Project Tempus IRIS

During the years 2012-2015 Kaye College participated in an international EU funded three-year project titled Tempus IRIS (fostering academic international relations in Israeli academic colleges), uniting eighteen Israeli and European partners. The Israeli partners included peripherally and centrally situated academic institutions, engineering and social sciences colleges, educational training colleges and Arab colleges. The project's main objective was to promote international and intercultural policies, skills and culture in Israeli public academic colleges.

Having been a European Union's program TEMPUS IRIS supported the modernization of higher education in the EU's surrounding area. It promoted institutional cooperation that involves the European Union and Partner Countries and focused on the reform and modernization of higher education systems in 54 Partner Countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region.

As part of its goal to implement and expand the issue of internationalization of curricula, Kaye College has collaborated with various academic institutions abroad, among which: York St. John University, UK; Viktor Frankl Pädagogische Hochschule, Austria; Warsaw Academy of Special Education, Poland; Penza State University, Russia; Tampere University, Finland; University of Latvia; Edith Cowan University, Australia; Leiden University, Holland; Exeter University, UK; University of Texas San Antonio, USA and High Tech High in San Diego, USA. Collaborations include joint research, consultations and publications, exchange of knowledge and mobility of students and staff.

For example, in the framework of joint consultations with York St. John University a mutual learning process has been established which contributes to the increase and better understanding and respect in each of their diverse communities and beyond; collaboration with the Department of Theology and Education at York St. John University and Kaye’s English Department takes the form of a series of online discussions, using various ICT tools.

In addition, in the course of the project we have signed a contract of cooperation with Warsaw Academy of Special Education, with Viktor Frankl Pädagogische Hochschule in Austria, and with Penza State University, in Russia. Our collaborations include staff and student mobility, collaborative research and joint consultations.

Furthermore, the M.Ed. program Education in the Era of ICT collaborates with Bristol University. (Bristol, UK), holding synchronous online sessions aiming towards raising students’ awareness about human needs in the Era of Globalization and new trends in Education, Internationalization and Multiculturalism, as well as promoting self-exploration of students regarding their cultural, national and professional identity and the importance of tolerance.