly defined from the angle of both the community and the region, and the seam line between the two (see report on one of the recent activities in the news archive).
The focal point of the visit was a "city midrash" in Beer Sheba led by Advocate Jacob Steinberg and MCLN faculty members Dr. Itzhak (Kiki) Aharonovich and Nitza Raskin. The participants toured three different areas of Beer Sheba - The Old City, the Ringelblum vicinity and the Civic Center (government offices and court complex) using the method of "barefoot observation", which seeks to experience the city free of guidance, explanations, information or background. The visitors were instructed to use all senses in a bid to identify social, urban and population issues and tie them to the city's education system and general education issues.
This unique tour, which exposed the participants to the cultural and human mosaic of the city, raised questions regarding the ways in which the city of Beer Sheba deals with both its past and present reality. For instance, the sight of the restored and fenced off mosque on the one hand, and the various stands of Russian books and Babushka dolls on the other, raised questions about the multiple cultures in the city and the marginalization of some of these cultures. Other questions referred to the subject of authenticity in the city, and preservation versus transformation. While during the tour the participants focused mainly on architectural aspects, the summary talk led to questions from the field of education. Just as in Beer Sheba there exist unique and innovative architectural projects, such as the eco-friendly "Seventh Avenue" shopping center, alongside the government offices complex, which has not preserved the local character and spirit, it is possible to examine and analyze aspects like preservation and transformation in education, education to multiculturalism and using history as a tool for teaching about the past and for constructing identity.
The visit enriched the participants' knowledge and introduced to them the work of the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev and its approach to studying and to processing information. The visit also opened another window for the fellows of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership to new methods of teaching, ahead of their return to the world of educational work.