The Color
Spectrum of
the Education
City
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Gate 1
What
is an
Education
City?
The journey towards the
Education City begins with a
clear need and a bold vision.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Why an Education City?
The Need
A typical school in the industrial era
“To repair the world is to repair
the education.” Yanush Korchak
We are living in the midst of the fourth wave*
– the Knowledge and Ideas era.
Society is undergoing a fundamental change.
The business world fosters creativity,
innovation and teamwork as well as
co-creation and respect to the individual’s
unique talents.
The education system, designed in the
industrial wave, didn’t fully go through
this change. The single school alone can’t
generate the needed transformation.
Can the city?
You are invited to a learning journey to
explore this question.
*The four waves: 1. Agriculture 2. Industrial
3. Information 4. Knowledge and Ideas
(Alvin Toffler)
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Education
City Vision
What is the city responsible for?
An Education City set itself the goal of
developing a society that recognizes and
supports the equal rights of all its members
to reach self-fulfillment in their communities.
An Education City, that realizes these values
in each and every sphere of the city life,
constitutes a tremendous driving force for
personal, social, communal and economic
development.
There are three core principles:
1.The whole city serves as a learning and
education space for its citizens. From
“a school in the city” to “a city as a
school.”
2.The city takes responsibility for
education processes, 24/7,
throughout the citizen’s life.
3.The city encourages proactive
citizen participation and citywide
collaborations.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Eliminating the
Gauss Curve
Breaking out of the square
How can a city turn the Gauss
Curve into an irrelevant
principle?
In the Knowledge era, every one can excel
if they are enabled to learn and act in their
personal strength and growth areas.
In the Education City, the education, social
and economic systems provide individuals
with multiple opportunities to develop their
strength areas, fulfil themselves, and reach
their full potential.
Moreover, it encourages self-development
and activism.
This doubles the impact and gain:
✿✿ the individual develops his or her
expertise.
✿✿ the city experiences urban renewal.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Four Teacher Model
The First
Teacher
Significant
Adults
The Second
Teacher
Group of
Peers
The Fourth
Teacher
I myself
The
Third Teacher
The
Environment
Education is a rich fabric of
interactions between the four
teachers.
The First Teacher is the significant adult, such
as the teacher, parent, or youth movement
leader.
The Second Teacher is the group of peers,
such as classmates, workplace colleagues or
fellow community members.
The Third Teacher is the city environment
that provides an endless number of potential
learning spaces.
The Fourth Teacher is the individual that is
engaged in self-learning as well as learning
with and from others.
The Education City takes responsibility for
fostering and engaging the four teachers.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Operating principles
s on
Focu h Citizen proactive
gt participation
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areas
om
Planning fr
the
to
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tu
the fu
present
e Mixing
colors
ogu
Dial
Democracy
ging
Levera
ity
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Lifelong
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People Public
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Question: What joins Education
Cities throughout the world?
Answer: Shared values and
operating principles, which serve
to navigate city life.
Democracy * Focus on strength areas *
Dialogue * Citizen proactive participation
* People Public Private Partnership *
Leveraging diversity * Inclusion * Personal
and communal responsibility * Co-creation
of shared vision and solutions to complex
challenges * Planning from the future to the
present * Lifelong learning * The city as a
network of learning spaces * Local economy
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The City as a Network of
Learning Spaces
“Education isn’t preparation for
life; it is life itself.” John Dewey
Learning spaces are educational areas
that host learning in the real world. They
are meeting places for the individual with
needs, ideas, responsibilities and relevant
knowledge. They transform learning into a
relevant experience.
Everywhere has the potential to be a learning
space. Once the city leverages these spaces
as learning opportunities, they become part
of the Education City’s vision.
Square. Grocery shop. Bakery. Market.
Factory. Street. Bank. Football field.
Museum. Town hall. Library. Park. Public
garden. Countryside. Harbour. Cafe.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
ROEC (Return On
Education City)
Arye Dvir
Win-Win: Clear benefits
for every* individual and
organization in the city.
* Children, citizens, mayor and municipality
team, local businesses, the formal education
staff, the third sector and more.
