Cultivating a Caring and Benevolent Environment in Education

Ofra Mayseless

Prof.

University of Haifa

Professor of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa. She served as faculty dean from 2006 to 2012, Head of Pedagogical Affairs at the Ministry of Education (2012-2013). A certified clinical psychologist. Head of the multi-university Center for the Study of Human Spirit (under development).

Her area of expertise is the relationship between parents and children, with a focus on the Israeli context of the transition from adolescence to adulthood. She has also studied the motivational system of caring as manifested in various contexts and published a book on this topic – The Caring Motivation. In recent years, she has focused on exploring and studying the spiritual dimension of human development and has co-organized academic conferences on spirituality such as the Israeli Conference on Contemporary Spiritualities, Contemplative Pedagogy, Gates to Spirituality in Psychotherapy and Counselling.

Oren Ergas (1971-2022)

Dr.

Beit Berl College

Senior lecturer at Beit Berl College. His studies and writings provide the groundwork for understanding mindfulness and other contemplative practices in education and in training teachers from philosophical and psychological points of view. The courses he teaches combine the practical use of mindfulness and yoga with theoretical brain research and the psychology and the philosophy of consciousness, and education theory. He was a member of an international team of 25 researchers established by UNESCO’s research institute in 2019 tasked with drafting an educational vision document that would provide educational policy recommendations to the 195 member states of the organization.

To read his publications in Hebrew and in English, click here:

https://beitberl.academia.edu/OrenErgas

Ricardo Tarrasch

Dr.

Tel Aviv University

A faculty member of the School of Education and the School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. After practicing meditation and yoga for over 30 years, Dr. Tarrasch began to include mindfulness in his teaching and study its effects. His research fields include the neurological, cognitive, and emotional effects of mindfulness training among children and adults.

He has developed a mindfulness program for children and has even studied the effects of practicing mindfulness among adults with learning disabilities and/or attentiona problems. He is part of the team that implemented the Mind and Life Institute’s Call to Care program in Israel.

Miki (Michael) Motola

Dr.

Oranim Academic College of Education

The Dean of Students at Oranim College since 2016, a lecturer and faculty member. Head of Master program For Inclusive Education from 2015 to 2016. His studies deal with empathy in education, contemplative pedagogy, racism in education, multicultural skills, and conflicts between groups within Israeli society.

Aviva Berkovich-Ohana

Dr.

University of Haifa

A senior lecturer at the University of Haifa, in the Department of Counseling and Human Development, as well as the Department of Learning, Instruction and Teacher Education.

As a neuroscientist, her research includes the effects of contemplative mental training on consciousness, cognition and self-reference, and their possible applications to education.

Moti Benita

Dr.

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

A researcher of motivation and emotional adjustment. Faculty member and lecturer at the Department of Education in Ben-Gurion University. Interested in the processes with which people (children, parents, and teachers) internalize goals and values and make them their own, and the relation between the internalization process and the process of emotional adjustment. He received a grant from the Israel Science Foundation to conduct a study to examine the processes of value internalization in the classroom. A clinical psychologist, treating adolescents and adults in a private clinic.

Sofi Barzilay

Dr.

Oranim College and Pisga Centers

A Doctor of Education, training teachers in development and growth with the use of spiritual tools. Lectures in colleges and schools, facilitates workshops on mindfulness and positive psychology for personal and professional development. She has dedicated her life to the active contemplation of herself and of others.

An advocate of mindfulness in education as an expression of innovative pedagogies in education, which includes developing and integrating the subject in the formal advanced study outline, in which teachers, students and principals learn how to meditate, listen to themselves and to others and open up their hearts. An associate director of the Center for Contemplative Pedagogy Oranim College and a member of Center for the Study of Human Spirit at Haifa University.

Amir Freimann

Mr.

University of Haifa

Explores spirituality from within and without, co-editor of two books about the connection between education and philosophical-spiritual inquiry, author of Spiritual Transmission: Paradoxes and Dilemmas on the Spiritual Path. A doctoral student at the Faculty of Education of the University of Haifa, currently writing a PhD dissertation on Living Transcendence: a phenomenological study of spiritual exemplars.

Arie Kizel

Dr.

University of Haifa

Head of the Development of Educational Systems Program in the Department of Learning, Instruction and Teacher Education of Haifa University.

Dr. Arie Kizel is president of the International Council for Philosophical Inquiry with Children (ICPIC). His research is in the philosophy of education, philosophy with (and for) children, curriculum and textbooks, and the study of social group narrative. He was head of the German-Israeli Textbook Commission (2010 – 2015). He has published three books and dozens of

Pninit Russo-Netzer

Dr.

Achva Academic College and University of Haifa

A researcher and lecturer of positive psychology, existential psychology, logotherapy and the meaning in life, spirituality and spiritual development, mental welfare, and processes of positive change and growth in cycles of life, academic institutions, and other organizations. A logo therapist, head of the Logotherapy Training Program at Tel Aviv University and Head of the Compass Institute for the Study and Application of Meaning.

Dr. Russo-Netzer is an academic counselor, develops intervention and training programs in academia and in various public and private organization, and is a co-editor of the journals Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology and Clinical perspectives on meaning: Positive and Existential Psychotherapy published by Springer NY.

Galit Hanien

Guest Lecturer

University of Haifa

MA in Human Resources, Mentor and Trainer. Co-Founder of the International Center for Council Insight (ICCI), for the distribution of the Way of Council in Israel and around the world. Manager, Developer and Facilitator of Way of Council training programs at Snapchat Inc. Member of the Human Spirit Research and Nurture Center.

Shay Hanien

Guest Lecturer

University of Haifa

MBA in Business Administration and Economics. Lecturer, Consultant and Directors’ Mentor. Co-Founder of the International Center for Council Insight (ICCI), for the distribution of the Way of Council in Israel and around the world. Expert at facilitating Council and at working with teaching teams and students. Member of the Human Spirit Research and Nurture Center.

Sharon Fayerberger

Guest Lecturer

University of Haifa

MEd in foreign language instruction. Lecturer and Teacher Trainer at Oranim Academic college, English teacher at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, Mindfulness and dance teacher for adolescents and adults.

Yafit Auerbach

Ms.

University of Haifa

BA in Education and MA in Group Facilitation. Doctoral student in the Faculty of Education of the University of Haifa.

A facilitator of self-compassion groups and advanced study classes for teachers on self-compassion and gratitude. A member of the Center for the Study of Human Spirit at Haifa University.