EDITED BY HASAN ARSLAN ROMAN DORCZAKDRA

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University - Institute of Public Affairs

EDITED BY

HASAN ARSLAN ROMAN DORCZAK

DRAGOESCU URLICA ALINA-ANDREEA

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Educational Policy and Research

Edited by Hasan Arslan Roman Dorczak

Dragoescu Urlica Alina-Andreea

Kraków 2018

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The publication was financed from the founds of the Jagiellonian University Faculty of Management and Social Communication

Reviewer:

Dr. Rafał Otręba , University of Economics in Katowice

Series editing:

Chief Editor: dr hab. Ewa Bogacz-Wojtanowska, prof. UJ Secretary: dr Wioleta Karna

Scientific Council:

prof. dr hab. Łukasz Sułkowski – Chairman prof. dr hab. Aleksander Noworól

dr hab. Grzegorz Baran

dr hab. Zbysław Dobrowolski, prof. UJ dr hab. Roman Dorczak

dr hab. Dariusz Grzybek dr hab. Sławomir Magala dr hab. Grzegorz Mazurkiewicz

prof. dr hab. Grażyna Prawelska-Skrzypek prof. dr hab. Andrzej Szopa

Publisher:

Jagiellonian University Institute of Public Affairs ul. prof. Łojasiewicza 4, 30-348 Kraków

tel. +48 12 664 55 44, fax + 48 12 644 58 59 e-mail: monografia_isp@uj.edu.pl

www.isp.uj.edu.pl

ISBN: 978 - 83 - 65688 - 34 - 7

ISBN: 978 - 83 - 65688 - 35 - 4 (e-book)

1^st Edition, Kraków 2018

This publication or any of its fragments may not be reprinted without a written consent of the Publisher.

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The Internationalization Standards in Education and International Schools in Turkey

Ezgi Gol, Hasan Arslan

1. Introduction

In the 21^st century that the internationalization came into prominence and international interaction became a need, different and innovative practices are needed in education as well as in all areas. When we see the education as a way to transfer information technologically, we can talk about the globalisation. But when we perceive the education as an information system being developed in the culture of a society and having cultural marks, we can talk about ‘internationalization of the education’

instead of globalization (Azizoglu,2012). Providing international education services is possible with well-organized administrators and educational institutions that know and practice their aims to comply with the international standards. In order to maintain internationalization in educational institutions, there are some implementations and the schools work and attempt to be accredited by the international accrediting agencies (Goksoy, 2014). CIS (The Council of International Schools) is well-known and respectable accrediting agency in the world and it is a membership community committed to high quality international education. In our country, there are some schools that are members or accredited by CIS. It shows that these schools meet obligations to give the best international education. Moreover, the number of schools that apply or have a right to be accredited is increasing continually so understanding the ‘internationalization in education’ becomes more important and necessary. For this reason, the aim of the study is examining the concept of ‘internationalization’ and its effects on education and evaluating the the international school accrediting system and accredited schools (CIS schools) in Turkey.

2. Literature Review

Internatilization reflects a world system that was directed by the nation states (Scott, 1999; De Wit,2001). Internationalisation refers to an international colloboration and international quality for the benefit of everyone or assessing the quality in education. Internationalisation as a principle or a value, prevents the parochialism, even oppose the negative nationalism in some situations (Ozerdem ve Demirkiran, 2011).

According to Scott (1998: 124), globalization cannot be regarded simply as a higher form of internationalization. Instead of their relationship being seen as linear or cumulative, it may actually be dialectical. In a sensesense the new globalization may be the rival of the old internationalization. Scottt (1999: 37) gives three main reasons why globalisation cannot be regarded as a higher form of internationalisation:

- internationalisation presupposes the existence of established nation states, where globalisation is either agnostic about, or positively hostile to, nation states;

- internationalisation is most strongly expressed through the 'high' worlds of diplomacy and culture; globalisation in the 'low'worlds capitalism; and of mass consumerism and global - internationalisation, because of its dependence on the existing (and unequal) pattern of nation

states tends to reproduce - even legitimize - hierarchy and hegemony; globalisation, in contrast, becausebecause it is not tied to the past, because it is a restless, even subversive, force can address new agendas (De Wit,2001).

In 1894, delegate from Russia, Prince Serge Wolkonsky described the international education in his speech at the International Educational Congresses of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago : “And so the union of these two words, “international” and “educational” - may it be blessed; may it resound in the hearts of all who will be present here; may it inspire the words and acts of the congress with great

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ideas of universal impartiality; may it loudly proclaim that every one of us belongs, first, to humanity…”

(Keller, 2011)

"International education" is a term used to describe the various types of educational and cultural relations among nations. While originially it applied merely to formal education, the concept has now broadened to include governmental cultural relations programs, the promotion of mutual understanding among nations, educational assistance to underdeveloped regions, cross-cultural education, and international communications (Carr, 1944; Scanlon, 1960). International education may be viewed as a means of changing the world by increasing international understanding through bringing together young people from many different countries (Cambridge & Thompson, 2004).

International education helps older people understand global interconnections and younger ones comprehend global differences. International education helps us create knowledge about one another.

Ittakes us on an enriching, fascinating journey, each leg of which opens newdoors, reveals more ports, and allows us to see visions and speak words thatothers can neither see nor understand. It creates new dimensions (Durtka et.,, 2002,20-21). Moreover, for teachers with a sense of adventure, a career in international education can be a uniquely rewarding experience, both professionally and personally. It can allow you to broaden your horizon, become immersed in a different culture and environment, and perhaps learn or improve a foreign language. It offers the opportunity to make many new friends and forge life-lasting ties as you join a professional and highly engaged global community of educators (http://www.cois.org).

