The Concept of Willpower Discussed at Beyond Education Summit

The Concept of Willpower Discussed at “Beyond Education Summit Summit

NUN Schools held the second “Beyond Education” summit on 9 March 2019. At the summit, which was centred on the concept of “Willpower in Education”, 28 different workshops were simultaneously conducted in addition to the panels “Importance of Mother Tongue and Its Relationship with Universality” and “Following Wise Teachers”. The summit provided a blend of the experiences and future projections and drew attention to how we can make good use of our innate willpower in education.

“One Step Ahead in Education” summit welcomed 600 participants from 20 different provinces in Beykoz Campus of NUN Schools. The summit started with the opening speech of our distinguished Minister of National Education Prof. Dr. Ziya Selçuk and continued with panels, which put the human in the centre of education. Selcuk said, “We need to start by understanding the concept of willpower correctly and added “we have to adopt a double-wing approach to overcome our problems”. He drew attention to the fact that the willpower is not something to be absorbed or to be developed; it is something that comes from inside to be reflected to the outer world and he defined being a teacher as a journey of learning.

As the summit’s main theme was the willpower in education the concept of “Willpower in Education” was discussed at first The Head of NUN Schools, Fatih Nida Üye, moderated the panel. One of the speakers of the first panel Prof. Dr. Recep Şentürk stated in his speech “Firstly, we need to focus on the person and then embrace the willpower. It is not possible to understand the concept of willpower before understanding the human. If we focus only on the willpower, it would be like thinking about a wheel but not a car. Before asking what the willpower is, we should answer the question of what the human is.”

Mehmet Teber, who took the floor after Mr. Şentürk, analysed the willpower education from psychological aspects and shared the points to take into consideration with the participants. Teber’s speech unfolded itself with his statement that “parenting is the art of allowing the child to be adequately challenged”. When we raise our children free of difficulties, we actually take their willpower as well. Today, one of the most practical ways of strengthening willpower is to recognise and accept the challenges.”

Prof. Dr. Özge Hacıfazlıoğlu, on the other hand shed light on the concept of “Willpower in IB Education”. Hacıfazlıoğlu talked about what is offered to strengthen the willpower of students within the scope of the International Baccalaureate system, which provides an opportunity of rooted and contemporary education in many countries of the world. Continuing her speech through international examples, Hacıfazlıoğlu lastly touched upon implementation of international best practices in Turkey.

Professor Dr. Mücahit Öztürk mentioned the willpower in the axis of combating addictions, one of the biggest problems of the modern era. He stated, “There is complex structure between addictions and the willpower. Modern science considers addiction to be a chronic disease. However, it does not tell us how to eliminate the paths to addiction. It doesn't say ‘you shouldn't wander around a swamp’”. He highlighted that addiction is old as the history of humanity. He ended his speech by saying that “It is of a crucial importance to increase the moral motivation in order to combat addictions.”

The summit continued with the speech of Prof. Dr. İskender Pala who draw attention to difference between knowledge and culture in his speech on “the relation between the human, art and culture”. Highlighting that knowledge has been multiplied in the same way as cultures are conveyed through the centuries, Pala stated, “the more you expand your culture, the larger perspective you have towards life.” He defined the culture as an ideal and concluded his words by saying, “Culture is the matter of where we come from or whom we take after.”

“Importance of Mother Tongue in Education and Its Relation with Universality” panel was moderated by Prof. Dr. Zeynep Kevser Danış and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nihan Ketrez, took the floor as the first speaker of the panel to make a presentation on how the language shape the mind-set. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz Melanlıoğlu focused on the importance of the mother tongue in education and advised teachers by saying, “let your students write. Do not worry about spelling mistakes. It is ok as long as they develop an ambition to write. We can correct their mistakes.”

Prof. Dr. Kenan Gürsoy, highlighted the importance of the personality development in his speech and stated that “If you don't have a sound personality, you do not have the possibility of being with others in a certain environment. Because we become “us” as long as we know ourselves and recognise others.” Indicating that there would not be any ideas or communication without language, Gürsoy said, “Language is the concrete reflection of your inner soul and therefore you and your personality.”

Bekir Sıtkı Turhan, Mihraç Kulu and Ayla Ağabegüm shared their memories with the participants during the “Following Wise Teachers” panel where the experienced teachers conveyed their personal experiences.

The summit ended with “Tracing the Roots with Music from the Local to the Universal” conversation and music recital with the participation of Şirin Pancaroğlu.

Our guests ensured a broad participation in 28 workshops that were conducted simultaneously before the last panel. Participants shared experiences at classrooms during the workshops organized around interesting topics, from the zero waste project to non-linear thinking, from writing workshop with the Little Prince to robotics and coding.