Village Way Milestones program trains and empowers Israel’s high school principals and youth village directors.
Village Way Educational Initiatives has launched an important leadership training program for school principals and youth village directors designed to create successful educational solutions for their diverse communities and the troubled teens in their care.
Israel’s existing educator training programs focus on instruction and management; that is, the technical aspects of a leadership role. Currently, no training course is offered asking leaders to focus on educational values, to tackle difficult educational issues, or to create an educational vision for their community.
In a recent New York Times article (“Bringing a New Vibe to the Classroom”, Feb. 20, 2020) on new and innovative educational approaches to helping at-risk teens succeed in the city’s public high schools, it was noted that disengaged students became motivated when educators took the lead and shifted the curriculum to reflect the class’s diversity.
According to the article: “Some educators are experimenting with new approaches of teaching to motivate students and to examine concepts like racism, social justice, inequality and discrimination. These teachers are reimagining and shifting conventional curriculums to reflect their more diverse student bodies.”
Village Way Milestone program impacts Israel’s top educators
The Village Way Milestones program is ahead of the educational curve as it addresses Israel’s diverse at-risk youth population (more than 400,000) by building on the successful Village Way educational methodology in seeking a way to help troubled students learn and prepare for their future.
The Village Way educational methodology is rooted in principles from the fields of education, philosophy, and psychology, and based on proven educational practices, developed over decades at Yemin Orde Youth Village and in 55 educational communities that partner with Village Way Educational Initiatives. The methodology enables at-risk youth to refocus their energies from daily struggle and survival to achieving success. Since 2006, the Village Way has impacted 22,000 youth and 2,500 educators in Israel.
Village Way Milestones’s inaugural cohort for the 2019-2020 academic year is comprised of 20 distinguished leaders from diverse backgrounds and locations, including vocational high schools, religious high schools, youth villages, Arab schools, and more. The Milestones course will provide over 100 hours of professional leadership development training.
The program is in partnership with Avney Rosha: The National Institute for Principal Development, which is responsible for leadership training of all school principals in Israel.
Milestones cohort will travel to Rwanda
The culmination of the program will be a 5-day travel seminar to Rwanda, including a visit to Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, which integrates the Village Way methodology.
“By the end of the course, school principals and educational leaders should see a measurable impact in their skills and leadership abilities. We expect principals to be able to produce a thorough work plan based on their vision, as well as a new program to be implemented in their community. We also expect to see additional measurable changes to the educational community, such as in staff motivation and dynamics as well as in policies and in educational programming,” said Haim Rubovitch, CEO, Village Way Educational Initiatives.