2.1. Internationalisation and Accreditation in Education

All education is international. Learning and knowledge are connected to cultural systems that encompass the entire globe and beyond (Durtka et., 2002: 5). While the phrase ‘international education’

has been in existence for over a century (Walker, 2002), and the concept can be traced as far back as Socrates, via Montaigne (Walker, 1995; Wilkinson, 1998), it has yet to acquire a single, consistent meaning (Hayden and Thompson, 1995a, 1995b; Pasternak, 1998; Hayden et al., 2000; Cambridge and Thompson, 2004; James,2005).

International education teaches about the lives and the natural and social contexts of people living in other countries and cultures and actively promotes immersion experiences in other cultures.

International education explores interactions and connections among nations, especially the ways in which other peoples and cultures impact our daily lives. International education is an approach that creates awareness of political, economic, scientific and cultural interdependence that exists across national and cultural borders.International education acknowledges the complexity of the world's peoples,including their differences, similarities, conflicts, and connections (Durtka et., 2002:21).

International education is accepted as an important and strong alternative to the national education in the world (Fox, 1988). The children coming from many different cultures have education together in the same classes at schools both in and out of the official education systems in the world (Gordon, 1988). Educating students to become global citizens is a central claim to justify international education and study abroad (Davies & Pike, 2009; Schattle, 2009; Ramirez, 2013).

Leach (1969; Cambridge & Thompson, 2004) identiﬁes internationalism with the maintenance of relations between different countries, and describes three approaches to its application in the ﬁeld of education:

• unilateral internationalism, such as a country concerned chieﬂy with the education of its own personnel away from home in a different country;

• bilateral internationalism, such as exchange between and among students of two countries, chieﬂy at university level; and

• multilateral internationalism, requiring funding from at least three national sources, no one of them dominant.

Dolby and Rahman (2008; Keller, 2011) identified the following areas that fit under international education: comparative and international education, the internationalization of higher education,

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international schools, international research on teaching and teacher education, internationalization of K-12 education, and globalization and education.

According to Wylie (2008), these are the rationale for international education;

• National curriculum not meeting the needs of schools in a changing educational milieu.

• Host country curriculum not meeting the needs of school constituents.

• Bureaucratic function, students gaining access to university and transnational networks.

The purpose of international education is not merely, if at all, to provide an education for internationally-mobile students in ‘international schools’ (Walker, 2002; James,2005). The aim of it is meeting the mental and emotional needs of the world children and remembering that mental and cultural mobility is the product of not only a person but also a thought firstly (Gruneberg,1976;

Demirer,2002).The aims of international education are related to developing ‘international understanding’ for ‘global citizenship’, and the knowledge, attitudes and skills of ‘international- mindedness’ and ‘world-mindedness’ (Hayden and Thompson, 1995a, 1995b; Schwindt, 2003; IPC, 2005a; James, 2005).

The duty of international programs are helping the students to gain the abilities for achieving the aims different from the given by their own national programs and provide them to see the world from a wider persperctive (Demirer, 2002). To provide internalization in education and give well-accepted international education services based on these standards, schools attempt to be accreditated by the international accreditation agencies.

2.2. Accreditation

According to Middle States Commission on Higher Education (2006), accreditation is the means of self- regulation and peer review adopted by the educational community. The accreditation process is intended to strengthen and sustain the quality and integrity of education. It makes the worthy of public confidence and minimizes the scope of external control.

Accreditation takes place in registering the quality of education, diploma equivalence, practicing vital jobs, professional competence, authorisation and competence of professional training (Tunc, 2008). Accreditation that can be defined as assessing the educational institutions or programs according to certain standards is a type of self-organization and self-assessment as a process of quality control and maintain (Bakioglu ve Baltaci, 2010).

Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine, if applicable standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted by the agency.

Accreditation has always been an essential part for helping to assure the balance between available resources and the provision of critical programs. Besides, accreditation provides students, organizations, governments, and professionals with the security of knowing that complaints about an institution, its curriculum, policies or staff will be reviewed, monitored, and forwarded to the proper offices for their review and necessary corrective action. This offers a strong sense of accountability to the international community, students, staff, and governments. The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education is provided by primary or secondary schools of education and they meet acceptable levels of quality. Accreditation of the schools could embark international level of education and learning facilities to their students (Rowley, Lujan, & Dolence, 1997; Furuzan,2012).

Accreditation has value for all members of the school community. Concerned professionals as well as parents naturally seek a quality education for children. Expatriate parents in particular face a strange environment which offers few guidelines on how best to select the most appropriate school for their child’s needs. The importance of accreditation for expatriate families is particularly important, given the number of times they are likely to change countries and hence, schools. Selecting accredited schools helps ensure that a student’s educational efforts and the quality of his/her academic studies will be recognized in their next country’s school. It lets families know that their school is providing an education that meets internationally benchmarked standards (http:// www. iics - k12. net).

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The process of accreditation aims (Sywelem & Witte, 2009; Furuzan,2012:649):

(1) To assure the educational community, the general public, and other organizations and agencies that an accredited institution has demonstrated;

(2) To promote deep institutional engagement with issues of educational effectiveness and student learning, to develop and share good practices in assessing, and to improve the teaching and learning process;

(3) To develop and apply standards to review, and to improve educational quality and institutional performance;

(4) To promote within institutions a culture of evidence where indicators of performance are regularly developed, and data are collected to inform institutional decision making, planning, and improvement;

(5) To promote the active interchange of ideas among public and independent institutions that furthers the principles of improved institutional performance, educational effectiveness, and the process of peer review.

