Studying with a rhino in the yard
Amla Einat + Shaul Elblak / Wrestling
About the school in Safari.
The school in Safari accepts students with learning, attention and communication disorders, and with serious behavioral problems; these are students who were expelled from previous schools, from the normative social system, and were supposed to continue their lives on the margins of adult society and constitute a family, economic and national burden on it. However, within the framework of the unique school in Safari, nearly 80% of the students achieved full eligibility for a matriculation certificate, and most of them enlisted in significant positions in the IDF upon completion of their studies.
The aim of the present book – the first and only one to date on the subject dedicated to this extraordinary educational project – was to describe the rehabilitation process taking place at the site and to make it an inspiration for the general educational system in Israel. The authors’ basic premise was that the combination of a unique educational narrative, designed by the school’s team of founders and employees, alongside its extraordinary and unique location in the world within an open zoo, are the basis for the described success. In order to test this assumption, in-depth interviews were conducted with the core of the founders and educational policy makers among the staff, and at the same time with students from recent graduating classes.
The educational goals that resonated impressively from the students' words were to strengthen their self-worth and self-confidence, each in the direction and pace that was right for them, all this in the face of the reduction of the value of formal educational achievement, since the ultimate goal of this school is to shape a mature person, whole with himself and harmoniously balanced with his environment. The principles of this educational approach and its clear success raise the need for fundamentally revolutionary thinking, within the Israeli educational establishment, regarding the cultivation and integration of studies with general personality care.
Dr. Amla Einat is a senior expert, lecturer and researcher on attention deficit and learning disorders. Among her many books on the subject are: "The Key to a Locked Door"; "Parents Facing the Barrier of Dyslexia"; "Teachers in a Trap"; "Marriage and Parenting of Adults with Learning Disabilities"; "Indictment"; "The Door is Still Locked."
Shaul Alblack has a master's degree in clinical social work, is a psychotherapist; and is one of the founders and designers of the Safari School.
151 pages, 102 NIS.
