Leaders in Education Gather at Bahçeşehir

The "Türkiye's University in Schools 2nd Sharing Seminar", bringing together academics from the world's leading universities in education and educators from various schools in Türkiye, was held at Bahçeşehir University.

The seminar, themed "Teacher Placement Model for 21st Century Schools", took place on 20 June at the Fazıl Say Hall of Bahçeşehir University. At the seminar, Enver Yücel, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bahçeşehir University, Prof. Dr. Hasan Şimşek, Prof. Dr. Hasan Özcan, Prof. Dr. Mary Brabeck, Dean at New York University, Prof. Dr. Tom Strikus, Dean at the University of Washington, and Prof. Dr. Jane Close Conely, Dean at the University of California, informed the participants with their speeches.

Enver Yücel emphasized that the Faculty and Institute of Educational Sciences established at Bahçeşehir University are at a level that can serve as an example to the whole world. Yücel said that the experience behind Bahçeşehir University, which closely follows world universities such as Harvard and MIT, becoming a world university in 14 years was sufficient for this, and that this is the age of technology. Adding that there is no equal opportunity in education in the world and that the only way to achieve it is digital education, Yücel noted that school subjects such as mathematics and history can be learned remotely, but concepts such as peace, friendship and tolerance are learned from teachers, and that the educators trained at Bahçeşehir University will therefore be citizens of the world.

Evaluating the education reforms carried out in Türkiye, Prof. Dr. Hasan Şimşek and Prof. Dr. Mustafa Özcan stated that there have been significant problems in teacher training over the last 20 years and that the breaking point in education was the 1990s. They said that a paradigm shift in education took place with the change in economics worldwide in the 1980s, and that the greatest challenge was teacher training.

PRACTICE AND ACADEMIC EDUCATION TOGETHER

Addressing the problems of faculties of arts and sciences and faculties of education, Prof. Dr. Hasan Şimşek said that the main problem stems from practice and academic education being disconnected from each other and from the institution that trains teachers (YÖK) and the institution that appoints them being different. Şimşek emphasized that students of the Bahçeşehir University Faculty and Institute of Educational Sciences will combine academic education and practice. He added that students will be able to do a year of practice at schools abroad.

Stating that America has educational problems similar to Türkiye's, Prof. Dr. Mary Brabeck, Prof. Dr. Tom Strikus and Prof. Dr. Jane Close Conely shared the teacher education models implemented at their universities with the seminar participants and explained how they could be adapted to Türkiye. In her project "No Child Left Behind" , Prof. Dr. Mary Brabeck explained the importance of teachers not only being well-equipped but also being able to convey what they know to students to the maximum extent. While Prof. Dr. Tom Strikus emphasized that theory and practice are two complementary concepts, Prof. Dr. Jane Close Connely presented the teacher education model implemented at the University of California. The seminar ended with a question-and-answer dialogue between participants and speakers.