Orly Shapira

Orly Shapira is a PhD candidate at the Jamie and Joan Constantiner School of Education in Tel Aviv University, and an Azrieli scholarship fellow. Her research titled: "Teacher-student relationships in knowledge building instruction: Practices, teacher views and student experiences" emphasizes the crucial importance of relations and classroom interactions to the educational process. She aims to identify practical acts of relational pedagogy which teachers can be trained to master, in order to enhance students' well-being, intellectual growth, and communicative skills. Orly earned her MA in curriculum design and development from Tel Aviv University, where she received an outstanding academic achievement award. She earned her BA in communication and social studies from the Open University of Israel, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She has been passionate about education her whole life and has worked as a teacher, professional development facilitator, program director, vice principal, and pedagogical consultant in Israel and in NYC. She is a former dancer and dance instructor and a lover of all arts. She also loves reading children's books, especially ones which invite adult and child readers to philosophical thought and discussion. Her three children are her favorite reading partne