Mandel School for Educational Leadership Program
The program aims to enrich Israel’s education system with visionary leaders who possess the aspiration, commitment, and practical wisdom to strengthen education and society.
Program FormatFull-time studies
DurationTwo academic years
Israel’s education system faces complex challenges, including persistent socioeconomic inequality – which affects student achievement – and the diversity of Israel’s population, which has resulted in a fragmented education system (state-secular, state-religious, ultra-Orthodox, Arab) that serves sub-groups with different needs and, in turn, has increased alienation between these groups. In the aftermath of October 7 and the ensuing war, Israeli society faces broader and deeper challenges than ever before, requiring the education system to increasingly address complex national and social issues.
The Mandel School for Educational Leadership believes that effecting positive change in the education system requires educational leaders who are knowledgeable in the humanities and possess strong self-efficacy, profound insight into what is valuable and achievable and leadership abilities grounded in knowledge, values and skills. Accordingly, the Program cultivates educational leadership rooted in moral principles, intellectual rigor and decision-making capacity.
The program aims to empower each graduate to develop an informed vision for the education system and provide them with skills to implement it. The School’s fellows are educators from all sectors segments of Israeli society who work within broad spheres of the education system—from senior policy leaders to content leaders and pedagogical thinkers.
They operate within a diverse educational ecosystem and have the ability to address wide- ranging systemic, ethical and social dilemmas. They seek to deepen their understanding of broader contexts of education, identity and society and to address issues that impact the entire education system in Israel.
The fellows are characterized by their curiosity, intellectual ability, personal excellence, managerial experience and strong leadership skills.
Course of Studies
The curriculum contains several components that develop spirally over the course of the two years. The program focuses on central issues in the field of education in Israel and worldwide, integrates theory and practice throughout and uses up-to-date pedagogies.
There are five core content areas in the curriculum: education; humanities and culture; Israeli society; policy; and leadership and management. These areas are approached from both theoretical and practical perspectives, interweaving disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies.
At the heart of the program is the study of the humanities, exploring the various great ideas about what constitutes a worthy individual and a worthy society. This enables the fellows to develop their leadership identity and personal educational vision, each in accordance with their own individual worldview. The fellows’ professional identity and leadership abilities are developed using theoretical and comparative knowledge from Israel and around the world; analytical tools and methods of research and experimentation for developing critical thinking; a broad range of approaches and tools regarding leadership, entrepreneurship and management and their application in the field of education; and the development of personal and interpersonal skills.
The program offers group and individual learning and intensive personal tutoring, with studies tailored to the fellows and requiring their active participation in the learning process. Alongside theoretical aspects, the program includes field observations, exercises and a practical component in which fellows intern at organizations relevant to the fellows’ respective areas of professional focus.
Impact in the Field
Many of our graduates serve in the Ministry of Education and as directors of education departments in local authorities throughout the country. Examples include:
> The director of the Druze and Circassian Division in the Ministry of Education
> The holder of the education portfolio on the Beer Sheva municipal council
> The director of the State and State-Religious Education Division in the Jerusalem Municipality’s Education Administration
Many of the School’s graduates have founded unique and groundbreaking schools in the public school system and some have even established pioneering educational streams that have grown into networks and movements, including:
The Hand in Hand bilingual school network, in which Jewish and Arab children study together
The Keshet School, one of the trailblazing schools in the religious-secular integrated stream within Jewish education
Groundbreaking high schools and youth villages in Haredi society and in Arab society, which have served as models for many others
Dozens of graduates hold key positions in civil society organizations active in the fields of social mobility, pedagogy, non-formal education, culture, identity and more. Examples include:
The director general and deputy director general of the nationwide Amal Education Network
The CEO of Teach First Israel (HOTAM), an organization dedicated to training new teachers and strengthening public education
The CEO of Educating for Excellence, promoting excellence in the periphery
The executive director of Beit Issie Shapiro, dedicated to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities
The CEO of the Lautman Foundation, which works to improve education and equality between populations
Five graduates of the School have been elected to the Knesset and many others serve as public representatives in various positions that influence education systems.
About the School
The Mandel School for Educational Leadership strengthens the capacity of senior educational leaders from the formal and informal education systems, as well as and policy-makers from the wider educational ecosystem, to lead meaningful change across Israel’s education system. The School combines reflective theoretical thinking with informed pragmatism, enabling participants to navigate the complexities of educational systems and social change. It cultivates values-driven leaders whose work has a broad and lasting impact, and whose graduates hold and continue to assume key positions throughout the educational field.