Accreditation provides accountability to the all stakeholders of the institutions and accurate information for parents. So, accrediting agency is very important at this point. ECIS - CIS (European- Council of International Schools) is the pioneer accrediting agency that provides opportunity of giving well-accepted international education and international recognition to the schools from all over the world.

2.2.1. ECIS / CIS

ECIS (European Council of International Schools) is the biggest nonprofit membership community of international schools that was founded in 1965. ECIS (European Council of International Schools) has been served as ‘Council of International Schools (CIS) ‘ since 1 July 2003. In order not to have a difficulty because of this change, time was given to accredited schools for adaptation. CIS (The Council of International Schools) is well-known and respectable accrediting agency in the world and it is a membership community committed to high quality international education (http://www.cois.org).

As a global non-profit membership organisation, CIS provides services to primary and secondary schools, higher education institutions and individuals that share these ideals:

• a desire to provide students with the knowledge, skills and abilities to pursue their lives as global citizens; and

• a commitment to high quality international education (http://www.cois.org).

To achieve these goals, the members must infuse their programmes and offerings with international and intercultural perspective so that students can move forward with the attitudes and understanding that will provide them with a solid base wherever their studies or work may take them. Primary and secondary school members must further commit to undertaking an ongoing external quality assurance process to enhance student learning. The CIS community includes 729 schools and 556 colleges and universities representing 112 countries. According to CIS, there are some steps in the process of accreditation:

• Application and Preparing Preliminary Information Report -140 questions

• Prior Review Visit and Prior Report

• Self-Assessment Process and Reporting (The whole school members join this process)

• Team visit and report

• Evaluating the report by ECIS Accreditation Board

• Accreditation process / giving time/ taking out off the process

• One year report

• Five year report and visit

• Renewal of all the operations in the 10th year (http://www.cois.org).

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2.2.3. Standards of CIS (Council of International Schools) and Accreditation

The CIS (Council of International School) is a non-profit membership organization that provides services to elementary and secondary schools and higher education institutions around the world that have the following aspects in common. The school that has been accredited by the Council of International Schools is conforming these standards:

a. Philosophy and Aims

b. Organisation and Management c. Faculty

d. Kindergarden and Prep Classes Curriculum e. Primary Classes Curriculum

f. Elementary Classes Curriculum g. High School Curriculum h. Private Education i. Guidance Services

j. Health Services and Safety k. Student Services

l. Student Life

m. Library / Media Center

n. Physical Opportunities of The School o. Finance and Management of Finance

p. Assessment and Evaluation of Students (http://www.cois.org).

Keller (2011) described the advantages and disadvantages of CIS Standards. The advantages are large infleunce and intergrated into authorization process and the disadvantages are standards not part of separate process, focused exclusively on international education, may be missing some components,less focused on community perceptions.

CIS accreditation standards and indicators applied at some private schools in our country provides with a chance to an education understanding integrated national values of each country and and international ones. Also, increasing the number of schools that applied for and accredited by CIS in our country is beneficial for the internationalisation of education to be widespread.

2.2.4. Characteristics of An Accredited School

The final award of Accredited Status from CIS demonstrates that a school is aligned with the demanding CIS Standards for Accreditation. It shows that the school has achieved high standards of professional performance in international education and has a commitment to continuous improvement. In particular, the award of accreditation shows that:

• The school is devoted to its Mission and Vision for Students, as expressed in its Guiding Statements. The school also adheres consistently to the CIS Code of Ethics for Member Schools.

• The school cares enough to seek validation from a recognised accreditation authority for the work it does for its students.

• The schools focuses on the quality of teaching and the progress students make, their standards of achievement (in the broadest sense) as well as the students’ well-being.

• The school knows itself. It has thought deeply about the services it offers to students, family and community.

• The school is student-orientated. Its philosophy of education is suitable for the students on roll and encompasses the development of the whole individual.

• The school keeps its promises. It promises only what it can deliver.

• The school accepts objective assessment. It is prepared to open its doors periodically to regular evaluation by its own school community and by outside experienced practitioners.

• The school is constantly seeking to improve its performance in all areas in order to ensure it attains the desired learning outcomes for its students.

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• The school plans strategically for the future. As part of the on-going nature of the evaluation process, accredited schools are continually planning future developments (http://www.cois.org).

An accredited institution is expected to possess or demonstrate the following attributes or activities (Middle States Commisison,2006) :

• a chief executive whose primary responsibility is to lead the institution toward the achievement of its goals and with responsibility for administration of the institution;

• a chief executive with the combination of academic background, professional training, and/or other qualities appropriate to an institution of higher education and the institution’s mission;

• administrative leaders with appropriate skills, degrees and training to carry out their responsibilities and functions;

• qualified staffing appropriate to the goals, type, size, and complexity of the institution;

• adequate information and decision-making systems to support the work of administrative leaders;

• clear documentation of the lines of organization and authority; and

• periodic assessment of the effectiveness of administrative structures and services 2.3. International Schools

Looking at the teenager education from a global perspective is not a new situation. In 1580 Montaigne wrote that ‘this great world is the mirror in which we must look at ourselves to recognize ourselves from the proper angle.” (Gordon, 1988).

The general aim of the international education; meeting all the people’s needs, providing information, skills and insights by accepting the similarities as well as the differences among the individuals (Demirer, 2002). Because the mobility of people in the world increases, the need for education of children growing and living in differnet countries increases. Thus, the international school market is generated and develeoped day by day.

