President of Üsküdar University Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan participated in an online discussion organized by the Ankara Private Education Association (ÖZ-DER). Tarhan held a discussion titled 'The Psychological Role of the Teacher in a Healthy Classroom Climate'. In the discussion, Tarhan stated that lasting change in education is possible with an approach that starts from the individual and spreads to society, drawing attention to the importance of virtue and moral education at an early age. He emphasized that a pleasure and speed-oriented lifestyle increases impatience and distraction in young people. Tarhan also said that many value systems, from social norms to family structure, are in transformation. Stating that the teacher-student relationship plays a decisive role in the school climate and that compassionate discipline and positive reinforcement strengthen the sense of belonging, Tarhan added that students should be guided to think process-oriented instead of result-oriented.
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In the exam process, is the result or the process more important?
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Öz-Der Academy Coordinator Yahya Kıraç moderated the online discussion.
Administrators and teachers working in institutions within Ankara Öz-Der participated in the discussion.
“Youth is experiencing a drift”
Stating that the basic approach in education must be established correctly for change to be permanent, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said; “Change is made, but after a while, you see that because it's not permanent, what was done and the advice given 5-10 years later become unapplied. When not applied, it eventually fades away. Therefore, to ensure continuity in change, it is absolutely necessary to aim for a bottom-up change. That is, it is necessary to start from the individual, move to the specific, and from the specific to the general. Change progressing from general to specific is not a very correct method. At this point, school and education are very important. When raising children, there is a method especially applied today in the Far East and recently started in Egypt. Children between the ages of 4-6 are only given virtue and moral education. No other information is loaded during this period; only virtue and morality are emphasized. Information begins to be given after this. If we don't do this, we will experience more in the future. Because high school age is already a late period. When a child turns 10, they start to detach from their parents and fall under the influence of their environment. Also, there are digital influences today. Social media and global interaction constantly affect young people. For this reason, youth is experiencing a drift. Here, we need to think very carefully about what we will do.”
“The most important problem is a pleasure and speed-oriented life”
Addressing the problem experienced by children of this era, Tarhan said; “The problems we encounter most frequently in today's children have increased even more, especially after the pandemic. Previously, we almost never had adolescent patients who reached the point of hospitalization. But now, for the first time, we have started hospitalizing children who physically abuse their parents, experience school refusal, and develop artificial intelligence psychosis as a result of excessive exposure to digital screens. This situation has now reached quite serious dimensions. Behind this, we see factors such as anxiety, attention deficit, loss of meaning, psychological distress, and stress. One of the most important problems the younger generation faces today is living a pleasure and speed-oriented life. They experience everything very quickly. They even watch a one-minute video at 1.5 or 2 times the speed. Already during adolescence, there is biological haste and impatience. The understanding of 'I want it now' prevails. The tendency to achieve without effort and to lean towards what is easy is also seen more frequently in young people. There is also an important difference between today's youth and previous generations. Especially today's generations aged 40 and above had to mature through scarcity in their youth. Today's children, however, have to mature amidst abundance. Yet, maturing amidst abundance is much more difficult. Because many things they need are presented to them as if on a silver platter. In such an environment, learning to say 'No' and to appreciate what they have is not easy. For this reason, these children sometimes become the little king of the house and can even act like the head of the house. They take leadership from their parents. One of the biggest difficulties teachers face in classrooms today is precisely this.”
“All norms are under threat”
Stating that a transformation process is taking place in societal values and norms, Tarhan said; “There are values that protect society. Firstly, there are legal values and legal norms. These are determined by laws, statutes, and regulations. Secondly, there are social norms, which are shaped by customs and traditions. Thirdly, there are family norms, which are the values adopted by parents and the family. Fourthly, there are moral and conscientious norms, which are determined by morality. Today, when we look, all of these norms are under threat. Legal norms, on a global scale, have remained only in writing in many places; they do not find sufficient application in practice. Social norms, however, have changed. Because now, cultural transmission is done not by parents, but by digital exposure and screens. This situation has started to directly affect children. A pleasure and speed-oriented understanding of life is forming in children. This increases attention deficit and distraction. Things that require effort and thought start to bore children. At the same time, loneliness is increasing. Because socialization takes place in the digital environment and remains superficial. Physical contact is decreasing. However, many forms of learning occur through emotional interaction. Learning happens by playing, running, experimenting, disassembling, and reassembling. Without these, the digital environment only provides visual learning and does not sufficiently support emotional learning. As a result, the social and emotional skill areas in children's brains cannot develop as they should.”
