Learning from Success in Elementary Education in Netanya

Learning from Success as Leverage for School-wide Learning introduces schools to ongoing joint learning, by identifying past successes and planning for future successes. The program is implemented by three learning-oriented methods designed to develop joint, reflective learning by uncovering the tacit knowledge of school staff and turning it into espoused actionable knowledge. The program was developed by the Secondary Education Division at the Ministry of Education together with the Unit for Learning from Success and Ongoing Learning in Human Services at the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute.

Following the work with the secondary schools, the program was implemented in the elementary school system. This report documents the first attempt to introduce the program into the elementary schools in a municipal setting. The inspectorate of the Ministry of Education’s Central District, together with the Netanya municipality, initiated and implemented the program in the elementary schools of Netanya and it vicinity. This report presents relevant lessons learned for this experiment that could be useful in the future dissemination of the program.

The program was implemented in Netanya in three stages:

  • In the first stage (2004/2005), the school principals were introduced to the program at the municipal teaching staff development centers. The sessions focused on creating a peer learning group. Initially, the principals were introduced [I prefer this to “were exposed to”, but it’s your decision] to the First Method: “Learning from Past Successes – the Retrospective Method” and they then began to experiment with the program in their schools together with the learning coordinators in each school.
  • In the second stage (2005/2006), the program was formally introduced into the schools. A forum comprising the school principal, the learning coordinator, members of staff, and a learning companion was set up at each school. The forum introduced the First Method in workshops for members of the teaching staff, who also formulated learning questions related to the Second Method: “From a Learning Question to a Learning Quest – the Prospective Method”.
  • In the third stage (2006/2007), the schools introduced additional learning questions. To this end, new circles of learning for the teachers were opened and the program was introduced to the pupils. Among other topics, the various learning circles considered also the school learning processes, in order to improve and upgrade them.

The Learning from Success program has contributed to such topics as: better Hebrew language results, improved achievements of pupils with learning disabilities, pupils assuming a higher level of personal responsibility for their achievements, as well as improving their mutual commitment in the classroom. The program also contributed to enhanced discourse among the teachers and improved relationships between teachers, pupils and parents.

Concurrent with the Netanya program, other cities began trying it out in their elementary schools.

The report has been published with the assistance of the Marshall Weinberg Fund for Professional Collaboration and Development