Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, attended the program organized by the Success Monitoring and Development Project (BİGEP) Karesi Teacher Academy. Meeting with educators under the title "New Truths in Education," Tarhan emphasized 21st Century skills in education and how we should integrate these skills into our lives. Tarhan said; "When a student enters school, they are like a ship sailing into the ocean. If a ship sailing into the ocean knows where it's going and has a compass, it will find its way. All winds help those with a compass and a goal. But the wind drags those without a compass everywhere. That's why we need to give young people ego ideals. The compass for young people will be their ego ideals..."
"We Need to Think About How We Can Use Digitalization Well"
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan pointed out that instead of resisting digitalization, we should learn to live with it. Tarhan said; "Currently, the most important thing that the 21st century and Industry 4.0 show us is compulsory digitalization. This process has already started to accelerate with Covid-19. Digitalization in education and health fields has become mandatory. This digitalization is inevitable in life. Instead of opposing such an inevitability, we need to look at ways to use it for beneficial purposes. Therefore, instead of opposing it with the discourse that digitalization causes addiction in young people, it is more logical for us to think about how we can use it well."
They Offer Hedonistic Satisfaction as an Ego Ideal to People!
Tarhan stated that the purpose of life has begun to be seen as hedonism in people; "Western civilization is in a crisis. They presented hedonistic satisfaction as an ego ideal, as the purpose of life, to society. They have instilled the satisfaction of all pleasures as a life purpose in people's lives. Under the influence of this life philosophy, people began to become egocentric. Even Socrates foresaw virtue as the purpose of life. Two hundred years after Socrates, Epicurus called the purpose of life hedonism; later, with the teachings of various heavenly religions, the purpose of life once again became virtue. However, with the Reformation and the great mistakes of the church, people returned to Epicurus' thesis that the purpose of life is hedonism. We are now beginning to see the traces of this. They reach a certain age, they don't care about the bad things around them, they live as they wish. Because selfishness in people's lives has increased." he said.
"When a student enters school, they are like a ship sailing into the ocean"
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that there are six important 21st-century skills in education; "There are important 21st-century skills in education. The first is innovation and entrepreneurship. The second is active learning, meaning learning by experience. In classical learning, the teacher comes to the class, explains the lesson, and leaves. In this type of learning, learning is not permanent. Active learning is the use of multiple intelligences in education. The third skill is objectivism. The most important reason for this to be one of the 21st Century skills is its importance for social peace. It teaches us that we should not look at an event only from our own perspective. The fourth is relativism, and the fifth is emotivism. Here, justice, not equality, is important. In relativism, there is no single truth. All of these are teachings of mental flexibility. In 21st Century skills, scientific leadership is taught, not classical and charismatic leadership.
The last of the 21st Century skills is Idealism. When a student enters school, they are like a ship sailing into the ocean. If a ship sailing into the ocean knows where it's going and has a compass, it will find its way. All winds help those with a compass and a goal. But the wind drags those without a compass everywhere. That's why we need to give young people ego ideals. The compass for young people will be their ego ideals. Popular culture presents fame, money, and sexuality as ego ideals to young people. There are only material ideals. This is a life philosophy that teaches concrete thinking. However, a life philosophy that teaches abstract thinking is needed. And that is very closely related to teaching young people what kind of person they want to be when they reach the end of their lives,' he said."
3 Parameters for Success: Being Smart, Diligent, and a Good Person!
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan spoke about three parameters necessary for success. Emphasizing that these three parameters are perhaps the most important elements in education, Tarhan said; "We say we want our child to be smart and successful at school. These are the qualities sought in a leader. Everyone is their own leader. Someone who cannot be their own leader cannot be the leader of a family or a class. A person is a leader if they can manage their own desires and impulses. A person is diligent and smart during their student life, graduates as an engineer, and is equally diligent and smart in their professional life. But then they produce synthetic marijuana to get rich easily. This means that in addition to being smart and diligent, one more parameter is needed. That parameter is: being a good person. Young people will be successful if they are smart, diligent, and good people. This is the success diagram. If we want success, we must definitely include the third parameter. This is perhaps the most important of the truths in education," he said.