Some of the reported benefits:
✿✿ Developing local identity and pride
✿✿ Positive immigration of young families
✿✿ Self-fulfillment of children and adults
✿✿ Deepening emotional capital
✿✿ Activism, participation and
volunteerism
✿✿ Growth in local economy
✿✿ Experience of high quality of life
✿✿ Reducing violence and vandalism
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Gate 2
The Many
Colors and
Spheres of
the Education
City
Here, we present the diverse
spheres and colors of the
Education City. We start with an
insight: they must be mixed.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Urban Art of
Mixing Colors
Physical
sphere
Personal
sphere
Technological
sphere
l
cia
o
s
ity ere
un sph
m
m m
Co tivis
ac
Civilian
Sphere
Economic
Sphere
Education
Sphere
Lea
admdership
sph inistra and
ere
tive
Cultural
sphere
If we mix blue with blue, the
result will be…blue.
Blue primarily sees only itself. But the city is
a vibrant and living fabric of people, spheres,
places and organizations.
Each city sector has its own “color” –
specific role, goals, routines, resources and
responsibility. In many cases, each color acts
alone.
The gain: more accurate function of each
color, be it an individual or department.
The loss: the “big picture” is fragmented and
the solutions to the city and citizen needs are
sub-optimized.
The art of mixing colors: stimulates
natural, fruitful, and sometimes, surprising
connections between the city colors, in order
to address community needs and foster urban
development opportunities. A richer and a
complete picture of the city is created.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Personal Sphere
Photo: E. Basak
What is my place in the
Education City?
The learner in the Education City:
✿✿ Knows her strength and growth areas
✿✿ Is responsible for developing and
expressing them.
✿✿ Uses them to contribute to the
community she lives in and to other
communities.
✿✿ Is visible, recognized and appreciated
in the community she lives in
✿✿ Is fully engaged in proactive and
reciprocal relationships with her
community.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Formal
Education Sphere
R. Dvir
From a ‘school in the city’ to a
‘city as a school.’
Children and teachers alike raise two main
concerns:
✿✿ “Nobody sees me”
✿✿ “Learning at school is not relevant to
my life”
The solution is the city. Why?
The single school, alone and constrained
by its own borders, cannot provide a
personalized solution to the need to nourish
an individual’s diverse growth and strength
areas.
The city is a microcosm of life. Its diverse
sphere can provide the very much needed
relevancy.
Here are three examples of relevant
pedagogical models we propose:
✿✿ Project Based Learning
✿✿ Personal Education
✿✿ Unique and thematic schools
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Technological
Sphere
Photo: IC Community
Wisely implemented
technology empowers
learning experiences and
interactions in the city.
The physical space, critical for learning in the
past, can now be complemented by virtual
spaces.
The relevant technological portfolio is huge.
Here are four examples:
✿✿ Social networks are great for
interactions between people and
communities and the exchange of ideas
and opportunities.
✿✿ Virtual brainstorming applications
enhance consensus building.
✿✿ Pedagogical technologies start to play a
significant role.
✿✿ Geographical Information Systems
(GIS) are great for mapping learning
opportunities.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Local Economy
Sphere
Plugging the economy’s leaky
bucket.
In many cities, money, employment
opportunities, business ideas, and brains are
leaking out to the global economic “cloud.”
The local economy creates significant learning
opportunities for people of all ages and
fosters a sense of community, participation
and communication.
Properly developed, it can generate very
siginificant employment opportunities and
income resources to the citizens.
A few practical engines for the local economy:
Municipal purchasing policy * Local branding
and joint marketing * Local funds * Discounts
for locals * Local fairs and markets *
Entrepreneurs’ incubators * and many more.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Participation
Sphere: PPPP*
*PPPP =
People-Public-PrivatePartnership
All stakeholders are invited to participate in
identifying challenges, drawing desired future
images and transforming them into reality.
The mayor and citizens must address the
following challenges:
✿✿ How can we become more proactive
in addressing citizen and community
concerns?
✿✿ How can we abandon the retroactive
practice: “the citizen complains and the
municipality responds”?
✿✿ Which conditions enable proactive,
continuous, and impactful participation
for citizens?
