Innovative Programs

At Gordon Academic College we believe it is very important to develop innovative models for the practical training of students before they start working as educators in the education system. In collaboration with the Haifa District administration of the Ministry of Education, the President of Gordon Academic College, Prof. Yecheskel Taler, initiated the program Amit Academia, which collaborates with local schools and kindergartens, providing fertile ground for gaining experience, conducting research, and testing the student’s training in real life classroom settings. Through this program, selected excellent students are integrated into a specific kindergarten or school at the beginning stage of their studies.

This method enables these students to gain valuable work on-site experience several days a week, and to prepare them for their future for future integration in the education system.

The mutual relationship allows the schools and kindergartens to become a part of Gordon College of Education’s innovation system. Gordon's innovative technologies are implemented at the schools and kindergartens, and teaching staff and school pupils also come to Gordon for special activities such as experience-based learning in our  ‘classroom of the future’ or immersive learning room, a visit to the academic library, interest days, conferences, a visit to the simulation Center, and more.

Gordon Academic College runs an innovative program for excellent students with the aim of attracting students with high academic potential to the teaching profession.  These students benefit from a full scholarship, stipend for living expenses, an intensive study program which shortens the pathway to a degree from 4 to 3 years and the possibility of continuing studies directly towards a Master of Education Degree.

In order to encourage academic excellence, Gordon Academic College conducts an honor roll ceremony each year, where certificates and scholarships are given to Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students that have met the requirements for excellence.)

“Lighthouse” is a unique leadership program that trains a select, visionary and groundbreaking group of students to tackle the educational and social challenges of the 21st century in new and creative ways. The program provides a generous scholarship to the selected students, exposes them to leading figures in Israeli society, as well as to courses, workshops and unique two-day seminars on educational leadership, with an emphasis on the students’ professional and practical training. Theoretical knowledge gained by the students in the program is realized practically in the form of a large-scale project in the community which is planned, conducted and led by each student.

Candidates for the program are recruited through Gordon’s strategic cooperation with local authorities, civil society organizations, the Israeli Defense Forces, and youth movements. Successful graduates of the program are awarded with a B.Ed. degree, a teacher’s certificate, and a prestigious professional diploma in social leadership from the Gordon Academic College of Education.

The Holocaust Remembrance Center is designed to preserve the tragic and painful history of the Holocaust and to provide educators with the educational tools to keep its memory alive for future generations. One of the center's activities is to train educators how to tell the stories of survivors, from their own perspective, as well as the personal stories of victims who lost their lives.

The Center works in cooperation with Yad Vashem and the Ghetto Fighters' Museum, as well as the Organization of Holocaust Survivors and Schools. Holocaust remembrance activities are open to all the communities that can be found in Israel: Jews, Muslims, Druze, Christians and Circassians alike, as the lessons of the Holocaust is relevant to all, especially all citizens of the State of Israel. All of Gordon’s students need to take a compulsory course in “The Holocaust and its Significance”, participate in an educational trip to one of the Holocaust commemorating museums, and participate in activities with Yad Vashem. In addition, once a year, a delegation of Gordon Academic College’s students participants in an educational trip to Auschwitz and other areas in Poland to learn first-hand about this historical event and its relevance in the 21st Century. Jewish, Druze, Muslim, Christian and Circassian students can and do participate in this educational trip. Gordon provides subsidies and scholarships to students participating in the delegation in order to financially assist those who cannot afford but still wish to experience the unique and empowering journey.

The impact of the College's past programs on the Holocaust has been profound, leading to academic research, increased student engagement in initiating and participating in Holocaust-related programs, and the general public’s involvement in the College’s interactive Holocaust exhibitions.
We seek to expand this Center to offer these programs and resources nationwide to schools, educators, and the entire Israeli public.

Gordon College’s President Professor Yecheskel Taler, as a Survivor with a strong personal family connection to the Holocaust, upholds an unwavering commitment to relay universal values of equality and human rights to the next generation through teacher training and education. This academic center, in the heart of the multicultural city of Haifa, where educators of different ethnicities and religions work and study side-by-side, aims to promote through its programs and the course of study,  a vision of mutual understanding, human rights, and peace.

For over a decade, Gordon Academic College of Education together with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, have offered the Kerner scholarship to Ethiopian students that choose to study to become teachers at our institution. The purpose of this scholarship’s is to empower Ethiopian students to successfully complete their students and become teachers in Israel.   . For those eligible Ethiopian students, the scholarship can cover or subsidize the tuition fees, assist with monthly living expenses, provide tutoring and mentoring aid and more. Over 95% of students that win the scholarship complete their studies and most are successfully hired in the workforce.

Putting into practice, our mission goals of being an institution that respects diversity, Gordon Academic College has built a successful program for people with disabilities in collaboration with Beit Ekstein, Shiluvim, and AKIM. This program hires these people who become part of Gordon’s work force and integrates them into different administrative departments   according to their individual skills. They are  integrated into their working positions according to a special hiring model which includes supportive staff, a stable management framework, a clear routine, and warm personal assistance from their supervisors. These employees share the same rights and responsibilities as all Gordon's employees. They partake in training sessions, team building days, and festivities at the college. Everyone benefits from their special personalities and skills as equal employees.

Gordon Academic College also offers a variety of courses and training for people with special needs in subjects like: journalism, creative writing, animal care, and computer technician training.

In recent years, Gordon Academic College of Education has been running the "Meeting Point" therapeutic center, which is recognized by the Israeli Association for Couple and Family Psychotherapy. The treatment center provides services to students and faculty members, to students in educational frameworks in the district, and to families in the community for emotional, social, educational, and functional coping. The treatments at the center are provided at a subsidized price by qualified therapists.

Regional Center for Parenthood and Family

This center offers experiential and dynamic programs aimed at developing understanding, awareness, and practical tools that promote fruitful dialogue between families and educational staff. The programs are directed by the best lecturers at the college and are attended by students from all tracks, senior citizens, students studying for their Master’s Degrees, teachers, kindergarten teachers and professionals. The center also implements a unique model for parenting and family support, as well as a rich array of professional training courses throughout the year.

Make contact" - the Center for Social and Community Involvement 

Gordon is committed to social involvement in the community. In this spirit, we run diverse projects that connect our students with the community, by creating a variety of community programs that promote social values, strengthen local identity as well as create a sense of belonging to our environment. These activities include programs for people with disabilities and special needs, meetings with local residents that foster open dialogue and social awareness in specific Haifa neighborhoods.