Today, I had the opportunity to visit three schools. Two were private, one was public. All had unique features that made them successful, and things that were totally different from what we do in the United States. Here are a few things:
1. One of the private schools bases their curriculum around nature. The campus spans acres and acres - has a small zoo, many garden areas, trails, outdoor classrooms, horseback riding. I was amazed by the beautiful campus. Here is a picture showing a SMALL part of the vegetable garden.
1. One of the private schools bases their curriculum around nature. The campus spans acres and acres - has a small zoo, many garden areas, trails, outdoor classrooms, horseback riding. I was amazed by the beautiful campus. Here is a picture showing a SMALL part of the vegetable garden.
Even the outdoor classrooms are fully equipped with Promethean Boards.
Here is a picture of part of one of the outdoor classrooms.
2. The public school is totally government supported - meaning the government hires and fires the teachers and also purchases all instructional materials. All students are given a set of textbooks each year which they keep. Classes go up to 40 students per class.
3. Another of the private schools features a constant loop - so a student who enters as a first grader will keep that same teacher for all eight years of education. Therefore, a teacher has to be a master of curriculum at all grade levels! We were not invited to see a classroom (we had to ask);however, the vice-principal delighted us in showing us the view of Istanbul from the conference room.
The highlight of the visits? I was able to give gifts from Kensington Elementary to all three schools, and all three were open to beginning a partnership!
Hello Dr. Clarke
ReplyDeleteI like seeing the pictures from your trip.
Why were you not invited to see a classroom and why didn't you ask to see a classroom?
Spencer Hilligoss
Hi Spencer!
ReplyDeleteSchool is not in session now. The posters, decorations, and instructional materials had all been removed, so I guess they thought we didn't want to see the empty classrooms. However, seeing those have been very interesting - the classrooms are less than a third of the size of our classrooms, and each desk seats two students. There are no cubbies, only coat hooks, and no bookshelves. It's very strange to see!
I get to go to another school tomorrow, so I'm going to peek in those rooms too!
Thanks for watching the blog!!
Hello Dr. Clarke
ReplyDeleteThank you for answering my question. I was hoping to see a picture of the children in class.
What do the children learn in Turkey? Do they study the same subjects we do? How many days do they go to school and how long is the school year?
Spencer Hilligoss
Hi Spencer -
ReplyDeleteThe children are not in class, it's their summer vacation and summer camps have started. They do study the same subjects but the approach is much different. For example, in the elementary school I visited, they teach reading much differently. I'm sure your teachers have made you explain what you read so that they know you understand it. Here, they are teaching a "letter of the week" or "sound of the week" when learning how to read, so it takes much longer to learn how to read and to really build that understanding. In one elementary school, math was seen as more important than reading.
One other big difference is the languages - all of the students here are expected to learn Turkish and English, with a third choice (at least where I have visited) be either Chinese or German!
The school year is the same length, but the length of days vary. The private schools generally go from about 8-4. The public schools, because they are overcrowded, may have half of their students come between 8-12 and the other half from 12:30-4:30!! I wonder how much they can do in only 4 hours!