An event titled “Family Therapy-Education Teacher Relationship” was organized in cooperation with the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education, Üsküdar District Directorate of National Education, and Üsküdar Üniversitesi. At the event, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, addressed educators from Üsküdar. In his speech, Tarhan drew attention to the decisive role of values in personality development and emphasized the importance of producing wisdom from knowledge rather than merely transferring information. Tarhan stated that social and emotional skills, empathy, and psychological resilience are indispensable in the age of artificial intelligence, and stressed that critical thinking skills must be imparted to young people. Tarhan also said that the way to reach young people is through setting an example with behavior rather than words, and underlined that virtue ethics can be conveyed through living it, not just by telling.
The event held at Üsküdar Üniversitesi Çarşı Campus Emirnebi Conference Hall was attended by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Üsküdar District Director of National Education Semih Durmuş, and educators affiliated with the Üsküdar District Directorate of National Education.
The program, which garnered intense interest, began with opening speeches.
Semih Durmuş: “With the Maarif Model, we are educating both ourselves and the youth”
Üsküdar District Director of National Education Semih Durmuş delivered the opening speech of the program. Durmuş said; “With the Maarif Model of our Provincial Directorate of National Education, we are now educating both ourselves and the youth. We are in a process where we learn on one hand and build the new generation with what we learn on the other. Indeed, this is the primary aim of the teaching profession. I thank our Arabic, Religious Culture, Vocational Courses, and Psychological Counseling and Guidance teachers present today for their participation. The fact that this program is a first for us and starts with you holds special value. I also wanted to be present among you personally to benefit from this program, by delegating our Provincial Director of National Education's meeting to my branch manager colleague. On this occasion, I extend my gratitude to Üsküdar Üniversitesi for hosting, and to all my colleagues and our special office team who contributed to the organization.” he stated.
“Family Therapy-Education Teacher Relationship” was thoroughly discussed
Following the opening speeches, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, held a discussion on “Family Therapy-Education Teacher Relationship,” moderated by Journalist Şaban Özdemir.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Value judgments are like a compass”
Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, emphasizing that values are the most fundamental dimension that gives meaning to human life, said; “For many years, the ‘3D’ approach was discussed in psychology: Emotion, Thought, and Behavior. However, with the emergence of third-generation psychotherapies, it was realized that this trio was not sufficient to define a young person's or an individual's life. At this point, the need for a fourth dimension was emphasized. In this new approach, which also found a meaningful equivalent in Turkish, the 4th D was defined as ‘Values’. One of the names that best explains the concept of value is educational psychologist Howard Gardner from Harvard University. Educators, especially our guidance counselors, know Gardner well. Gardner, who developed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, later explored this theory through character strengths and values, presenting an approach of 6 virtues and 24 values. This work gradually became a measurable inventory. In this approach, frequently used in psychotherapies today, an individual's value judgments are considered a fundamental reference point. Value judgments are like a compass. We can explain this with a traffic example. Imagine you are driving and come to an intersection. One road takes you to a city, another leads in a different direction. What do traffic signs do? They show you the direction you want to go, and even warn you beforehand if there's a dangerous road. Values are like these traffic signs on the journey of life. They show us where to go and in which direction to proceed. Therefore, building values is one of the most fundamental elements of personality development. Likewise, the transfer of values is an indispensable part of building a healthy personality.” he began his speech.
“It was clearly seen that value judgments are not an abstract field”
Tarhan stated that value judgments are at the center of both psychotherapy and modern science today; “There are various scales to measure value judgments. One of them is PVQ (Personal Values Questionnaire), a scale that measures personal values and beliefs. With such scales, we try to understand how a person views life. For example, if a person has a value judgment like ‘Nobody loves me,’ they read the world through these glasses. A person who thinks this way evaluates everyone they encounter with this assumption. In fact, it was very clearly seen that these value judgments are not an abstract field but have taken their place at the center of science. One of the most striking examples of this was the awarding of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to a psychologist. A cognitive psychologist named Geoffrey Hinton received this award along with a geneticist. A psychologist and a geneticist receiving a physics award may seem strange at first glance. Hinton's field of work is cognitive psychology, a sub-branch of neuropsychology. Cognitive psychology is an approach that treats the human brain like a computer. The Nobel justification specifically emphasizes this: ‘His persistent advocacy for a minority idea.’ Hinton is a name obsessed with the question of how the brain works. He had previously received the Turing Award. Alan Turing, as you know, is one of the names who laid the foundation for the first computing systems. According to Hinton's approach, the brain functions like a system operating with algorithms. It scans past experiences, uses mental algorithms formed in the past, and predicts the future accordingly. Just like computers making weather predictions in meteorology... The brain makes its current decisions in line with these predictions. In this process, artificial neural networks come into play. This is why Geoffrey Hinton is referred to today as the godfather of artificial intelligence. Because what he did was to present a simulation of how the human brain works. These studies directly provided a reference for the field of artificial intelligence.” he said.