✿✿ What is the mayor’s role in setting this
participation landscape?
✿✿ How can we turn it into a win-win-win
practice for all involved?
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Future Sphere
Turning the Future
into an Asset
5
Arye Dvir
“The future influences the present
just as much as the past.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
The City Future Center is an organizational,
communal and physical space that serves the
city and all of its diverse colors, to prepare for
the future and collaboratively develop it.
The illustration displays the five core
process of the Futurizing urban innovation
engine:
1.
Focused community conversation
about complex challenges.
2.Intelligence: searching for insights
and best practices.
3.Drawing the future image
4.Inventing, prototyping and piloting
practical components of the
image.
5.Implementing the future image, piece
by piece.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Gate 3
City Stories
You are invited to visit seven
cities, towns, regions and
villages that practice the
Education City concept.
Each practices “the art of mixing
colors,” using a different palette
but incorporating the same
values.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Shibuya University
“The Whole City is
a Classroom”
Unlimited and broad
“Life Education.”
Shibuya in Tokyo Metropolitan is one of the
most exiting Education Cities we explored.
The Shibuya University Network is not a
university or college in the traditional sense,
but a new system of education. There are no
entrance examinations; classes take place in
the city’s surroundings; and teachers come
from all walks of life.
“The unexpected community circle can be
born amongst students...”
“Many young people join our university and
will remain students for decades...
We really want to provide our students with
unlimited and broad ‘life education’, free of
the pressures of conventional education.”
Yasuaki Sakyo, 28, Founder
www.shibuya-univ.net
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Hod Hasharon
“Everyone Can, in a
Green Communal City”
www.hod-hasharon.muni.il
“Each child shall experience
success.” Hay Adiv, Mayor
This motivation connects three visions:
sustainability, communal city life and
personalized education.
The nature and the community provide many
learning spaces that develop a sense of
ability and the experiences of success for
each child.
For example:
Volunteering community: children
volunteer in 40 non-profit organizations
which act as “classrooms for life”
Youth leadership: capabilities are developed
and put into action in youth movement
activities.
Nature as teacher: ecological projects, for
example the garbage mountain, the riverside
path and the wet meadow, are wonderful
action learning spaces.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Ra’anana
Takes Off
A. Dvir
Four innovative change engines
power the Ra’anana journey.
The city, led by Mayor Nahum Hofri,
previously a pilot and headmaster, ignited the
following change engines:
✿✿ Ra’anana Future Center was established
to encourage citizens and municipal
employees to collaboratively develop
the city’s future.
✿✿ The Educational Entrepreneurship
Incubator: training teaching staff to be
great innovators!
✿✿ The social matriculation certificate
focuses on the social contribution of
each child.
✿✿ Development of school uniqueness
provides a more significant learning
experience. Ra’anana is one of the
pilots in this nationwide program.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Jisr az-Zarka
“Sea of Education”
The town as a playground for
local children.
Jisr az-Zarka is an Arab-Israeli local council
along the Mediterranean Sea. It is a story of
the unique fisherman village, the seashore,
the culinary tradition and the beautiful nature
reserve.
It is also a story of complex social and
economic challenges, and of a core group of
local leaders, mostly from the education
system, who are determined to create a new
future for their home. How?
The strategy for Jisr’s quantum leap:
leveraging the strength areas of the town
through education.
The education system dreams of transcending
school borders – towards the great sea
and the nature reserve. These are not only
dreams; several pilots are well under way.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Bat Yam
The Personal Education
Revolution
Students participing in the morning circle (“Schaharit”)
Personal Education transformed
the city.
The Bat Yam Personal Education Model
is a citywide educational program. Its
implementation led to a transformation
in the school experience, participation in
community life and city identity- making it
more attractive to young families.
The mayor, Shlomo Lahiani, sees the model
as the cornerstone of his vision to
revolutionize the city.
The Personal Education Model, initially
pioneered in Bat Yam, became standard
practice in hundreds of schools in the
country.
Each morning, 16,000 students gather in
small circles for the morning dialogue. Each
child has a mentor, teaching staff involves the
families in the education process, and the city
takes responsibility for after-school hours.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Kfar Galim
A School in the
Real World
www.kfar-galim.org.il
Youth drives local
environmental innovation.