Due to the increase at the number of international students and diversity of intercultural education needs, education services need to be international. International education is approved as an important and strong alternative to the national education gradually in the world (Fox,1988). Today, international schools are spreading all over the world, offering a multicultural K-12 education, mainly for the children of expatriates of their host country. According to Murphy (2003), the foundation of these schools lay on the desire for an education across the borders to help the adults of tomorrow learn to live peacefully. “… the expansion of world markets brought a sharp increase in foreign travel for globalization, mostly Western … this fact, and the desire of the non-English-speaking world to learn enough English to share in the wealth created in this new economic order …” (Murphy, 2003: 48) sounds like a stronger reason behind the existence of international schools than the former (Corlu,2002:7).

Formal education knowledge can be considered to be realized through three message systems:

curriculum, pedagogy, and evaluation. Curriculum defines what counts as a valid knowledge, pedagogy defines what counts as a valid transmission of knowledge, and evaluation defines what counts as a valid realization of this knowledge… (Bernstein, 1975: 85) In international schools as elsewhere these message systems are associated with mechanisms of learning and control exercised through the work of teachers and their employment of information and communication technologies. By categorising the practice of international schools as curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, teachers work and ICT it is possible to deconstruct the practical activities of international schools (Wylie, 2008).

International schools are often the ideal environments for improving your own educational practices and developing new skills in collaboration with your peers. Rich and varied professional development programmes are common benefits of working at an international school as are the availability of modern teaching resources and technology. An overseas teaching opportunity can allow you to engage with motivated students with high expectations and really have an impact on their development as global citizens. International schools frequently offer a comprehensive salary and benefits package that may provide higher remuneration than that offered by national or state schools

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(http://www.cois.org) . There are many opportunities to be involved in international education.

Institutions are often involved in providing programs to enhance competencies for internationally educated professionals, integrating international students into programs, and developing courses and programs for delivery in host countries (Bolan and Bolan, 2006; Dragoescu Urlica Alina-Andreea, 2018).

2.4. International Schools In Turkey and In The World

The demand of international education and its variety increased in our country in paralel with increasing international studies in education around the world, but the governance was incapable of meeting this demand. To solve this problem, the number of private schools in this area must be increased.

Private schools in Turkey are classified as: Private Turkish Schools, Private Foreign Schools, Private International Educational Institutions and Private Minority Schools. Private Turkish schools are the schools registered to National Education Ministry and give education in a second language with Turkish. Private Foreign Schools are the schools opened by foreigners and their existences were recognized by the mutual letters depend on Treaty of Lausanne. They were founded by French, German, Italian, Australian and Americans during the Ottoman Empire and also Turkish students could take education (www.earged.meb.gov.tr).

International Schools are the schools founded mostly for the foreign children in the country, the children whose parents have continuous travel obligation, the children of these schools’ instructors, ambassadors’ children and the children of the parents worked at international organizations. Moreover these schools are preferred by the students that want to improve their foreign languages. International schools are mostly private but there are public international schools. A bridge country that straddles Europe and Asia, Turkey has a lot of international schools that address the needs of both expatriate and Turkish families. Our country is a home to international schools that most of them typically follow globally standardized curriculums of the International Baccalaureate Office (IBO) or the Council of International Schools (CIS). They provide expatriate families an opportunity of educating their children in a way that will prepare them for life in their own country, and they allow native students the chance to get an international education that will prepare them for a global world.

In our country, there are some schools that are members or accredited by CIS. It shows that these schools meet obligations to give the best international education. Moreover, the number of schools that apply or have a right to be accredited is increasing continually so understanding the

‘internationalization in education’ become more important and necessary. In Turkey there are twenty seven member schools of Council of International Schools and nineteen of them are accredited. These schools are located in big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and Tarsus. In addition to this, the CIS community includes 733 schools and 592 colleges and universities representing 112 countries all over the world. The main offices of the community are in Netherlands and America.

The award of CIS Accreditation demonstrates a school’s commitment to high quality international education to the school community as well as to the outside world: prospective families, educational leaders and teachers as well as universities, embassies, other government departments, and globally- minded companies and organizations. Concerned professionals as well as parents naturally seek a quality education for children. Expatriate parents in particular face an unfamiliar environment which offers few guidelines on how best to select the most appropriate school for their child’s needs. The fact that a school holds CIS Accreditation can be very important in parents' choice of school (http://www.cois.org).

3. Conclusion

International education is a contested field of educational practice involving the reconciliation of economic, political and cultural/ideological dilemmas. One current identifies international education with international development aid and the transfer of expertise between national systems of education. Another identifies international education with the development of international attitudes, international awareness, international-mindedness and international understanding (Cambridge &

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Thompson, 2004). Recently, the international schools have increased noticeably in terms of both number and variety. The rapid numerical increase of schools described themselves as international creates a need for a suitable description for the international education. For countries, educational aims must be giving a qualified education for their ctizens and determining universal rules and standards to compete with the other countries. The institutions and organizations define the quality standards for the education systems of developed countries can be organized as public, private, volunteer, paid and compulsory..etc. In our country, educational institutions must take into consideration the universal quality standards and work through these, also reflect these standards to their strategic plans and be evaluated based on this standardization in order to improve the quality in education. Moreover, it is important to provide the standardisation in the education levels before the higher education and develeop an international understanding in order to carry on internationalisation activities effectively in our country.

4. References

Azizoglu, O.H. (2012). Egitimin Uluslararasilasmasi ya da Kuresellesmesi.

(http://www.timeturk.com/tr/makale/orhan-hikmet-azizoglu/egitimin-uluslararasilasmasi- ya-da-kuresellesmesi.html).

Bakioglu, A. ve Baltaci, R. (2010). Akreditasyon: Egitimde Kalite. Ankara:Nobel Yayin Dagitim.

