“Children's Spiritual Education” project launched within the scope of the 2025 Family Year

A social responsibility project titled “Children's Spiritual Education: Parent and Educator Training” was carried out by Üsküdar University Institute of Sufi Studies within the scope of the “2025 Family Year”. Within the scope of the program, comprehensive and up-to-date training was offered to parents and educators to support children's religious and spiritual development on a scientific basis. The courses within the program were prepared and presented by Prof. Dr. Tuba Işık, an academician from the Institute of Islamic Theology at Humboldt University of Berlin. 

The project, implemented by the Institute of Sufi Studies with a sense of social responsibility, was organized free of charge for four weeks. A total of 160 participants from different European countries, especially Turkey and Germany, attended the program.

Aim: Qualified spiritual education support for families and educators

The main objective of the organized program was to provide parents and educators with up-to-date, applicable, and scientifically based educational content to support children's religious and spiritual development. The project centered on family and child education by addressing spiritual education with a sense of social responsibility.

Training prepared by Prof. Dr. Tuba Işık

The courses within the program were prepared and presented by Prof. Dr. Tuba Işık, an academician from the Institute of Islamic Theology at Humboldt University of Berlin. 

Prof. Dr. Işık is the Germany coordinator of the “International Masnavi-Child Project: Moral Education with Selected Masnavi Stories” study, which has been ongoing since 2023 within the framework of academic collaborations carried out between Üsküdar University Institute of Sufi Studies and Humboldt University of Berlin.

The Turkey leg of the project is being carried out under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Emine Yeniterzi, with contributions from Dr. Lect. Cangüzel Güner Zülfikar and Dr. Lect. H. Dilek Güldütuna. The work includes two master's theses, one doctoral thesis, and a postdoctoral study by Dr. Esin Tümer.

Prof. Dr. Elif Erhan: “Its transformation into social benefit is commendable in every aspect”

Prof. Dr. Elif Erhan, Director of the Institute of Sufi Studies, made the following statements regarding the project:

“The Masnavi-Child Project, implemented under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Tuba Işık, aims to develop methodical approaches by evaluating Sufi texts in the spiritual education of children. This training program offers practical content adaptable to socio-cultural differences from daily life. In addition to academic success, the transformation of these studies into social benefit as a social responsibility project is commendable in every aspect.”

Training content and evaluation process

The target audience of the program consisted of parents and educators who wished to contribute to children's religious and spiritual development processes. To assess the impact of the training program, two separate surveys were administered to participants: one before the courses and one after the program was completed. Learning outcomes and participant satisfaction were measured through these surveys.

The content of the courses included;

•    First week: The connection of Allah and Prophet perceptions with parent-child relationships,

•    Second and third weeks: Age-appropriate teaching of stories, symbols, and worship, parental attitudes, and value education with a developmental psychology-based religious education approach,

•    Fourth week: Presentation and evaluation of participant applications
were discussed.

The program concluded with participant satisfaction.

Social responsibility projects will continue…

The Institute of Sufi Studies plans to continue its social responsibility projects aimed at children's spiritual development and family education, expanding their scope in the coming period.

About Prof. Dr. Tuba Işık:

Prof. Dr. Tuba Işık's research areas include religious education and pedagogy, virtue ethics, Muslim women, and comparative theology. Işık holds a master's degree in international public law and pedagogy from the University of Göttingen Georg-August and a doctoral degree from Paderborn University, and also studied Catholic Theology in Paderborn and Rome. She also took postgraduate courses in Islamic Education at Osnabrück University and the Faculties of Theology in Bursa and Ankara. Işık is the co-editor of the first textbook (2022) on Islamic Religious Education didactics written in German. Her monograph on character building was published in 2022. In Işık's latest publication, 'Islamic-Aesthetic Education', which she edited, various authors discuss different dimensions of learning through aesthetic experience.