Kfar Galim’s vision is to serve as the
environmental innovation center of the Hof
Carmel region where it is located.
Since 2010, a large portion of the learning
activities at the village’s boarding school
moved out of the classroom to 12 innovation
centers. The internal centers are operated by
village residents, and the external ones by
businesses from the region and beyond.
Innovation Centers:
Ecology * Dairy * Biotechnology * Clean-Tech
* Robotics * Organic green house * Veterinary
* Communication * Astronomy * and more.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Holon
Can one new school
transform a whole city?
www.hadash-holon.org.il
A new and unique school
inspires city-wide pedagogical
improvement processes.
The vision of New School, founded in 2012 in
Holon city, is inspired by the American
High Tech High (HTH) school network that is
entirely based on Project Based Learning (PBL).
The school already influences the entire
education system of the city, inspiring it to
experiment with its principles. Long-held
administrative and pedagogical routines are
transformed into more relevant ones.
Inter-school collaborations flourish, action
learning starts to take place in these schools,
and PBL programs connect the students with
real-world learning places: the city museums
and library, for example.
The city plans a new pedagogical school to
train local educational leadership.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Gate 4:
The Journey
towards the
Education
City
Here, we present a five
stage transformation
process.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
From Idea to Reality,
in Five* Stages
Kick-starting
Mapping
Futurizing
Planning
Implementation
A systematic* process for
moving forward.
1. Kick-starting: Intake process aligns
expectations and commitments. A leading
team of local stakeholders and Education City
experts, strategists and facilitators embarks
on the journey.
2. Mapping: Current challenges,
opportunities, strength and growth areas,
assets.
3. Futurizing: Co-creating a vision of the
desired future (we call it the “Future Image”).
4. Planning: Translating the Future Image
into an operative work program with multiple
stages.
5. Prototyping, piloting and implementation
in the different city spheres.
* This journey is more spiral then linear. It involves
leadership, courage, curiosity, learning, exploration
and real action.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Education Cities
Knowledge Center
The School of Athens, Raphael, 1510-11
Theory, models, tools and
hands-on practices.
The Education Cities Knowledge Center was
founded by the Institute for Democratic
Education (IDE), in collaboration with Nobel
Education Network (NEN).
The center explores the multiple theoretical,
pedagogical, economical, organizational and
ethical facets of the Education City concept.
The IDE team members specialize in these
complementary fields. They have extensive
experience in developing and implementing
Education City visions, tools, models and practices.
The knowledge developed by the Knowledge
Center, adapted to the unique challenges and
characteristics of the city, supports the set-up
of a full-blown Education City.
This knowledge is packaged in diverse forms:
papers, presentations, movies and training
and exploration weeks.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Toolkit : Education City
Models and Programs
Personal
Education
Project
Based
Learning
Teacher
Training
Incubator
Local
Economy
Program
Preschools in
the Spirit of
Democratic
Education
Schools for the
21st Century
Educational
Pioneer
Program
The “Star
“Building
Program”
Society
Together”
Model
Urban
Educational
“From
Future
EntreprenDependence to
Center
eurship
Responsibility”
Incubator
Model
Urban
Learning
Spaces
The
“Cast”
In-process
Evaluation
Inclusion
“Talent
School”
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
The Institute for
Democratic Education
“Educational innovation from a
democratic point of view.”
The Institute for Democratic Education (IDE)
is an organization that promotes social
change and democratic culture based on the
Convention on Human Rights.
IDE has invented and developed many
innovative models: Personal Education,
Education Cities, Educational Pioneers,
Urban Future Centers, Stars, Creating Society
Together, and more.
IDE has developed several outstanding academic
programs, and operates them in collaboration
with three universities and colleges.
The 60 IDE team members are engaged in
realizing these models in real world projects.
More than 20 members participate in turning
the theoretical and practical knowledge into
the center’s rich knowledge portfolio.
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View
Contact us
Institute for
Democratic
Education
[email protected]
+9723-7412729
www.democratic.co.il
The Institute for Democratic Education
Educational Innovativeness from a Democratic Point of View