New Academic Year Message from The Assistant General Director

We start 2011-12 school year hoping that it will be a year in which we will enjoy learning and celebrate success together. I thank those who have contributed to the successes of the previous year. We are again proud of the university acceptances of our graduates. (Click here)

We are also happy with the performance of our students who came from our Elementary School to the Lise. For example, this year 22 of our Elementary School graduates qualified for scholarship as they had GPAs of 90-100. Likewise, the students who joined us this year through the High School Entrance Examinations (SBS) had very high scores. Girls gained a minimum of 485, and the boys 484 out of 500. We are determined to do even better with our strong faculty and we share with you the joy and expectancies of starting the new academic year.

The beginning of each academic year is like a New Years Day for the teachers. It is the time to focus on our career, our professional development and goals that we set to achieve with our students. It was in this mood that I remembered the poem “The Little Boy” by Helen Buckley, which I have first come across about 20 years ago (Click here) was deeply touched by it and translated into Turkish to share it with my friends. The poem is about the impact of a teacher who insists on teaching the little students to do everything exactly as he instructs them, thus destroying their creativity. There are many noteworthy messages for both parents and teachers in the poem. But I think the most significant group that needs to take lessons from this poem is the student-body, no matter how old they may be. They need to be able to resist, be able to do as they wish and express what they want to, instead of what is being imposed on them. It is our responsibility to give them this chance both as parents and teachers.

We should respect our children’s personalities and their choices. This is not as easy as it seems, for it may involve some risks:

• Should we allow this or not?
• What can we allow? What opportunities are missed because of this? Which ones do we create for them?
• Do we minimize the risks through our protective approach, or are we actually hindering their learning and development by limiting their experiences and opportunities?
They grow according to the choices that we make. It is a tremendous responsibility, almost terrifying, just as in the poem.

If students can accept responsibility for their own education at an early stage, they may shape their own future. They may become their best teacher. The task of parents and teachers is to hand them the key to their independence, to help them learn how to learn. Technology has become a major tool in this regard. It is the task of adults to teach them how to use it responsibly. However, the same technology that lays the whole world of information before us also pushes us to compete with the rest of the world.

Robert Fulghum’s comments in his 1988 book, “All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten” were a sensation at the time. Now you hear the psychologists talk of the ages 1 to 6. They say that we are already formed in the first 6 years, and then we hear of campaigns called “6 is too late”. If our personality has already taken shape in the hands of our parents, if the foundations of all that we learn have been laid in kindergarten, then why make a lifetime of effort? The words of one of our parents have resonated deep within me:

“…for the generation before us, the bread was in the mouth of the lion, we seized the bread from the lion’s stomach, but our children will have to find the bread before the lion. Therefore, I believe that they will be more advantageous in this struggle due to the education they get in this school.” (Ö. Mutluay) I believe that Ms. Mutluay has made a very good summary of the situation, reflecting your reasons for choosing this school and why we need to join forces as students, parents and teachers. But I am not worried; I see that everyone is very much aware of the facts. Yesterday, as Emre -son of a graduate- starting grade 1, who left his toy in the car deliberately saying “This is not a joke. We have started school.” I wish us all a wonderful school year, let us feel joy and pride in this learning.

Because of these reasons and many reasons that cannot be listed here, I am very happy and proud to be in this school with such students, teachers and parents and I wish to share this happiness with you throughout the year.

Best wishes,

Dr. Jale Onur
Assistant General Director