Turkish teachers look to eradicate discrimination from schools

ISTANBUL – Radikal

A new project organized by Istanbul Bilgi University is aiming to abolish prejudice and discrimination in the education system by training teachers in new approaches and by making use of updated learning materials.

The project, called the Sociology and Education Works Branch, focuses on creating new education materials for teachers working in primary and middle schools.

The 13 teachers on the project are developing modules and education materials to eradicate the discriminatory issues they face in the classrooms, including topics such as identity, bilingual education discrimination, democratization, citizenship, poverty and gender.

Those involved in the project, who are also in touch with the Education Ministry, want to increase awareness by organizing seminars and training workshops. The project’s coordinator, Kenan Çayır, said Turkey had started to face its history and even discuss sensitive subjects such as the Dersim Operation, during which the military launched a campaign in the eastern province of Tunceli in the 1930s, killing thousands.

Teachers have started to think about what resources they need for these topics, Çayır said.

“There is discrimination against Kurds and Alevis in novels and two literature teachers have been working on how to handle this in the classroom. Teachers of sociology and social sciences are carrying out works in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey related to discrimination,” said Çayır. “Others are working on resources to combat discrimination toward people with disabilities.”

The resources produced will be put on the branch’s Internet site, which all teachers can access, said the coordinator. Another part of the project is to turn the materials into workshops with a certificate program subsequent for teachers, said Çayır.

“The modules we have improved will be completed in June. For instance, I will apply the works I developed on people with disabilities with the teachers at my own school. If we can educate the teachers, we can make a difference,” said Erhan Ağbaba, a guidance counselor at a state school taking part in the project.

“We are increasing our outreach and heading to other cities. We can either apply the resources we have or change them and provide education to more teachers by forming new groups,” said Ayşe Alan Öz, a history and social sciences teacher.

via Turkish teachers look to eradicate discrimination from schools – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review.