Orot Students Enjoy Intensive Practical Field Work Week

Racheli Bartuv
Field Work Coordinator, Elkana Campus

Orot Israel College considers practical field work to be an intrinsic part of the curriculum. Thus, our students recently spent an intensive week applying much of the theoretical knowledge they had acquired in the classroom and discovering how the educational system functions in the real world.
Inter alia, they were given a firsthand look at many of the educational challenges and projects that face teachers and educators in the school system. The Orot students observed lessons, participated in peer discussion groups, and even ran various activities in different schools about midot, the plants and animals of northern Israel, Chanukah, and other topics. In addition, some Orot students participated in various workshops organized by the Pedagogic Center, including: combining film clips and graphic elements into a single presentation; assorted ways to begin a lesson; decorating the classroom setting; and preparing a dynamic learning center about shmitah.
During the course of the week, many of Orot’s individual departments also organized trips and outings for their students. For instance, the school guidance and the social-communal education departments visited the Retorno Rehabilitation Center; the Toshb”a department toured the Rambam Library; the communication and mathematics departments visited the Amit Amichai School in Rechovot; and the early childhood education department explored Petach Tikva’s unique Gan HaSfarim. Coincidentally, the education minister happened to be visiting a certain school that same week, and the Orot students enjoyed watching how the excited faculty and students prepared for his visit.