הרשות למחקר ולהערכה

Dr. Michael (Miki) Motola studied clinical psychology in Paris. He worked as a clinical psychologist for many years in the north of Israel. Later in his career he established a vocational guidance center in Nahariya and a parental guidance and preparation for childbirth center in Karmiel. His doctoral research was about future representation of young people attending secondary schools in France and Finland. He studied in the Mandel School for Educational Leadership for two years. Since 1999 he has taught psychology and education studies at Oranim Academic College of Education. He was a faculty member at Mandel School for Educational Leadership since 1999 to 2004.  Dr. Motola is interested in promoting creative teaching methods, contemplative pedagogy and multicultural skills. He tries to bring together his experience as a clinical psychologist and as an educator to develop a new type of teacher: A 'therapeutic educator.' His recent researches deal with empathy in education, contemplative pedagogy and racism in education. Currently, he is the Dean of Students at Oranim College. 

Dr. Tal Feder is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sheffield and a lecturer of sociology at Oranim College. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Haifa in a joint program with Humboldt University, Berlin. In 2020, he was an Israel Science Foundation (ISF) postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Cultural Affairs in Indiana University.

His current research focuses on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the art world, access to art and cultural policy. His research interests are cultural policy, sociology of art and culture and quantitative research methods. Dr. Feder has taught courses on cultural policy and sociology of culture and art in several academic institutions in Israel and in non–governmental organizations (NGOs) dedicated to social activism through art.

His paper “Normative justification for public arts funding” was published in Socio Economic Review and received the 2019 Guttman award for the best sociology paper from the Israeli Sociological Association.

Dr. Janina Kahn-Horwitz, is a senior lecturer at Oranim College of Education. She is chair of the Department of English Language and Literature.  She teaches in the undergraduate English Language and Literature Department as well as the graduate M.Ed. Language Learning program. Her research interests include individual differences in language learning and English as a foreign language reading and spelling development. She has a B.A. from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Haifa. Janina has always been involved in education, both informal and formal. She sees educators as agents of change, making a significant impact on society through self-example and mentoring.

Ilanit Pinto-Dror is a lecturer in sociology and education in Oranim Academic College of Education. In recent years, Ilanit has been training teachers and school principals. Ilanit is a doctoral student in Haifa University. Her research deals with cultural-educational processes in elitist schools, which produce privileged class subjectivity among students. Ilanit is a graduate of the Mandel School of Educational Leadership and previous principal of Beit Eckstein high school for young people with psychiatric difficulties. The school’s approach is humanist, with a strong emphasis on interpersonal relationships and on developing pupils’ emotional and social skills:Encouraging and nurturing emotions at schools as a means for personal growth, for creating an atmosphere of development and learning, and for creating equal opportunities.

Dr. Noah Bar Gosen has been working as a humanistic teacher and homeroom educator in elementary and junior high schools for the past 25 years. She has a B.A. in social work from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a master's from Oranim College of Education and a PH.D. in education from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. As a lecturer in the department of English language and literature, she focuses on inclusion with its various aspects – teachers' roles, students' characteristics, class management, educational perceptions and practices. Currently Noah is conducting research, guided by Yad Tabenkin, concerning the experience of homosexuals and lesbian adolescents in Kibbutzim.