Observing from a Different Point of View

With curiosity, determination and purpose, Mandel School for Educational Leadership fellows set out on a mission intended to offer them deep insight into the inner workings of schools as organizations and communities.

As part of their field work, fellows conducted observations in different schools around the country in order to attempt to answer some critical questions that had arisen over the past few months. Most fellows, several of whom were school principals before their Mandel fellowship, observed schools with which they had no previous connections. Following their observation, fellows will analyze their findings and elaborate on the relevance of these findings to the leading school systems.

“Observation of a school is a field study, not systematic or theoretical learning,” says Yonina Florsheim, Mandel faculty member, responsible for organizing and coordinating the observations. “We believe that the opportunity to learn through observation is invaluable. The challenge of observing activity without judgment and attempting to gain insights from this is something which cannot be gained from any book.”

Questions the fellows chose to examine during their observation are as varied as the types of schools they chose to observe, examining issues such as violence in the education system, how a boarding school addresses the specific needs of a child, the relationship between parents and educational staff in schools and the aspirations a school has for its graduates.

Fellows with years of experience in the education system had an opportunity to observe from an entirely different angle, searching for a way to translate their questions into practice and to understand where in the school they might find the answers they seek. Some followed teachers; others accompanied a student throughout his day; some sought out the students who don’t even make it to class.

One of the observations took place on the Rogozin-Bialik campus in South Tel Aviv, where Principal Karen Tal, a Mandel graduate, is forced to deal with a particularly challenging and complex reality. The school's population is a micro-cosmos: children of foreign workers, new immigrants, native Israeli's both Jews and Arabs, and children of refugee families from Darfur all learn together. Mandel Fellow Uri Ellis, who observed the school, focused on Tal’s innovative management and her way of dealing with the needs of a multi-cultural and multi-age range school, including kindergarten, elementary and Junior High, as well as extra-curricular afternoon activities, after-school child care facilities and Hebrew language instruction for children and their parents.

“Ms. Tal opened the doors of her school to me in such a way that allowed me the opportunity to experience its most intimate moments. The teachers’ were happy to help and to answer difficult questions, despite the heavy pressure under which they work,” said Ellis.

Although Ellis headed an educational organization prior to attending Mandel Leadership Institute, he stated that, “the experience of the observation was above and beyond what I could have expected. I hope that we will continue to be in touch,” he added.

In three months time, the fellows will undertake a similar observation in an organization of their choice, giving them the opportunity to delve into a different type of management orientation and focus on various questions of educational leadership.