Thinking Outside the Box

Rav Dr. Uriel Touitou – Excellence Program, Elkana Campus

Can one teach math in a forest? How can history be taught out in the middle of a field? Do students actually learn anything if they are not sitting in the classroom? Can a wheel, some rope, and a bucket be used as teaching aids? What does classroom leadership have to do with a flock of sheep?

These questions – and many others – were the focus of a recent conference held at Orot Israel College’s two campuses. Sponsored by the Education Ministry’s National Excellence Program in conjunction with Neot Kedumim’s Leadership Center, the conference was geared for first-year Excellence Program students from around the country. In fact, some 450 students – from 24 educational colleges – participated.

What constitutes outside learning? Basically, the term refers to a situation where the teacher uses outside resources – such as nature, a historical site, a water source, trees in the woods, and more – for educational purposes. Simply changing the class’s venue is insufficient, and hence the so-called “shiur shemesh” (literally, “sun lesson”) – i.e. conducting the lesson outside without making any changes to the lesson’s standard format – is not considered to be outside learning. Rather, outside learning involves adapting the lesson’s structure and content to the new environment and using it to shape and enhance the lesson. After all, the goal of outside learning is to incorporate new tools and new ways of thinking into the lesson and not merely to shift the lesson from the traditional classroom to an alternate setting.

There are a number of advantages to outside learning. First, with adequate preparation and plenty of creativity, just about any subject can be taught outside. Also, less emphasis is placed on the teacher during the learning process. Instead, the students engage in various activities and play a more active and significant role. Thus, outside learning proves to be more meaningful for the students and enables them to develop skills that they do not necessarily have a chance to acquire in the typical classroom setting.

How can this be achieved? The conference was not only designed to encourage the participating students to learn about outside learning but also to allow them to experience this type of learning firsthand – in other words, using outside learning to learn about outside learning…

Rav Professor Neria Guttel, president of Orot Israel College, greeted the conference’s attendees and spoke about the concept of yarchei kallah. The term refers to the ancient custom whereby large groups of students would assemble twice a year for an entire month of Torah learning. Even students who were not part of the compulsory educational framework would participate in these voluntary Torah learning sessions.

Next, Dr. Assaf Zeltzer gave a lecture about the importance of outside learning and discussed practical applications within the educational system.

After the lectures, the students got to see for themselves what outside learning is all about. They participated in a number of workshops – including sessions dedicated to teaching subjects such as math, history, and social studies as well as a leadership workshop run by Neot Kedumim’s Leadership Center.

Finally, Dr. Rama Klavir, coordinator of the National Excellence Program, addressed the students.

The conference was the first of its kind – both in terms of the format and the content – and as a result, the logistical arrangements were fairly complex. Special thanks to all those whose hard work and efforts ensured that the conference was a resounding success.