Bolan, C. M. ve Bolan, S. J. (2006). A Model for Developing International Education: Bringing It All Together. College Quarterly,9 (4).

Cambridge, J. & Thompson, J. (2004). Internationalism and globalization as contexts for international education. Compare: Journal of Comparative and International Education,34 (2), 161-175.

Corlu, M.S. (2006).An Ethnographic Research: The Cultural Portraits of Middle School Mathematics Classrooms in An International School. Master Thesis.Bogazici University, Istanbul.

De Wit, J. W. M. (2001). Internationalisation of Higher Education in the United States of America and Europe Amsterdam: in eigen beher . UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository)

Demirer, V. (2002). Uluslararasi Bakalorya (IB) Programi Uygulayan Ozel Okullarda Calisan Ogretmenlerin Bu Programa Karsi Olan Tutumlarinin Is Tatminlerine Yansimasi. Yuksek Lisans Tezi. Istanbul Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitusu, Istanbul.

Dragoescu Urlica Alina-Andreea. (2018). The ecology of language as an optimal learning model. In Quaestus Multidisciplinary Research Journal.

Durtka,S.,Dye,A.,Freund,J.,Harris,J.,Kline,J.,LeBreck,C.,Reimbold,R., Tabachnick,R.,Tantala,R.&

Wagler,M,(2002).Planning Curriculum in International Education. Bulletin,3033, Wisconsin State Dept. of Public Instruction, Madison. http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/pubsales.

Furuzan, V.G. (2012). Accreditation Policies of Turkey in Primary and Secondary Education. US-China Education Review, 7, 647-656.

Goksoy, S. (2014).Egitim Sistemlerinde Kalite Standartlari ve Kalite Standart Alanlari. 21. Yuzyilda Egitim ve Toplum, 3 (7), 85-99.

James, K. (2005). International education: The concept, and its relationship to intercultural education. Sage Publications, 4 (3), 313–332.

http://jri.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/4/3/313.

Keller, D. (2011).Toward a system of evaluating a school's international education program.

Presentation, Inspiring Education ,27-30 October, The Hague

Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSC). (2006). Characteristics of excellence in higher education (12th ed.). Philadelphia, P. A.: Middle States Commission on Higher Education Publications.

Ozerdem, F. ve Demirkiran, S. (2011). Uluslararasilasma ve Turkiye’deki Universitelerin Uluslararasilasma Anlayislari. Uluslararasi Yuksekogretim Kongresi: Yeni Yonelisler ve Sorunlar.1 (VII), 682-689.

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Ramirez, G. B. (2013). Learning Abroad or Just Going Abroad? International Education In Opposite Sides of the Border. The Qualitative Report, 18, Article 62, 1-11 http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR18/ramirez62.pdf

Scanlon, D.G. (1960). International Education: A Documentary History. New York: Bureau of Publications Teachers College.

Tunc, M. (2008). Turkiye Orta Ogretiminde Egitim Akreditasyonu Bir Model Onerisi.

http://www.mutlutunc.com/files/ meb_sunus.pdf (Erisim tarihi: 10.12.2014).

Wylie, M. (2008). Internationalizing Curriculum: Framing Theory and Practice in International Schools.

Journal of Research in International Education, 7:,5-19.

www.cois.org

www.earged.meb.gov.tr www.ecis.org

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Assessment of the 6-11 aged Syrian Refugee Children’s Educational Needs: A Multidimentional

Analysis

Ruken Akar Vural, Nermin Karabacak, Mehmet Kucuk, Senol Sezer, Cigdem Celik

1. Introduction

Out of more than one million Syrian school-age children in Turkey, only 612 thousands of them have been enrolled in 2017-2018 school year. As well as there are quite a lot number of school-age immigrant children, it is a known fact that the ones accessing to education or in exact opposite have confront serious troubles. Temporary Learning Centers (TLC) to which Syrian children continue is the training centers including primary and secondary education that give Arabic education to the school-age Syrian children and youths adhered to Syrian Education Programme (MEB, 2014). There are total 425 ‘TLC’ in 21 cities across Turkey. Of these 36 operate in camps and 389 of them are in service on the outside of the camp. There is also the Turkish Language Education that is carried out at Temporary Learning Centers, however it is underlined that the Turkish lessons given to the Syrian children both at temporary learning centers and public schools, curriculum (objectives, standarts, materials, strategy, method and techniques) and in terms of teacher qualifications are by no means continued qualitatively.

On the other hand, the inadequacy of the teachers assigned by MEB in terms of teaching Turkish to foreigners deepens this problem (Coskun and Emin, 2016)

The refugee children going to public school and continuing their education in Turkish have problems with the learning and adaptation. Another problem is the participation of the refugee children at the first and second grade class levels seriously decreases in the forthcoming years. Apart from the common problems among the ones that have education, the number of children leaving the education life after coming to Turkey is also exceedingly high. The number of Syrian children being not schooling is more than 400 thousands only by the end of the year 2017. Given of the ones that are also in compulsory school-age in the previous years and the ones that are not reflected on the statistics, it can be said that there are at least 700-800 thousands of children affected by this situation ranked as

‘the lost generations’. As well as there are a number of studies related to the immigrant students that have problems or comments made on them (Boru and Boyaci, 2016; Duruel, 2016, Ozer, Komsuoglu and Atesok, 2016; Polat, 2012; Saglam and Kanbur, 2017; Uzun and Butun, 2016) there are limited studies focused on especially the problems the teachers confront and their vocational development needs (Balkar, Sahin & Isikli-Babahan, 2016; Maya, 2016; Onder, 2017). The aim of this study performed by taking into consideration the problems confronted in the education of refugee children is to determine the education requirements of the Syrian refugee children that go to primary school in Rize and Aydin cities. The other purpose of this study is to analyze what sort of problems that refugee children confront and what they need based upon the comments made by the teachers that work at a public school titled as ‘adaptation school’ in Izmir city. In accordance with this purpose, the following questions need to be answered:

1. What are the socio-demographic features of school-age refugee children?

2. What is the source of learning Turkish of school-age refugee children?

3. What things do the school-age refugee children need to do well in school?

4. How do the teachers perceive the processes of gaining experience in the education of refugee children?

5. How do the teachers evaluate the pre-service and in-service training that they receive in terms of getting proficiency of teaching for the refugee children?

