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EXPERT: TURKEY'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM TOO NATIONALISTIC
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 5, 2011 - 14:09 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's educational system is too nationalistic
and does not breed pluralism in society, according to a sociology
professor who is involved in a groundbreaking educational project with
teachers to develop educational methods to eliminate discrimination.
As Today's Zaman reported, professor Kenan Cayır said they develop
educational courses for primary and high school teachers who often
feel uneasy talking about the sensitive topic of discrimination in
their classrooms because they lack materials to refer to.
Funded by the Open Society Foundation, Turkey, Global Dialogue and
İstanbul Bilgi University, Cayır heads the project to help teachers
in that regard and develops texts for classrooms on the topic of
discrimination and hate speech.
"Students have the topic of stereotypes in their social science
textbooks. They are being educated against such stereotypes as "gypsies
are thieves," "blondes are stupid" and "women are sentimental." In
order to be against discrimination, students and teachers need to be
educated about stereotypes. For example, having the stereotypical
belief that "women are sentimental," which may be partly true for
anybody, leads to discriminatory practices while employing women. The
same goes for stereotypical beliefs with regard to Kurds, Armenians,
Alevis, Muslims and so on, who are subject to stereotypes that lead
to discriminatory practices against them. I first gave the example
of discrimination against women because it is a really big problem,"
Cayır said.
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 5, 2011 - 14:09 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's educational system is too nationalistic
and does not breed pluralism in society, according to a sociology
professor who is involved in a groundbreaking educational project with
teachers to develop educational methods to eliminate discrimination.
As Today's Zaman reported, professor Kenan Cayır said they develop
educational courses for primary and high school teachers who often
feel uneasy talking about the sensitive topic of discrimination in
their classrooms because they lack materials to refer to.
Funded by the Open Society Foundation, Turkey, Global Dialogue and
İstanbul Bilgi University, Cayır heads the project to help teachers
in that regard and develops texts for classrooms on the topic of
discrimination and hate speech.
"Students have the topic of stereotypes in their social science
textbooks. They are being educated against such stereotypes as "gypsies
are thieves," "blondes are stupid" and "women are sentimental." In
order to be against discrimination, students and teachers need to be
educated about stereotypes. For example, having the stereotypical
belief that "women are sentimental," which may be partly true for
anybody, leads to discriminatory practices while employing women. The
same goes for stereotypical beliefs with regard to Kurds, Armenians,
Alevis, Muslims and so on, who are subject to stereotypes that lead
to discriminatory practices against them. I first gave the example
of discrimination against women because it is a really big problem,"
Cayır said.