Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, was the live broadcast guest of the program organized by Kâğıthane Çözüm College. Tarhan, making evaluations on the topic 'Life Success or Academic Success in Child Education?', stated that academic and moral success must go hand in hand for life success. Tarhan said that when life success is mentioned, people enter into expectations like 'I want to be rich and famous,' and he used the expressions, "If precautions are not taken and the 21st century does not become the century of wisdom, it will be the century of decay and corruption."
"If precautions are not taken, the 21st century will be a century of decay and corruption"
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that when life success is mentioned, it should not be understood as merely material success. Tarhan emphasized that academic success alone does not bring life success; “According to the understanding of life success, what will a person's total success be, along with their academic and moral success, when they reach the end of their life? This is what is important. When life success is mentioned today, we are under the influence of an egocentric, popular culture. Existential psychology and existential philosophy have negatively influenced people. According to this understanding, humans are beings who pursue their own interests. The idea that we must be selfish, limitless, and free for our inner creative activity to emerge is being imposed on people. By saying that societies are made up of people pursuing their own interests, wild capitalism and consumerism are encouraged. As a result, a hedonistic, egocentric understanding emerged, one that thinks only of its own interests, considers marriage unnecessary, and views family as a burden. The pandemic process accelerated the spread of a life philosophy that states 'everything is permissible to me,' affecting the entire world globally. He said, 'If precautions are not taken and the 21st century does not become the century of wisdom, it will be the century of decay and corruption.'
"Being a good person has no reward in the education system"
Tarhan stated that there are human approaches oscillating between two extremes regarding life success and academic success, and that a balance must be struck between these two points. Tarhan; “The reason for the inability to establish a balance between life success and academic success stems from the separation of religion and science in education. In high school, while a biology teacher explains the creation of the universe as a coincidence, a religious education teacher says 'God created it'. For this reason, children get confused. To end this confusion, 'Ilmi Kalam' (scholastic theology) lessons need to be taught at the high school level. Today, every high school student questions like Ibn Sina. Young people are not asking how to perform worship, but researching why they should perform it. When we cannot answer these questions, we only deceive ourselves. When you say 'life success,' people enter into expectations like 'I want to have a house, a car, be rich, be famous.' However, if you ask a millionaire, they would describe all of these as a deception. In true life success, a person should be peaceful, happy, successful, and productive. Currently, there is a system focused only on academic success. The examination system also pushes families and children towards this. With an exam-oriented education system, there is no reward for any value other than memorizing and passing exams. Unfortunately, in our education system, children do not receive the reward for developing good behavior, being a good person, not lying, and keeping their word. In such a situation, why would a child care about these things? Life success is achieved by the combination of academic success and moral success,' he said.
"New actors in child education: Television and the internet"
Tarhan stated that today, moral, social, and human success are disregarded, and a type of person operating with capitalist ethics is being created; “In the short term, they may seem to win, but in the long term, they lose. If one were to ask, 'Is it more profitable to be a good person or to be self-interested?', the current teaching explains being self-interested as profitable, and being honest as foolishness. Raising good people is no less important than building good factories. Raising virtuous people is the most important value. Unfortunately, our education system does not cultivate this; previously, families and society did, but now these actors have also become insufficient. Because now our homes have an open door, and that open door is called TV and the internet. All kinds of information enter through these channels, polluting and poisoning our homes. Since we cannot close that door, we need to learn to use that open door correctly. Let's not expect children to spontaneously learn what is right, moral, and human values. Parents and educators should be role models for children regarding being good people,' he said.
"It's not the children, but the education system that is wrong"
Tarhan noted that we have been unable to achieve the modernization process while preserving our own culture, and for this reason, the education system produces a type of person with an inferiority complex towards the West. Tarhan; 'A Turkish citizen who goes to Germany discovers a vaccine, while one who goes to America receives a Nobel Prize. From this, it is understood that our education system cannot raise the right type of person; our official ideology and scientific doctrine are wrong. Education in institutions should be provided according to 21st-century skills. Education faculties are repeating the education of 30 years ago. This system produces intelligent but lazy, egocentric, and parasitic individuals. For our future, intelligent, hardworking, and productive people need to be raised. In my opinion, being a good person is more important than professional success. Children's ego ideal should not be solely their own interest; they should also have social goals. Currently, people need social skills the most. They need each other, they need to communicate and share. The materialist system causes people to lose themselves; capitalist ethics promote competition, not cooperation. Recognizing this, the Western world incorporated Positive Psychology courses into its education system. If the 21st century is not the century of wisdom, we will lose many generations. Crime incidents, acts of violence, divorces, and suicides will now be epidemic in nature,' he stated.
"Medical student Hikmet, as a young person, ignited the spark of the National Struggle"
Tarhan stated that Turkish youth always hold promise, recounting the story of Medical student Hikmet at the Sivas Congress. Tarhan; '150 people were invited to the Sivas Congress, but only 33 attended, and everyone became despondent. Many of the participants advocated for American and British mandates. While these were being debated, 19-year-old Medical student Hikmet said to M. Kemal: 'Commander, I came here for the struggle for independence. If there is a mandate, I, as a military medical student, do not accept it. If you also say yes to a mandate, we will not accept you either.' Medical student Hikmet's outburst greatly proud M. Kemal. Thereupon, M. Kemal uttered the words, 'Independence or Death'. Following this determined stance, the Erzurum Congress was held more strongly, and a joint struggle began in Anatolia. We owe this to the unique organizational power of the Turkish nation, which is not found in other societies,' he stated.
"Responsibility is important to avoid being narcissistic, antisocial, and lacking empathy"
Tarhan stated that teaching responsibility to children should be done by giving them authority, rather than by scolding or setting limits; “For a child's sense of responsibility to develop, age-appropriate responsibilities must be given. If you give a child too much responsibility for their age, they will be crushed and their self-confidence will drop; if given too little, they will get bored. Children often thought to be hyperactive are in fact raised with inconsistent discipline. Discipline and advice are like snowfall; if it's slow and continuous, the snow will accumulate. Children of parents with inconsistent emotional expression and contradictory messages cannot distinguish right from wrong. For this reason, let's discipline ourselves first, and then children will be disciplined. A child is a mirror of the family. Nowadays, bad and selfish people are increasing. It is becoming difficult to distinguish whether these are illnesses or evil. The 'Dark Triad,' known as narcissism, antisocial personality, and lack of empathy, is increasing every day. If these three are together, a person who enjoys violence and causing harm emerges. These are very dangerous individuals. To avoid raising such children, it is necessary to teach the sense of responsibility,' he said.
"Misconceptions about exams lead to anxiety"
Tarhan noted that by attributing wrong meanings to exams, those of us living in an exam-focused country increase exam anxiety; 'Families, educators, and students view exams as a matter of life and death, whereas in life, this exam is merely a step. Unfortunately, in our country, a person's life success is reduced to a single exam, LGS and YKS. This is a very wrong method from a pedagogical and psychological perspective. Today, many project schools and design workshops are being opened. Students' performance there should also be reflected in their exam scores. We have failed to create a fair examination system. Anxiety is an inevitable thing for young people, that's why we say 'anxiety yes, panic no'. Parents' anxiety affects the child more; anxiety is contagious. This exam is one step among the steps of success in life; even if you lose, you only lose one step, and there is always a way to compensate. But if you pass, it's also a good situation. If you don't pass, you still learned something. Therefore, whoever takes an exam never truly loses,' he noted.
News: Esmanur Tuna