Monday, July 27, 2015

Orot Israel College Hosts Educational Administration Conference

Dr. Chaim Shaked – Conference Chair and Professor, Educational Administration and Organization Department


Orot Israel College was privileged to host Israel’s annual educational administration conference. Educational administration is a discipline that examines educational leadership, educational policy, implementing changes in the educational system, and more. Every Israeli academic institution that has an educational administration department participates in the prestigious conference, and this year’s event was titled “Academic Leadership in an Era of Change: Research and Practice.”
The participants included researchers who came to present their findings; college presidents and department heads, who came to learn about the latest research; university and college professors and students; and many additional guests. For many of the attendees, this was their first visit to Orot’s Elkana campus, and some of them noted that they rarely travel “over the Green Line.”
Rav Professor Neria Guttel, Orot’s president, welcomed the participants and spoke about two leaders from that week’s parsha: Moshe Rabbeinu and Bilaam HaRasha. The first two speakers were Professor Jonathan Halevy, director-general of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, who compared leadership in the medical field and leadership in the educational field, and former Education Ministry director Mrs. Dalit Shtauber, who defined the current objectives of the educational system and its leadership.
Next, the participants broke up into eight parallel sessions, where a total of thirty-eight studies in the field of educational administration were presented. The studies, which deal with various issues of current concern to the educational system and its leadership – such as reforms, technology, training educational leaders, and more – were presented by fifty-nine researchers representing fourteen different academic institutions. The diverse group of researchers – men and women, young and old, Jews and Arabs, from Israel and from around the world – provided a wide range of perspectives and experiences.
The closing session involved an experiential and artistic approach to educational leadership. All the conference attendees participated in a unique “playback” form of improvisational theater, which focused on educational leadership. Afterwards, the conference’s organizers thanked Orot Israel College and its staff for all their hard work in ensuring the conference’s success. The conference earned rave reviews from all the participants, who were very impressed with both the academic level and the logistical organization.

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