6. What kind of problems do the teachers confront with the refugee children and their parents?

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2. Method Research Model

This study is in the mixed research design. For this purpose, 5 public primary schools in which the children of low socio-economical status families have education and the Syrian refugee children attend in Rize have been included in the study. Besides, one public school in Izmir city defined as the adaptation school which the children of low socio-economical status families and the Syrian refugee children go to; has been addressed as ‘single case study’ and the data have been gathered from this primary school through the instrument of both inventory and the semi-structured interview forms.

Sample

There are two working groups in the study. The first group is comprised of 130 Syrian refugee students that go to 6 primary schools placed in the cities of Izmir and Rize. The data from students have been collected from one in Izmir city and 5 separate primary schools in Rize city. The second working group is composed by the refugee primary school students attending a state school defined as the adaptation school in which the children of low socio-economical status families have education and 8 primary school teachers provided that the two of them are from each class level. Both students and the teachers have been assigned on a volunteer basis. Teachers have been specified according to the typical case sample technique out of purposeful samplings. The study group composed of the primary school teachers graduated from the faculty of education that have the Syrian refugee student in their classes and have not had any special training about this subject before.

Table 1. The demographic features of teachers (N=8)

Code Job Seniority Class

T1 19 4

T2 14 3

T3 21 3

T4 17 2

T5 20 4

T6 18 1

T7 15 2

T8 11 1

Data Collection Tools

Two data collection tools have been used in the study. ‘The Inventory of Determining the Educational Requirements of the Syrian Refugee Children in Primary School Age’ (Akar-Vural, Kucuk and Karabacak, 2018). Inventory has been comprised of the demographic data belonging to students and also including the open-ended 50 questions. The semi-structured interview forms prepared by recieving expert opinions have been used by the researchers in the face to face meetings with the class teachers from different teaching levels that have the Syrian refugee children in their classes.

Data Analysis

The data obtained from the inventories have been analysed by SPSS, their frequency and percentage values have also been calculated. The collected data based on the face to face meetings through the instrument of the semi-structured interview forms have been analysed by content and descriptive analysis techniques. In the process of descriptive analysis, the summarisation and the interpretation are in question according to the themes revealed by research or interview questions. In this process, first the data are defined in detail and after that these analysed definitions are clarified by using direct quotation obtained from interview data. Content analysis generally can be expressed as the ‘search for meaning’ in data (Hatch, 2002). This process contents the export of the data, the combination of what the participants say, what the researcher sees and how he/she reads and the interpretation. Data analysis is a complicated process that includes back and forth step in between hard data pieces and

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abstract concepts, induction and deduction (Merriam, 2009). In the beginning of the data analysis, the interviews recorded by the tape recorder have been computerized. The recorded interviews have been coded by using open codes. On the basis of open codes, axial (typologic) codes were registered, and through the categories and themes were determined. Inductive method were taken as a basis of combining the themes. The process of the data analysis based on inductive takes a form as deductive in the end of the process analysis (Merriam, 2009). The themes in this process were controlled in terms of whether they support all data. While determining the themes, primarily the descriptive analysis was used with the relation to the improved open-ended questions based on the literature, and the themes were identified. In addition, the descriptive analysis and content analysis was also conducted in this process, thus the potential new themes were identified. The semi-structured interview form comprised of two parts introduction and transition questions, 9 essential and 3 exploratory questions was used during the interviews.

3. Findings

The demographic features of the school-age refugee children are given in Table 2.

Table 2. The demographic features of the refugee children (N=130)

Variance 1 2 3 4 5 Total

Class Level

1. Class 2. Class 3. Class 4. Class -

f 52 59 14 5 130

(%) 40 45.4 10.8 3.8 100

Gender

Female Male -

f 71 59 130

(%) 54.6 45.4 100

The situation of losing one’s relative in war

Yes No -

f 25 105 130

(%) 19.2 80.8 100

Number of siblings

2 Siblings

3 Siblings

4 Siblings

5 Siblings

6 and more

-

f 28 22 25 28 27 130

(%) 21.6 16.9 19.2 21.5 20.8 100

In table 2, it is seen that the number of the first grade children (n=52, 40%) and the second grades (n=59, 45.4%) are high, but the third and fourth grades are quite low. From the viewpoint on the gender variable, it is seen that the number of female students (n=71, 54.6%) are relatively higher than the male students (n=59, 45.4%). Among the refugee children with forced migration after the war, the number of the children who lost their relatives during the war is (n=25, 19.2%) and the ones that express no loss is (n=105, 80.8%). These results can be considered as an important data in terms of evaluating the psycho-social improvement of the refugee children healthfully. Besides, it is seen that in over half of the refugee children have five or more siblings. The frequency and percentages are given in Table 3, regarding the working condition and the educational background of the refugee children’s fathers and mothers with the level of their income status.

