Educational approach emphasizes practical knowledge, character, curiosity and critical thinking alongside academic results

Uri Poliavich, a philanthropist focused on education, has highlighted an educational approach that places knowledge, character and critical thinking alongside academic results. Poliavich co-founded the Yael Foundation in 2020, which supports Jewish education in 48 countries and has reached more than 29,000 children across 145 institutions.

The approach emphasizes three areas of education: knowledge that students can use, values that students can apply in their lives, and critical thinking that enables them to distinguish reliable claims from unreliable ones.

Results, Transcripts and the Wider Measure of Education

Poliavich views examination results as one measure of education rather than its complete outcome. Academic results can help students move to the next stage, including university, employment or other opportunities, while qualities such as accountability, reliability and integrity become relevant beyond the examination environment.

The educational approach supported by Poliavich therefore considers what students develop during their school years and how those qualities may influence their conduct after graduation.

Curiosity, Questions and Independent Learning

Curiosity is another element of the approach. A classroom that encourages students to continue exploring a subject after a lesson can help develop habits of independent study.

The approach places value on students returning to material without being prompted and developing the ability to determine what they should learn next. These habits are intended to remain useful after formal education ends, when students no longer have a teacher assigning each task.

Rules, Conduct and Integrity

The approach also emphasizes that integrity can develop through the ordinary conduct of a school environment.

Consistent rules, equal standards in assessment and teachers who follow through on established expectations can demonstrate how principles are applied in practice. Over time, these experiences can help students understand how decisions and conduct are connected to the values they are expected to uphold.

Poliavich's educational philosophy places importance on creating an environment in which these standards are consistently practiced rather than treating integrity only as a separate subject.

Projects, Choices and Responsibility

The approach supported through Poliavich's philanthropic work also gives students opportunities to make decisions and participate in shared responsibilities.

Projects, classroom discussions and group activities can help students understand the relationship between choices and their outcomes. Developing responsibility through smaller decisions is viewed as preparation for larger responsibilities later in life.

This perspective extends beyond the classroom to work, family life and participation in the wider community.

Sources, Evidence and Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is another central element of the approach. Students are encouraged to examine claims before accepting them by considering where information originated, evaluating evidence and comparing different sources.

The objective is to help students distinguish reliable information from unreliable information and develop the habit of evaluating confident statements rather than accepting them without examination.

Independent Thought Beyond Memorization

The approach distinguishes memorizing information from using knowledge to reason through a problem.

The Yael Foundation supports schools that encourage students to argue a position, defend conclusions and examine weaknesses in an argument. This approach places emphasis on applying knowledge rather than simply recalling information.

While examinations can measure whether students have learned particular material, independent thinking requires students to address questions for which they may not have previously rehearsed an answer.

Work, Family and Long-Term Values

The educational approach also considers how values developed during school years can influence later decisions.

Students who spend years in an environment that emphasizes honesty, effort and fair treatment may carry those standards into professional and family life. Poliavich's philanthropic work gives particular weight to early education because the habits and values developed during those years can continue to influence decisions over the course of a person's life.

For Poliavich, the impact of education extends beyond academic records to include how graduates approach responsibilities, relationships and decisions in their communities.

About Uri Poliavich

Uri Poliavich is a philanthropist whose work focuses on education. Born in 1981, he emigrated to Israel at the age of 14 and studied law at Bar-Ilan University, where he earned an LLB.

In 2020, he co-founded the Yael Foundation, which supports Jewish education in 48 countries and has reached more than 29,000 children across 145 institutions.

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