The Education Revolution: From a School of Teaching to a School of Learning

Professor Yoram Harpaz brings with him decades of experience in research and educational practice: from teaching at the Boyer school, through managing projects at the Branco Weiss Institute and teaching at the Mandel School for Educational Leadership, to establishing the Center for Educational Environment Planning at Beit Berl College. He formulated his educational philosophy, among other things, under the influence of his two prominent teachers: Zvi Lamm, author of the book "The Conflicting Logics in Teaching," and Professor David Perkins of Harvard University, who supervised his doctoral thesis. Harpaz emphasizes that deep educational thinking requires going beyond intuitive and superficial perceptions and examining the hidden forces that shape the learning environment.

Social Context and the Limitations of Formal Education

Harpaz notes that the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of the society in which it operates. Education does not operate in a vacuum, and the influence of the formal system is limited compared to other environmental factors:

1. Family: shapes the sense of competence, language level, and behavioral norms.

2. Peer group: from early adolescence, the desire for social integration and the fear of missing out (FOMO) directly influence personality formation.

3. Technological and cultural environment: smart devices and commercial spaces shape the thought structure, emotions, and aspirations of the younger generation.

The Fundamental Problem: A System Designed for Teaching, Not Learning

The central difficulty in the structure of the traditional school stems from the fact that it was designed from the perspective of the teacher and the organization — how to manage a group of 30–40 students in a class — and not from the perspective of the student and the learning process:

• Ineffective learning: most of the knowledge learned in school in a passive way is forgotten shortly after the exams, because it is not connected to meaningful life questions.

• Experience of suffering: the rigid structure often creates a negative learning experience, while the creativity and entrepreneurship that exist in society often grow despite the system and not because of it.

• Climatic difficulties: classrooms in Israel suffer from complex discipline problems and emotional overload, which force teachers to invest a significant part of their energy in classroom management and maintaining order.

Principles for Planning a New Learning Environment

In the era of the Knowledge Society, learning is becoming a central goal in itself rather than a means to achieve a single content. To enable effective learning, the following conditions must be ensured:

1. Choice: increasing the student's autonomy in choosing fields of study and tracks, based on the concept that people develop commitment to what they choose.

2. Adaptation to learning profile: consideration of the multiplicity of intelligences (according to Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences model - logical, verbal, bodily, musical, etc.) instead of narrow measurement by IQ alone.

3. Active learning: moving from passive listening to research, doing, and solving real problems (Hard Fun), while investing effort that yields deep satisfaction.

4. Undermining and resonance: teaching that shakes the cognitive comfort zone (Undermining) alongside teachers who resonate with students' questions and awaken in them a passion for knowledge.

Integrated Learning Model and Artificial Intelligence

Harpaz points to the technological and pedagogical potential for integrating an innovative teaching model consisting of three factors:

• Human teacher/adult: a responsible adult figure who provides emotional accompaniment, support, and transmits a passion for knowledge.

• Peer learning: guidance by students who are a few years older. Learning occurs within the "Zone of Proximal Development" (according to Vygotsky), where the cognitive gap and empathy allow for more effective communication.

• Artificial Intelligence: integration of smart agents defined as personal tutors. AI allows for diagnosing the student's learning profile, tendency, and mindset in a short time, and adapting a personal and flexible study path at their own pace.

Strategy for Implementation in the Education System

To bring about systemic change, Harpaz proposes a structured process that combines immediate treatment with long-term innovation:

1. National think tank: convening strategic and pedagogical factors to formulate a focused policy paper within a short time.

2. Stabilizing the existing system: reducing the number of subjects studied in parallel, increasing choice spaces, and integrating new fields of knowledge (such as brain research).

3. Laboratory schools: establishing 5 experimental schools that implement the new model in full, while examining the results and gradually expanding to 50, 500, and up to nationwide deployment.

"Hope does not depend on examining reality alone, but on the commitment to do what is right and necessary. Just as the State of Israel has proven its ability to initiate and build in many fields, it has the resources and capabilities to also become an exporter of educational innovation (Education as Startup Nation)."