Kibbutzim College of Education hosts TED talks

Independently organized TED event including 12 lectures held under the theme of “Life Learning Process,” after six months of planning.

By DANIELLE ZIRI
President of Kibbutzim College of Education Zipi Libman (photo credit: Or Kaplan)
President of Kibbutzim College of Education Zipi Libman
(photo credit: Or Kaplan)
The Kibbutzim College of Education hosted an independently organized TEDx event on Monday, which included 12 lectures under the theme of “Life Learning Process,” touching upon various issues in the field of education.
The nonprofit TED organization, which dedicates itself to “ideas worth spreading” and organizes lectures on various subjects worldwide, also operates the TEDx program, which is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals “the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level” for free.
TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently by the community for the community. Monday’s event at Kibbutzim College was initiated by student Roi Shternin, who applied to receive a TEDx license and produce the event in his school.
“It’s a process, especially that it’s an American organization and they are very bureaucratic, but honestly, it’s much easier than what people think, you just need a bit of courage,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “It took us about six months to put the project together, but the last two months were all about starting the production.”
Shternin’s interest in TED was born a few years ago from a difficult life experience.
At the time, while he was studying medicine, Shternin was suffering from a lifethreatening disease and was spending long nights at the hospital. As he looked for something more productive to do than watch television, he discovered TED.
“It really got me through those dark days,” he said. “It’s incredible that you can take an idea and throw it to the world and get people to rally with you.”
As his passion for the lectures grew, Shternin realized that studying medicine may not have been the best choice for him.
“Instead, I decided that the key to prevention is education,” he explained, “so I went to study teaching. I have a personal dream of getting to speak at TED about health education and about my own experience,” he added.
“It’s an amazing stage to bring people together. One day I’ll talk about my own ideas but for now, I help people spread theirs.”
Shternin already has a presentation and speech ready for the day his dream comes true.
When Shternin approached the president of Kibbutzim College, Zipi Libman, with the initiative, she immediately agreed to support the project and allocate some of the school’s budget to it.
“I was on board,” she told the Post on Monday. “We embraced it because that’s also what the college stands for: the spreading of knowledge.”
“We believe in the democratization of knowledge,” Libman continued. “Intelligence isn’t just in the lecturers, the elites, it’s in the interaction between them and the students.
We believe in innovation, creativity and in the fact that education should be an agreeable experience before all, and TED embodies all of this.”
Libman said she hopes more similar initiatives will arise at Kibbutzim College following the event.
Among the speakers – who included education professionals, professors, entrepreneurs and artists – the youngest was 17-year-old Eden Levit, who spoke about her bold decision to leave high school and turn to another way of learning.
“Since I left school, I’m happy, I study drama and I work in education,” Levit told the audience. “I learn through experience. Education and learning go way beyond the matriculation exam.”
Levit is currently working with an organization which aims to develop new methods of learning.
“We need to take responsibility over our learning, we need to create a platform that allows us to learn the way we want to,” she said, addressing teenagers her age through the cameras.
“I’m on TED and I never thought I could be here at just 17 years old,” she exclaimed.
Some 90 volunteers helped organize and live broadcast Monday’s talks, which lasted 12 to 18 minutes each and were also available for students of the college to watch in their respective classrooms.