Tribute to
Shlomo Sharan
Shlomo Sharan, a distinguished Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology at the School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Israel, is renowned for his contributions to the field. He founded the International Association for the Study of Cooperation in Education and has authored numerous influential books, research studies, and articles that focus on cooperative learning and the organization of schools.
Shlomo Sharan Tribute
Shlomo Sharan, a pivotal figure in cooperative learning and educational psychology, passed away in July at age 90. Here are some heartfelt comments about Shlomo from several leaders of CL.
David Johnson: "Shlomo is a great loss for our group."
Nancy Madden: "Much good work and good memories in educational psychology were initiated by Shlomo's creativity and energy."
Yael Sharan: "Shlomo will be remembered for his significant contributions to CL and for founding the IASCE. I owe my involvement in cooperative learning to his encouragement, for which I'm eternally grateful."
Richard Schmuck: "To commemorate Shlomo Sharan: Shlomo was the skillful organizer of the IASCE and its heart and soul for 15 years as it developed. Whenever I ventured to give IASCE my intellectual perspective and my social-emotional guidance and support, Shlomo acted as my enthusiastic booster and unambiguous cheerleader. I have missed him for a while; now, I will miss him even more. I send my warm regards to all who remember him lovingly as I do."
Tribute to Shlomo Sharan By Neil Davidson
Sheldon Singer emigrated from the United States to begin a new life in Israel in 1965, adopting his Hebrew name, Shlomo Sharan. The surname Singer was transformed into Sharan, with ‘shar’ meaning sings. For many years, Shlomo served on the faculty of the School of Education at Tel Aviv University, where he made significant contributions to educational psychology, particularly in the field of cooperative learning.
Shlomo's extensive research and development centered around the Group Investigation model of cooperative learning (CL), drawing on the foundational theories of Dewey and Thelen. In 1979, he conceived of and convened the First International Convention on Cooperation in Education in Israel, where the International Association for the Study of Cooperation in Education (IASCE) was formed. Shlomo Sharan was honored to be the second President of IASCE, succeeding Richard Schmuck.
On a personal level, Shlomo was known for being willful and obstinate at times, yet he also displayed a caring and generous nature. At various IASCE conferences, he showcased his talent as a pianist and his skill as a storytelling raconteur. He humorously recounted tales, including one about the absurdity of adults chasing balls on a field, and shared a story of his own mischievous behavior with an elderly professor, who happened to be my Uncle Ralph.
Throughout his career, Shlomo produced a remarkable number of publications on cooperative learning and school change, collaborating with co-authors like Yael Sharan, Rachel Hertz-Lazarowitz, and many of his students. A notable contribution was a chapter authored by Yael Sharan and Shlomo Sharan, which appeared in my edited book, 'Pioneering Perspectives in Cooperative Learning' (2021). I had hoped to work alongside Shlomo on a new edition of his celebrated 'Handbook of Cooperative Learning Methods'; however, he was unfortunately too ill to undertake such a significant project.
Through his research, writings, presentations, and leadership, Shlomo Sharan inspired countless scholars and practitioners to continue exploring and applying cooperative learning in their unique ways.