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Table 3. Parents education-working status and household income (N=130)

In Table 3, it is seen that the majority of the mothers (n=78, 60%) and the fathers (n=73, 56.2%) of the refugee children in sampling group are not literate in their language. Almost all of the mothers of the refugee children (n=120, 92.3%) do not work at any job. The number of the children both their mothers and fathers in no service is 23. Considering the household income of the children in the sampling group, it is seen that the income of almost half of them is under 1000 TL.

Table 4. Turkish language proficiency of the parents and the source of learning language of the child (N=130)

Variance 1 2 3 Total

Turkish language proficiency of the mother

None Poor Average -

f 116 12 2 130

(%) 89.3 9.2 1.5 100

Turkish language proficiency of the father

f 91 33 6 130

(%) 70.0 25.4 4.6 100

The source of the childs’ learning Turkish

School Street -

f 113 17 130

(%) 86.9 13.1 100

In Table 4, it points out that the distribution of the Turkish language proficiency level of the mothers expressed as ‘none’ (n=116, 89.2%) and ‘poor’ (n=12, 9.2%) are high. The distribution of the Turkish language proficiency level of the fathers expressed as ‘none’ (n=91, 70%) and ‘poor’ (n=33, 25.4%) are quite high as well. It is seen that the source of learning Turkish of the majority of refugee students reflected as ‘school’ (n=113, 86.9%), and the number of the ones that learn on the street (n=17, 13.1%) are very low.

The third question of the study is ‘what things do the school-age refugee children need to do well in school?’ This question has been answered by 88 students.

The frequency and percentage values of the answers are given in table 5.

Variance 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total

Education Level (Mother)

Illiterate Literate Primary School

Secondar y School

High School

Universit y

-

f 78 14 13 16 5 4 130

% 60.0 10.8 10.0 12.3 3.8 3.1 100

Education Level

(Father) f 73 15 9 15 6 12 130

% 56.3 11.5 6.9 11.5 4.6 9.2 100

Working Condition (Mother)

Working Not

working -

f 10 120 130

% 7.7 92.3 100

Working Condition (Father)

f 107 23 130

% 82.3 17.7 100

Household Income (TL)

0-1000 1001-2000 -

f 62 68 130

% 47.7 52.3 100

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Table 5. The frequency and percentage values of the requirements of the students (N=88)

Requirements f %

Learning Turkish better 24 27.3

Private course backing 15 17.1

Studying hard 15 17.1

School supplies 13 14.9

My friends playing with me 6 6.8

Becoming a homeowner 4 4.5

Being with my mum 3 3.4

Having money 2 2.3

Loved by my teacher 1 1.1

Having a ball 1 1.1

Being loved 1 1.1

Being loved by my friends 1 1.1

Gym and pool in the school 1 1.1

Arabic lessons 1 1.1

Total 88 100

In Table 5, the answers show that refugee children are in the more needs such as learning Turkish better in the school (f=24, 27.3%), private course backing (f=15, 17.1%), studying hard (f=15, 17.1%), school supplies (f=013, 14.9%). Other answers are given like my friends playing with me (f=6, 6.8%), becoming a homeowner, (f=4, 4.5%), being with the mother (f=3, 3.4%), having money (f=2, 2.3%). In addition, the refugee children have expressed their needs about the affection of their teachers (f=1, 1.1%), having a ball (f=1, 1.1%), being loved (f=1, 1.1%), the love of their friends (f=1, 1.1%), gym and pool in the school (f=1, 1.1%), and Arabic lessons (f=1, 1.1%).

The second working group in the study is comprised of 8 class teachers working in a school that gives education the low socio-economical status families within the scope of 2.200 students in Izmir.

The Syrian students also take part in those teachers’ classes for average two years around. The school has combined a project team and performed a study for the adaptation of those children. Within the body of this project; literacy courses, children festivals, collaboration with the institutions that supply financial support for the children are arranged.

Another question of the research is ‘How do the teachers perceive the processes of gaining experience in the education of refugee children?’ All of the teachers (n=8) have opined that they have not had such experience before meeting a refugee children in their classes and firstly trying to understand them, showing an emphaty, and approaching equally in comparison with other students.

All teachers have emphasised that the difficulty in language is the major obstacle for them to learn.

Two of the teachers that have more than one refugee child in their classes have stated that they hamper those students to communicate with each other, encouraging them to spend their time with others instead and in this way they support their learning Turkish. The comments made by some teachers in this regard as follow:

‘I tried to adapt myself to the situation. I approached them how I behaved the others.’ [T5]

‘Obviously, before I met these students I didn’t have any knowledge of what it can be done or what kind of education it can be given. We came accross with them out of the blue’ [T6]

‘I didn’t panic as how we communicated. I didn’t do anything different for them’ [T3]

‘No, I didn’t know that. It simply popped up out of the blue’ [T2]

There are stunning examples in this part regarding the practises of the teachers in the process of adaptation:

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‘If we need to play we do this together. I don’t want them to leave for another game. I arrange the mixed groups so that their Turkish improves in the interaction with other children.’ [T3]

‘I try to understand them. I never seperate them from the others. How we can seperate them, since they are children, too.’ [T7]

‘I enable these children to join every activities so that they can socialise with their friends. I don’t leave them aside. I have a student that has come in previous years. He/she sometimes interprets. I felt that these children had lack of self-confidence. I tried overcoming this by giving them responsibilities. As an example, I gave a mission about distributing storybooks to one Syrian and Turkish student.’ [T8]

‘I tried hard to harmonise them with their friends by behaving unbiased. Other children already accept them easily. There is a childish language between them. And this language is common language.’ [T1]