“The main purpose of wisdom is to provide meaning and purpose”
Tarhan stated that in our age, where information is rapidly multiplying, the real need is not to transfer information but to be able to produce meaning from it; “The leadership approach based on the direct transfer of knowledge and information is now a thing of the past. What is important in today's world is to be able to interpret information, and to produce wisdom and value from knowledge. Because today, merely possessing knowledge is not enough; that knowledge needs to be given meaning. From this perspective, the teacher development programs carried out by the Ministry of National Education are extremely visionary works. I truly hope they are very valuable and sustainable. Because every institution is, in fact, a learning organism. School, classroom, university are learning organisms. Likewise, the family is also a learning organism. The child learns, the mother learns, the father learns; we all learn together. Therefore, when a student asks a question in class, the teacher does not need to know everything. The teacher should be able to say, ‘I don't know this, I will research it and get back to you.’ The spirit of the times requires this. We are no longer just information transmitters. The main role of the teacher is to possess the key to the treasure of knowledge. The teacher is the one who knows which information is in which source and gives that key to the student. Especially today, the treasure of knowledge largely resides in artificial intelligence systems. The age we live in is an age where information flows like a flood, but sifting through this information requires wisdom. The main purpose of wisdom is to provide meaning and purpose. If we cannot give meaning and purpose to a young person, that young person easily becomes a figure guided by the media. A person with meaning and purpose manages artificial intelligence, but artificial intelligence manages a person without meaning and purpose. Here, artificial intelligence actually refers to life itself. Because artificial intelligence is not alive, it is not conscious. Where there is no human, there is no artificial intelligence. Therefore, there is no need to fear artificial intelligence. A person who knows themselves, has meaning and purpose, uses artificial intelligence as a tool, or even like a workhorse.” he concluded.
“For permanent learning, six questions must be asked together”
Tarhan stated that the brain processes information for it to become permanent; “The brain has information processing networks. There are six fundamental networks that operate when the brain records information. When the brain encounters a piece of information, it asks these questions: ‘Who said it? What was said? Where? When? How? Why?’ Communicators know these questions very well and use them frequently. A Canadian psychologist who defined this system calls this structure ‘The Six Loyal Sentinels of Memory’. If a person can ask all six of these questions when confronted with incoming information, that information becomes permanent in the brain as if carved in stone; but if only one or two questions are asked, the information is like writing on sand and is quickly erased. For permanent learning, these six questions must be asked together. The same applies when interacting with artificial intelligence. We observe this particularly in individuals whose brains are excessively immersed in the digital world. In children or people whose work is entirely computer-based, a one-dimensional mental development can sometimes emerge. We call this condition learned autistic traits. That is, it's not clinical autism but a condition caused by a learning and lifestyle. The child can perform mathematical operations perfectly but may have weak social and emotional literacy. When everyone in an environment understands a joke, that child cannot. Because social and emotional skills are not sufficiently developed. Therefore, it's crucial not to overdo the information dosage. We must not forget that what makes a medicine a medicine is its dosage.” he stated.
“Accessing information is easy, but the real need is the ability to filter information”
Tarhan, underlining that critical thinking should be taught to young people; “There is a beautiful saying in Anatolia: ‘Don't believe what you hear, and believe only half of what you see.’ What a profound and instructive expression... Our ancestors actually teach us critical thinking. In other words, they tell us not to immediately believe everything we hear, and to question even what we see. We need to teach this especially to young people. When we encounter a piece of information, instead of immediately accepting it, it is essential to stop, think, and question. Of course, accessing information is easy and learning is possible, but the real need here is the ability to filter information. At this point, a mechanism we frequently see in psychology comes into play: labeling and projection. If a person constantly labels those around them as narcissistic, they are often projecting their own narcissistic traits onto the other party. Because they cannot accept the emotions in their inner world, they attribute these to others, saying, 'I am important, I am a good person, these negative traits cannot be in me.' This situation causes serious problems, especially in interpersonal relationships.” he stated.
“There are two areas that will not disappear in the future…”
Tarhan, stating that social, emotional, and psychological resilience skills need to be developed; “Today we largely neglect learning about our social brain and emotional brain. However, when we look to the future, it is often said that many professions will disappear. But there are two areas that will not disappear: professions where social and emotional skills are used intensively. Because neither computers nor artificial intelligence can fully replace these skills. At this point, the concept of emotional artificial intelligence is also being discussed, but such technologies cannot replace a human's use of their social and emotional brain. What is truly important here is the ability to read emotional cues. Empathy is precisely this. Being able to correctly read the facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, and emotional signals of the person opposite us. Another critical skill is psychological resilience. In life, we experience events that dampen our spirits, we get sad, we experience stress. What matters is whether we see this stress as a threat or an opportunity. If we treat experiences as a developmental experience, even trauma can turn into a process that serves our psychological resilience. Psychological resilience is not an innate trait; it is learned later. Everyone is equal in this regard. What creates the difference is the way we approach events. If you cannot change the course of events, you need to change your perspective. When the perspective changes, a way out is always found.” he said.
“Virtue ethics needs to be lived, not just told”
Tarhan, stating that young people should be set an example through behavior, not words; “We cannot reach young people because we often start from the wrong place. However, when we start from the right place, young people are extremely open to understanding and learning. When you talk about these issues, you clearly see how interested and sensitive young people are. Moreover, life circumstances also challenge them. Therefore, we can say that we are going through a period in human history where evils have become more visible. However, it should not be forgotten that as the negative consequences caused by evils increase, so will the need for goodness. What we need to do is to produce goodness and set a good example. As mothers, fathers, and teachers, we need to be moral individuals. Virtue ethics needs to be lived, not just told. Because children and young people look at this: ‘Does what this person says align with what they do?’ If it aligns, they will believe you. If it doesn't align, no matter how beautiful your conferences are, your words will not resonate. A person lectured their child for three hours about the virtue of speaking little. Would a child believe in such a situation? Of course not. Because the message and the behavior contradict each other. Therefore, we must first be moral so that we can be good role models for children and young people.” he concluded.
The program concluded with a gift presentation and a group photo session.