Of the thousands of schools in the country today, 11 Israeli schools have taken part in a pilot initiative that puts educational therapeutic clowns in the school setting. So, how did a Chinese documentary film crew even know the initiative to create a more joyful, colorful and happier school atmosphere is underway?
Backtrack to May 15.
Ryanne Hsu, a Hong Kong-based content coordinator for Childhood Elsewhere, a six-part documentary series on education in Finland, India, Japan, Britain, Israel and China, sent an email to Oshi's alter-ego, Viva. When not an educational clown, Viva writes and talks about the culture of innovation.
Ryanne had read Viva's blogs on educational clowning and innovation on her website and wanted to know if Viva/Oshi would be interested in taking part in the documentary.
The pupils at the Peres School in Rosh Haayin ran towards the camera crew. They were a bit disappointed to hear that the crew was actually at the school to film the two educational clowns, Oshi and Leepa, and not them shouting out, “I love you, mom.”
The thought that Viva's blog and the echo of Oshi's educational adventures had reached across oceans and lands was exciting. So, after Googling Childhood Elsewhere and finding a fascinating teaser on Vimeo featuring Chinese journalist Yijun Zhou, Viva wrote back to Ryanne to say, Yes!
Fast forward to today, the film crew came to follow Viva – and Educational Clowning head honcho Talia Safra – around a primary school in Rosh Haayin.
With a sound man and cameraman, a producer and a journalist in the entourage, we spent three hours walking around the school, going upstairs and downstairs, saying good mornings to different classes, and being swarmed in the hallways.
The pupils at the Peres School in Rosh Haayin ran towards the camera crew. They were a bit disappointed to hear that the crew was actually at the school to film the two educational clowns, Oshi and Leepa, and not them shouting out, “I love you, mom.”
In each country included in the documentary series, Childhood Elsewhere focuses on a different question. In Israel, the documentary looks at the meaning of innovation and what kind of impact it’s making in the education arena.
We spoke about the meaning of innovation, the Israeli view of failure, how chutzpah plays a role in Israeli innovation, why EQ (emotional intelligence) is important in the 21st century, educational philosophies and why educational clowning is innovative.
We filmed at one of the most innovative – if not ‘the’ most innovative, creative andcommunity-building -- primary schools in the country, named after the former president of Israel. Shimon Peres famously said: “Unless you educate your children and spend less money on conflicts, unless you develop your science, technology and industry, you don’t have a future.”
The documentary also filmed at a primary school in Modiin, a school on a kibbutz, the Kfar Hayarok school and other places of learning around Israel.
The series is meant to broadcast on Youku, a Chinese video platform equivalent to Netflix. Oshi hopes it will also have a Vimeo, YouTube or Netflix release so that we can see it as well.
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