We began the day with a presentation by Cigdem Tongal from the Istanbul Policy Center and Sabanci University titled "Exchanging People Exchanging Ideas." Cigdem began her presentation by giving a brief overview of the Turkish education system which consists of pre-primary education institutions, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. Grades 9 through 12 are considered secondary education, which wasn't compulsory until 2012; however, it is required to attend university. The Istanbul Policy Center is seeking to strengthen European-Turkish and German-Turkish relations and improve public perception of Turkey in Europe and vise versa. Cigdem went on to describe the demographics of Turkey including the average age of 28.2 and the age group 5 to 20 years old makes up 25.5% of the population. Twenty eight percent of women have jobs and the average household net-adjusted income is lower than the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) average of 23,047 USD a year. Although poverty continues to be a problem in Turkey, education may be the key to ending the cycle of poverty. Enrollment in pre-primay education has increased significantly from 1997 because of initiatives like the Fatih project.
The Fatih project is working to get every classroom in Turkey to have interactive boards, to improve E-content, and to have 16 million tablets distributed for educational use. There have been some advances with this project and within three years, 620,000 boards were equipped in schools throughout the country. Other goals are perhaps more long term like providing 16 million tablets for students. Apple made 44 million iPads and distributed them throughout the world last year, so 16 million tablets in Turkey alone is a high goal, but it provides hope for the future. While it would be incredible if these goals could be met; however, I couldn't help but wonder where the focus was on traditional and proven effective means of education like books and libraries. After visiting the library in one of the Fatih municipality centers, I am interested to see why all this hard work is going towards equipping schools with the latest technology instead of libraries. I asked Cigdem her opinion on the investment in technology versus books and libraries and she responded by saying it depends how you use it. It is important to use technology as an educational tool. She even pointed out that a projector like the one she was using is a form a technology that is beneficial. I agree that some forms of technology can be a great addition to classrooms everywhere, but as a student I know that the use of technology in classrooms is often abused. In the United States, I sit in the classroom and watch people play games, check their email, or go onto social media sites on their laptop of phone. Providing students with tablets may create a distraction for students in class or they will likely play games at home rather than doing their homework. I then asked how they intended to stop children from abusing the privileges of having a tablet in regards to games and noneducational apps. Cigdem said they limit what the children can use the tablet for by not allowing the Internet or games on it. This raised the question of effectiveness. If you have a tablet that doesn't have Internet and all the information the Internet has to provide, how much are children really benefiting? In addition, this raises more questions of who dictates what children are and are not observing. When does censorship become a problem? Although I think providing children with tablets is a great goal, there are still many flaws that need to be considered. There should be a balance of technology and books in schools. I'm afraid policy makers in Istanbul are going to learn what is most effective the hard way when literacy rates are revealed for the year.
The Fatih project is working to get every classroom in Turkey to have interactive boards, to improve E-content, and to have 16 million tablets distributed for educational use. There have been some advances with this project and within three years, 620,000 boards were equipped in schools throughout the country. Other goals are perhaps more long term like providing 16 million tablets for students. Apple made 44 million iPads and distributed them throughout the world last year, so 16 million tablets in Turkey alone is a high goal, but it provides hope for the future. While it would be incredible if these goals could be met; however, I couldn't help but wonder where the focus was on traditional and proven effective means of education like books and libraries. After visiting the library in one of the Fatih municipality centers, I am interested to see why all this hard work is going towards equipping schools with the latest technology instead of libraries. I asked Cigdem her opinion on the investment in technology versus books and libraries and she responded by saying it depends how you use it. It is important to use technology as an educational tool. She even pointed out that a projector like the one she was using is a form a technology that is beneficial. I agree that some forms of technology can be a great addition to classrooms everywhere, but as a student I know that the use of technology in classrooms is often abused. In the United States, I sit in the classroom and watch people play games, check their email, or go onto social media sites on their laptop of phone. Providing students with tablets may create a distraction for students in class or they will likely play games at home rather than doing their homework. I then asked how they intended to stop children from abusing the privileges of having a tablet in regards to games and noneducational apps. Cigdem said they limit what the children can use the tablet for by not allowing the Internet or games on it. This raised the question of effectiveness. If you have a tablet that doesn't have Internet and all the information the Internet has to provide, how much are children really benefiting? In addition, this raises more questions of who dictates what children are and are not observing. When does censorship become a problem? Although I think providing children with tablets is a great goal, there are still many flaws that need to be considered. There should be a balance of technology and books in schools. I'm afraid policy makers in Istanbul are going to learn what is most effective the hard way when literacy rates are revealed for the year.