“We need to produce new answers for the problems of the new era”
Stating that children's perception of the world has changed, Tarhan said; “Our children are not just our children; they are the children of the era they live in. Since they are children of this era, we need to act in accordance with the conditions of their time. Instead of giving old answers to old questions, we need to produce new answers for the problems of the new era. Today, children do not feel safe. They have started to lose not only their sense of meaning but also their sense of reality. Our brain defined three basic realities. The first is the reality of the physical world, the material world we live in. The second is the reality of imagination; we dream, and then when we return to the real world, we say, 'This was a dream.' The third is the reality of dreams. We dream, and after a brief period of disorientation upon waking, we return to reality by saying, 'This was a dream.' Now, a fourth reality has emerged: artificial intelligence reality. Children who have excessive contact with artificial intelligence, especially during adolescence and at younger ages, can start to lose their emotional, intellectual, and social boundaries. Even when a child leaves the artificial intelligence environment, they try to experience that experience as a continuation of real life. Raising children in such a period is much more difficult. Likewise, being a teacher or an educator is much more difficult, but alongside all these difficulties, this era also has significant advantages when used correctly.”
“Children with a moral compass can use technology correctly”
Speaking about the fundamental values that should be instilled in children, Tarhan said; “We need to establish being a good person as the measure of value in children. We will place being a good person at the top of the value pyramid. Following this, we will place being moral, then the rituals of religion, and finally success. In other words, it is necessary to teach the child to be a good person as an ego ideal at an early age. If we teach this up to the age of 10, it becomes much more difficult afterward. During this period, we emphasize emotional education. In the past, certain institutions and structures would do this. In dervish lodges at street corners, a person who came to learn knowledge was first taught etiquette. Street and neighborhood culture also supported this. Now, most of these are gone. If a child doesn't see this from their parents, they start learning it through media. Therefore, we need to teach the child to be a good person, to be virtuous, and the ethics of virtue. For a child who does not learn the ethics of virtue, technology accelerates our lives, while the ethics of virtue guides our lives. These children are growing up increasingly directionless, becoming individuals without a moral compass. However, children with a moral compass can use technology correctly. Technology can be thought of as a wild horse. If you have control over it, it will take you wherever you want. If you leave control to it, it will guide you. That's why we shouldn't be afraid of technology; what matters is whether we educate it and use it correctly. During this period, in addition to success-oriented measures, the goal of being a good person as the ego ideal at the top of life should be taught to children from an early age, from the moment they start walking.”
“Praising small successes strengthens the sense of belonging”
Stating that the school environment is a process that directly determines the education process, Tarhan said; “If a student feels they belong to the school, if they come to school willingly and eagerly, it means there is a good school climate. For a good school climate to be formed, the child must feel they belong to the school. One of the most important factors for this is for the child to love their teacher. If they love their teacher, they will also love the lesson. If they love the lesson, they will study more easily and be more motivated. For this, the teacher must also love the student. Here, the combination of discipline and compassion is important. Discipline alone is not enough; compassionate discipline, a discipline with love, is needed. Love is a beautiful emotion, but there is a deeper concept than love: love that contains empathy. That is, unconditional and selfless love… In our culture, this is called compassion. Compassion has the sensitivity of not hurting or harming. Love can sometimes be conditional. Parents might say, 'I will love you if you are successful, if not, I won't,' and use success as a tool for pressure. This is not true love; it is conditional love. The correct approach is, 'I love you as a person, but I would be much happier if you succeed.' In other words, while the child's personality is valued, their behavior and efforts should be praised. Praising small successes in the classroom strengthens the child's sense of belonging to the school and classroom. Children of this period show better development with positive reinforcement, not with punishment or negative reinforcement.”
“As the exam approaches, process-oriented thinking, not result-oriented thinking, should be taught”
Speaking about the importance of the teacher being a correct role model, Tarhan said; “After parents, the child's hero is the teacher. A child who sees the teacher's warm, sincere, and constructive relationship chooses their teacher as a role model. For this reason, most children want to become teachers. The main issue here is for the teacher to be able to present a strong and correct example as a role model. If the teacher's role model is good, children will eventually learn to manage exam anxiety. As the exam approaches, children should be taught to think process-oriented, not result-oriented. Result-oriented thinking is to focus on grades and success, such as 'Did they pass or fail? Did they win or not?' However, this type of approach increases the child's stress. Because results and grades are things the child cannot directly control. Instead, one should think process-oriented. They should focus on areas they can control, such as 'How many hours did I study, how many questions did I solve?' This is essentially the logic of resource management. The child shows their best effort and learns to accept the outcome. Another important point is to remind young people of their past successes. For example, by showing their previous successes in practice exams, the message 'Look, you succeeded before, so you can succeed again' should be given. This also strengthens the child's self-confidence and motivation.”