By Viva Sarah Press for Nocamels.com
No one wants to be the school embarrassment. Well, almost no one. For educational clowns, being the blundering idiot and class failure is actually an objective.

Chinese journalist Yijun Zhou's documentary on Israeli education shows what happens when fun is added to the school day.

Chinese journalist Yijun Zhou's documentary on Israeli education looks at the culture of failure and how Israelis see downfalls as part of a journey. 

By Viva Sarah Press for The Canadian Jewish News
 

Eventually, even the toughest kids who ignore us (or at least pretend to) let down their guard and welcome the humour we offer. And when I say we, I mean the computer programmers and the opera singer, the researcher and the journalist, the theatre folk and the nurse, who every week put aside their professional lives to bring cheer and idiocy to teenagers and adults who can be overly serious, anxious and worried. 

Chinese journalist Yijun Zhou's documentary on education looks at six countries. The Israel episode looks at education styles, innovation from a young age, failure, individualism, creativity and the practice of questioning authority. 

Oshi's alter ego, Viva Sarah Press, talks about clowning in a foreign language.
In addition to being an educational clown, Viva is also a journalist and public speaker.This excerpt was part of an end-of-year show of a clowning course given by Talia Safra, founder of the Educational Clowning Initiative. The course included workshops, method-learning and practicums.  

Israeli morning talk show hosts a segment on educational clowning in schools. Clowns Leepa and Oshi are in the studio. 

Niv Morgenstern interviews Oshi (Viva Sarah Press) about her experiences as an educational clown in Israeli schools.

 An article in the lifestyle magazine, La’Isha, on educational clowning.