The Fatih project started in 17 different cities and 51 pilot schools. There was a discrepancy between schools because some instructors didn't get the chance to see the interactive boards or tablets before engaging in the workshop with the students. It is just as important for the teachers to be versed with the technology as the children. A five day program was later adapted to make the boards and tablets educational for the teachers. There is still a lot that needs to considered as the Fatih project progresses, but it seems as though it is off to a good start and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
The new 4+4+4 (4 years of the first level of primary education, 4 years of the second level of primary education, and 4 years of secondary education) legislation was passed in March of 2012 which required students to attend secondary education. Currently the AKP party is the dominant group in parliament, so after they voted this legislation in, the Ministry of Education had to comply with what was decided and implement the changes. Because secondary education has just recently become compulsory, educational institutions have experienced many adjustments. Many schools are unhappy because they had to change classrooms around and split up schools to accommodate the increase in students. Many religious schools that were banned in 2007 had to be reintroduced to accommodate high school students and teachers. In 2007 there was an uprising in the religious movement, so the government closed down religious parties, prohibited scarves to enter universities, and banned religious middle schools. The AKP is a right-wing Islamic democrat and conservative political party, so it is up for debate how much the new 4+4+4 is politically driven in terms of giving a reputation back to religious schools. As Cigdem mentions, education has turned into the playground of the government. Government officials need to stay focused on the needs of children rather than gaining politically.
The new 4+4+4 (4 years of the first level of primary education, 4 years of the second level of primary education, and 4 years of secondary education) legislation was passed in March of 2012 which required students to attend secondary education. Currently the AKP party is the dominant group in parliament, so after they voted this legislation in, the Ministry of Education had to comply with what was decided and implement the changes. Because secondary education has just recently become compulsory, educational institutions have experienced many adjustments. Many schools are unhappy because they had to change classrooms around and split up schools to accommodate the increase in students. Many religious schools that were banned in 2007 had to be reintroduced to accommodate high school students and teachers. In 2007 there was an uprising in the religious movement, so the government closed down religious parties, prohibited scarves to enter universities, and banned religious middle schools. The AKP is a right-wing Islamic democrat and conservative political party, so it is up for debate how much the new 4+4+4 is politically driven in terms of giving a reputation back to religious schools. As Cigdem mentions, education has turned into the playground of the government. Government officials need to stay focused on the needs of children rather than gaining politically.
The second half of the presentation was focused on Gezi Park and the current protests. Taksim Square has been the meeting grounds for protestors who are against the demolition of Gezi Park. For a year and a half people have been protesting, but it wasn't until May 28th that the demolition began, along with the resistance. In terms of protests and police violence, most of the stories are similar to what Koray was explaining to us Sunday night. When surveying people in the park, 69% hear about the protests through social media, 58% feel their liberty is being threatened, and 49% came when they heard about police violation. Thirty seven percent of the participants were students, 52% are in the workforce, 50.2% were women, and 44% have never attended a protest before. There is a uniqueness in this population of protestors showing that people with varying backgrounds and experiences can stand together to make a change. This movement can't be stopped now. Protests are expanding geographically and people are beginning to gather in their local parks. Gezi Park started as the primary concern, but movement is growing and effecting more and more people every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment