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After I read this I become more worried about our students especially in secondary schools. There were SBS (exam for entering high schools) and they were taking 3 different exams at each grade, 6,7,8 but now with the new regulations they will have 36 exams. Apart from that in 10 years the system has changed for 5 times. what can be more devastating their chilhood than that?

I agree with you about the testing system in Turkey but it is only the top of the iceberg. For me, childhood ends for children who start the formal education in Turkey. Our system is so demanding and competitive that children cannot endure the difficulties they encounter. First of all, we have very overloaded curricula and students always need to be alert and hardworking to keep up with the required activities. While trying to make use of constructivist understanding curriculum developers missed some points: the opportunities and facilities the schools and students have, the difficulty level of activities, background of the learner and student and parent profile in Turkey, teacher characteristics in our schools and so on. The curricula cannot be implemeted in most of the schools so teachers invented their own methods and techniques which do not match to any of the instructional theories properly. Parents started to find out ways to protect their children and they made lots of mistakes. For example, some parents do projects of their children and smarter children started to sell ready-made projects at schools. Although teachers know the truth, he grade these projects because the system makes it nearly impossible to fail. In short, our system is working but not in the way writen in the curricula. The changes, negativities and difficulties in the system is damaging the childhood and future of the students. Somebody should change it, not the curricula:)

World is getting more populated, and each individual wants to have a better life. And a better life is significantly related to education. So, exams still appear to be a "must" in this racing system. Actually, I am a supporter of the exams if we want to have a more "fair race". I remember the terrible old days when successful people couldn't get what they deserved because of the bribery system in Turkey. On the other hand, I agree about the side effects of the overtesting. And as an individual who has been exposed to overtesting, the question I ask to myself is "How has the overtesting affected my mental health?" The truth is I have been stressed, depressed and sad because of the tests :(

I had chance to visit some Montessori early education centers and got impressed by the way children learn. I am really looking forward to hearing your comments on this method.

Whatever they are named, there are many nice ideas-theories of edcation. Montessori method is one of the contemporary ones which seems to present many potentials for the teachers. One point which looks problematic about Montessori in our education sysytem is motivating students to be actively engaged in activities. The question is "Is there a way to connect activities and heavy academic knowledge?". In other words, Can we help our students to get ready for the exams by engaging them in daily activities? My answer is "not really" :(

I liked the school environment too much. As far as I can see from the video, Montessori method engages ownership in learning, self-management and authenticity which I most appreciate in a learning process. The students have the chance to relate what they learn with life with willingness and curiosity. But as İbrahim said, my question is "Can we apply this to our education system?". Our children are in a race from the beginning for a endless examination world. Unfortunately, this is a bit utopia for us. However, I think in kindergarten or pre-school period we can apply this. But for high-school or even primary school I am not sure.

Suppose you are part of a thriving business and need to branch out and find that next big thing. Or say you want to change a behavior, like getting people...a lot of people...to use less energy in their homes. How would you go about it? Design thinking is a powerful tool to tackle the unknown. It's a means of going on an expedition, without a map, without even knowing the destination, but with the confidence that you'll end up somewhere great. Let's make it tangible with an example that captures the five key elements of design thinking. Daylight was given the challenge of getting kids in America to move more to help fight childhood obesity. The project started with an idea--provide kids with a digital music player that has a motion sensor, then give them rewards based on their activity. But the big question was, would kids really use it? What could make the experience so compelling that they would use it long enough to see the health benefits.

Very nice video on design thinking. We can clearly see how they continuously modify the end product after collecting data of its users. First they talk to target group to have an idea about how an activity meter can be. Based on their ideas, they try to find patterns which will later evolve to design principles. Based on those principles, they develop a real product-an activity meter. Then they use it iteratively with children and make modifications in order to make it better and better. It is a clear video of how to do a design study.