Cultivating Future-oriented Learners: Polyphonic Education in a Changing World

The book Cultivating Future-Oriented Learners: Polyphonic Education in a Changing World offers a new theoretical and practical educational approach, responding to our era's challenges. The polyphonic paradigm it proposes uses current educational elements to produce "a new whole" connecting technology, varied learning spaces, humanizing pedagogy, and global values of personal, social, and environmental  responsibility.

Combining all these elements, the presented polyphonic wisdom model enables teachers to design a technology-enhanced, pluralistic, and dynamic learning environment where individual voices are heard while all the voices harmonize. Centered around human dignity and affinity between the personal and collective good, it aspires to assist educators in cultivating productive and value-based future citizens and teachers within a democratic society.

The book introduces thirteen unique teaching models to foster humanizing global values: diversity and inclusion, ecohumanistic responsibility, and a dialogue between diverse stands and perspectives. It guides learners toward attaining their objectives by acquiring independent learning skills. Together, these teaching models are a catalogue of practical implementation choices of the polyphonic wisdom model in various educational frameworks.

The envisaged readership encompasses educators and related professionals, but no less so anyone concerned about the current educational crisis who wishes to rethink education, technology, and values such as present and future personal, social, and environmental responsibility.

Dr. Yael Yondler is an educator and researcher. She leads the Learning Design path of the Master's program in Technology in Education at Kibbutzim College of Education. An educational assessment specialist, she trains assessment coordinators. She trains and leads academic and other learning teams and communities in knowledge-building and learning design in hybrid spaces. Dr. Yondler's post-doctoral research on digital literacy was conducted at the Learning Technologies and Learning Systems Program of the Open University of Israel.

Dr. Nissim Avissar is a clinical-social psychologist, teacher educator, and qualitative researcher. He heads the teaching-advancement units at Kibbutzim College of Education and trains educators and therapists. His expertise covers cultural sensitivity, social-emotional learning (SEL), resilience building, and coping with trauma and crisis. His current academic research and writings focus on ethnic and class gaps in education and resilience building in a complicated violent reality.

Dr. Dovi Weiss is Head of Digital Learning & Training Development Specialization (B.A) at Ono Academic College. He also consults various organizations on effective and innovative learning, particularly in educational technology. Until 2021, he headed the digital pedagogy unit and management team at Kibbutzim College for 7 years. He was the Pedagogical Founder of Et Hada'at (www.timetoknow.co.il) and its Chief Scientist during 2005-2019. In 2010, Dr. Weiss was declared one of Israel's 50 most influential people in education. In 2012, he received an Honorable Mention from Israel's Prime Minister in the Initiatives and Innovation award Competition for his pioneering work in Educational Technology.