City of Harish Follows the Village Way

Village Way Educational Initiatives (VWEI) has a unique opportunity to partner with the entire city of Harish and integrate its Village Way methodology to all levels of education and welfare in this new and fast-growing community

At a recent Village Way training session for Harish school principals, VWEI facilitators were asked: "How can we take a model of a Village Way educational community and integrate its methodology into an entire city?"

The aim of Village Way and Harish leaders is to develop a unified educational vision for the whole city and apply practical learning applications in its schools and educational programs as Harish continues to grow. Harish’s educators say that new students join their class on a weekly basis.  The city currently has 3,000 students this year, which is expected to increase to 5,000 by the 2021.

Village Way methodology provides perfect framework

Harish is a new city, located 45 minutes north of Tel Aviv, where all representations of Israel’s diverse populations live in the same community with close residential proximity to each other. This is unique for Israel as often neighborhood communities are defined along religious, secular or cultural lines.

It is also perfectly suited for the Village Way methodology’s principals of inclusion, diversity, leadership development and quality education for all.

"We want to create vision for a city that is not separated by factions, but a city where all the different peoples living within feel a patriotic attachment to their city,” Chaim Peri, Founder,  Village Way Educational Initiatives, told Harish's principals. “Because Harish is unique and so diverse, you have the unique opportunity to create something that will serve as an example for the rest of Israeli society.”

Chaim Peri also told Harish’s principals that education faces critical challenges right now and must advance dialogue and action around these issues.

"This is a destabilizing and unprecedented reality, and it is having an impact on the young," said Chaim.  "We, as educators, have to see the bigger picture by focusing on how we want these kids to grow up, and keeping the vision of tomorrow's society in our mind, even during this crisis."

Village Way educational approach suited for Harish’s diverse population

Village Way leaders hope to establish a city-wide educational approach by working together with a forum of 20 city leaders and 20 school principals. Also included in the plan are programs designed specifically to support youth at-risk.

Training session participants said they were inspired and impressed by their experiences with the Village Way leadership. “I want to extend a huge thank you for this day, which really opened my mind to new avenues of thought. I am already searching for how to put these new ideas into practice,” said one of the principals.

The Mayor of Harish, Yitzhak Keshet, said he is hopeful that his new city will excel both in education and in quality of life for Israelis. "As a city, a new city, we are trying to do the best we can in every field. We asked around who is the best in Israel in education, and we kept hearing: Village Way Educational Initiatives."