32 Shaham Street, Kiryat matalon
Petach Tikva 47190
Israel
- Youth and education
Education for Lifes vision is Education by all for the wellbeing of children
*Well Being is the realization of ones own Physical, Emotional, Mental, Social and Spiritual potential Education for Life promotes a respectful, caring and responsible approach to life by providing intervention programs, processes and communication tools to educational communities.The foundation provides processes and tools which promote appreciation for diversity within the Israeli society and among diverse groups and sectors, this is done by promoting communication and behaviors that focus on needs, feelings and acceptance of the natural diversity between people. The foundation implements these life tools among children, their parents, counselors and trainers within their peer groups and in organizations who wish to promote Well Being as a way of life. Our main activities over the past year have been processes done in over 8 schools, 10 Kindergartens - not including a pilot activity in Ashdod with the Kindergartens – in cooperation with "sea of blue" an anti drug/alcohol/violence program, a city wide treaty/agreement in Shoham, work with Youth Groups in Gederot, 6 parent groups around the country, a co-existence program in the Gilboa Region in cooperation with the Olivestone Foundation, A trainers program in Non Violent Communication and Human Dynamics in JM for Hareidi, Religious and Secular Teachers in cooperation with the UJA. A pilot course in the Mechina Program in Beer Sheva for Beduin Youth in cooperation withthe Eric De Rothchild Foundation. A trainers course for broadening the milue of trainers for Education for Life - a modular course made up of 1 year with the option to continue for a second year and receive deeper training.
Education for Life’s intervention program is a practical implementable program dealing with school climate and the dialog skills which promote cooperation. The program has its roots in a world view and is supported by implementable applications and models. The basic assumption is that underlying each human behavior is a need, and recognizing these needs creates a basis for a common human connection and cooperation. The program is based on the model for Nonviolent Communicationsm , developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg.
Education for Life’s intervention program is aimed at internalization of principals and attitude of effective, respectful and caring dialog on the organizational as well as on the personal level, of the educational community. (teachers, students and parents)
Purposes of the program
Creation of institutional climate conducive to personal and professional growth of each student and staff member.
An improvement in the personal physical and emotional feeling of safety within the educational community
Acquirement of skills for effective interpersonal communications
Development of respectful authority and creation of a safe environment
Improvement of communication and connection between the educational staff, the students and the parents.
The program offered is designed for a three year intervention, and measured through clear goals in qualitative and quantitive measurements, determined by the steering committee and the trainers.
Another project is one that tries to promote diversity and respect between Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews,his project’s goal is to promote understanding and positive communication between the students and teachers of the Arab school Ort Ahva Naura and the Jewish school Amal Emek Harod. In the course of the project, the students and teaching staff acquired respectful, assertive and empathic dialogue skills, based on the Nonviolent CommunicationSM model. The teachers were also trained in the application of Respectful Authority, developed by Education for Life, which enables the expression of respectful authoritative messages and the definition of boundaries while retaining the spirit of nonviolence. The teachers practiced these skills in workshops, and engaged their classes in educational activities built to help them internalize and practice the model.
In the final stage, the students participated in Open Space processes and planned joint projects for the well-being of their region.
The ninth graders organized a fun day for Arab and Jewish children hospitalized at Emek hospital. The children initiated, planned and executed the activities themselves and of their own accord.
The eighth graders interviewed people about living together in peace. They also made banners and stickers reading “Living together is possible” in Hebrew and Arabic, and distributed them at the state cup finals in soccer between the Bnei Sahnin (Arab) and Hapoel Haifa (Jewish) soccer teams. Here, too, the children were the ones who initiated, planned and executed the activities.
In light of the success and wonderful reports on part of children and teachers alike, the project is continuing this year, adding more children to the process, and training children in basic skills of Nonviolent Communication so they can peer train others.