Pedagogy in the Spirit of Jazz Project

The book before you is an eye opener. It offers a fresh and creative perspective on education in general and pedagogy in particular.

The book was born from the author’s unique experiences and experimentation during a journey to the HTH Network, San Diego (founded and led by Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs), and from the ongoing work of the Community of the Friends of HTH Community in Israel (founded and inspired by Yaacov Schneider). 

Member of the delegation to the HTH Network, San Diego: 

I experienced an emotional explosion. I felt that someone had found the key – the method that makes students and teachers happy. Someone was implementing an educational model that offers a wealth of possibilities and enables coping with the choices and challenges of the 21st century. 

The book presents a new pedagogical vision – in the "spirit of jazz". It is characterized by improvisation, a synergistic balance between the individual and the group, dynamic and fluid transitions in the act of creation-performance, which unfold simultaneously and spontaneously (based on minimal structure), and by reflection-in-action.

It also includes an educational-pedagogical manifesto, written in the spirit of modernist manifestos, for all who care about the future of our children’s education.

The model presented in the book is designed to inspire and, ultimately, to create motivation – empowering partners in the field to lead the development of applied programs and guidelines; to promote a process of redesigning school life: daily routines, classrooms, teaching-learning methods, and beyond.

This proposed model is not intended for educators alone, but for anyone – individuals, organizations, or institutions – seeking to benefit from an original and vital concept of a groundbreaking, process-focused (rather than product-oriented) organizational culture.

We are called to face the challenge:

"Can we shake off the past, mired in the oppressive post-industrial revolution world and break through to a future educational-pedagogical system based on freedom, liberation, and hope"?

Author – Dr. Idan Yaron

Ph.D., The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology. Cultural researcher, specializing in the sociology of education and the anthropology of schools.

The book is enriched with spectacular drawings and thought-provoking illustrations by Atar Geva and Avital Geva.