‘During teamwork, I distribute the refugee children in groups so that they make friends and keep them at arm’s length. Sometimes I hear from my students saying that they are Syrians, not clean and they run away from their countries leaving behind. Unfortunately they are affected by their families. I don’t allow this. I try to avert this as much as I can.’ [T2]

‘I put on Turkish music. I sometimes put on Arabic music so that they don’t feel themselves different completely. Besides, I don’t let them much to speak Arabic between each other. The intention is for them to learn Turkish.’ [T2]

The other question of the study is ‘How do the teachers evaluate the pre-service and in-service training that they receive in terms of getting proficiency of teaching for the refugee children?’ All teachers have declared that they haven’t had any course regarding the refugee children in the department of student training programme of the Faculties of Education. The same whole working group has also stated that these students want to learn their language and cultures which may be advantageous for them but learning the language spoken in the country where they immigrate is more important. Half of the teachers have asserted that teaching Arabic and Arab culture is not enough for the refugees in the changing world, for this reason it is not right to focus on one refugee group. In the case of one lesson given at the university, they have expressed that the content of this lesson should be composed of the titles such as different cultures, multiculturalism, cultural adaptation, the class adaptation and the education in different languages. Some of the teacher opinions about this topic are as follow:

‘I didn’t have the pre-service education related to the refugee children. I really don’t know whether or not I wanted to have this. Today these children come from Syria. But what would we do if they came from Greece tomorrow? Those children and their families must learn Turkish.’ [T1]

‘I didn’t have the pre-service education related to the refugee children. I never thought this but it could’ve been explained with different excercises oriented for them regarding how we should behave. It could have been informed about what sort of things we should take care in terms of the adaptation of these children to the classes.’ [T4]

‘No, I didn’t have this. The biggest problem is language. Should I have learned Arabic, Bulgarian or Georgian? I think NO. But a lesson with a title as ‘How can we adapt foreign students to our system?’

could be beneficial.’ [T5]

‘No, I didn’t have this. We are now talking for the Syrians. There can also be the refugee children coming from another country. For example, it can be Greece. Their language is different. Their culture is different. Their civilisation is different. I wish I had a course especially on the education and training of different language and culture.’ [T6]

‘No, I didn’t have this. I believe that these children and especially their families are in need of learning Turkish. However, I wish I had a knowledge of how a forein child could adapt him/herself to the class and do well with other children in terms of communication and collaboration.’ [T7]

In this section, teacher opinions regarding in-service training they have aimed at refugee children are given. The teachers have expressed that they had a two-week education. The teachers have stated that the content of the education had basic concepts such as immgiration, refugee, forced

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migration etc… The teachers have pointed out that the throughout the course they have been informed by the rights the refugee children have, and also they have stated that the course focuses on the topic that the education is mainly about showing an empathy and needs to set at work by accepting them unconditionally. They have expressed that the process of education is planned on the basis of game and animation; therefore it is entertaining. The teachers have implied that they need an education including how they commucicate with the Syrian children and how they support to adapt them to the classes and how they get them to comprehend the content of the school program, and for this reason the present education program doesn’t meet the needs. Some of the comments by teachers as following:

‘I think it wasn’t quiet enough. Personally I can say that; we already love these children. We accepted them. It wasn’t an education that solved the problems I had.’ [T8]

‘It wasn’t enough. It didn’t give any place to the subject about how we had to work with these children, how we actualized the learning. These are just children, we should understand. Let’s educate. Common topics were underlined like embracing them. There wasn’t any subject that we had regarding how we helped these children.’ [T3]

‘It wasn’t beneficial. It wasn’t for the problems that we confronted in the classroom environment to make it easy. It was just for an inculcation of why we had to accept these children.’ [T4]

‘In fact, there wasn’t really anything in the content of in-service training. It’s no use to bemoan. These people are here. Let’s we relax by accepting them in no time and do our thing. The whole context included the words that supported these expressions. Obviously, the content wasn’t in the shape of giving a satisfactory answer to the question as how we could do better for the education of this children.’ [T7]

In this section, the teachers’ comments are given about the problems they have with the refugee children and their parents. Almost all of the teachers (n=7) have pointed out that the biggest troubles are that the family and the child don’t know Turkish. They have expressed that acquiring language proficiency has key importance. The teachers suggest collecting the opinions of different sections in a pool about this topic officially and developing a permanent policy. They have expressed that in-service training should be planned and continued on the basis of providing teachers the knowledge and skill about the classroom communication with the refugee children and the curriculum. Furthermore, the teachers have offered that the students in the status of the refugee should firsly be included in the adaptation programme and then sent them to schools. Almost all of the teachers (n=7) have articulated that the majority of the parents hasn’t got enough attention about their children’s education, having langauge problem, making no contact with them and not exerting themselves to learn language. They have underlined that this situation hampers the child to develop Turkish language skills. The teachers’

comments are follow:

‘I can’t contact with the parents. Because they don’t know Turkish. My Syrian parent came to me. I told him/her that you should learn Turkish, help your child at home and support him/her. H/she complained about his/her troubles. They had little children. They couldn’t come. We are in this kind of ‘Catch 22’

situation.’ [T8]

‘We can never contact with each other if there isn’t any translator. There are courses both in school and the public education center but the participation is low. I think more participation is needed’ [T7]

‘We contact through interpreter. Are you going to back your country when the war is ended? They say:

‘’NO’’ Then I say that you learn our language a little. But unfortunately, they are not in a struggle for this. They don’t have any effort to communicate after all.’ [T1]

‘No, I can’t communicate with them. Even though I call them, it is difficult for them to come. When they come, we get help from the children for translation. There are enough arrangements that are provided for them to participate the activities in our school but they do not come. They need to learn some Turkish to communicate.’ [T3]