The online education community will appeal to the heart and emotion of the general public to connect them to the importance of investing in excellence in math and science
Four years ago, when the foundation established “It’s time for education,” its activity on social networks was built as an independent activity separate from the foundation in its familiar format. We sought to establish a young, vibrant and energetic community of friends, thereby increasing interest in teaching mathematics and science as a profession, and further encouraging investment in excellence in these fields. Our premise was that in parallel with the fund grants that strengthen a supply chain of programs, if we make an effort to spread our messages we can stimulate appetite and demand that are consistent with our values and strategy.
Four years later, “It’s time for education” is still the largest education community on social networks in Israel, and its active members are teachers, potential candidates for teaching, and who among the general public is interested in mathematical and scientific education. Our online magazine publishes articles by about 200 writers, has over 40,000 followers on Facebook, 12,000 subscribers to the magazine’s newsletter (with a high opening rate of 70%), and 170,000 visitors to the site every month. The topics on the agenda are expanding and stem from both the foundation’s strategy and the areas of interest of readers, writers and editors. The language of the magazine is open, accessible and speaks to the hearts of readers, while adhering to positive messages regarding education in Israel.
In 2016, we produced a series of short videos that dealt with the importance of the teacher, distributed a print edition of the magazine to mark the two years of its existence among 500 readers, and created an interactive online video that reveals the dilemmas facing the teacher in the classroom. We organized a number of events that brought together the readers and the staff of the Ministry of Education and events for a joint viewing of a film about teachers in Israel. We started by establishing partnerships with various organizations involved in education to collaborate on specific projects, such as a joint newsletter and articles that we published together with the Ministry of Education’s Teacher Training Division.
The Foundation Advisory Council has advised us to concentrate on the next steps in appealing to the heart and emotion of the general public to connect it to the importance of investing in excellence in math and science. They presented us with the challenge of cultivating a social movement that would revolve around values of excellence, achievement and perseverance, so that the efforts we invest would eventually be internalized as the norm and habit in Israeli society. They anticipate that this activity will not only make our current and future programs more seamlessly implemented but will also encourage the public to continue to push the education system forward toward these goals, even after the foundation ends its philanthropic involvement.
Turning in this direction necessarily entails big promises, but there is also a dilemma. On the one hand, a social movement must operate independently, and therefore must be even more separated from our core activities. On the other hand, if it becomes an authentic movement growing from the ground, it will undoubtedly pull in other and different directions than those outlined by the Foundation. We are aware of the responsibility we have to help “it is time for education” to exist independently and long-term, and we feel that we are approaching a stage where our control over it will affect its growth. However, we are not yet sure whether we should institutionalize the “time for education” as an independent body, and what is the possible timeline that will fit the implementation of the separation. As “responsible parents” we must help them prepare for their new path.
We therefore offer to hire strategic consulting services that will help us prepare a five-year plan for “it’s time for education,” examine goals and activities and test operational models and financial sustainability. With the help of counseling we will calculate the benefits and evaluate them in the face of efficiencies, risks, strengths and weaknesses, and we will also learn about opportunities for development and growth. This is a process that will take three months, and the recommendations will be submitted to the fund’s board of directors.
At the same time, the ongoing activity will continue throughout the year, and will include a number of :prominent elements
Clinical teaching kits. The kit will include edited magazine articles that will deal with clinical teaching methods and produce instructional videos as part of a tutorial for school professional communities. Because the foundation is currently building a series of programs designed to create such professional communities in schools across the country, it will need practical materials of this kind.
“Storytelling” – spreading our story. The Trump Foundation’s staff is highly involved and active in programs in which the Foundation participates. However, it is still far from everyday life in schools. To speak to the hearts of people we must tell the stories of the interactions that take place between students and teachers. The “storyteller” who will tell our stories on our behalf will be an outsider who will hire his services, and for six months he will waive between our plans for the most exciting and instructive stories, and write about them.
Video blog. In collaboration with Google, we will hold a three-day course for creating video blogs. The course will be attended by 30 selected mathematics and science teachers and they will learn to create high quality visual content. The videos they created in the course will appear in the magazine after it is upgraded and it will be possible to download, store, search, and view videos in it.
short videos. Four short videos will be professionally prepared and edited and will be widely distributed, featuring the key components of the Foundation’s clinical teaching strategy for mathematics and science. One video, for example, will feature outstanding math and science teachers leading teachers’ professional communities.
*The text presented above presents the grant as approved by the Fund Board / Grant 257