Basic Trainer Training

Certificate Program

Training for Educators and Parents

“Thinking and Connecting Together with Children”

Trainer Training (Module 1)

March 25 – May 16, 2026

A journey from mind to heart, raising generations who are active listeners, able to express themselves, capable of connecting, empathetic, altruistic, know how to share, faithful, with a developed sense of morality, patriotic, grateful, able to say thank you, able to apply values in daily life, self-confident and self-controlled, who think, understand, and comprehend.

In today’s world, teaching children not just “what” to think, but “how” to think is the key to making them resilient against life's challenges, spiritually mature, and mentally agile.

As the Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies, we combine Matthew Lipman’s globally accepted Philosophy for Children (P4C) methodology with the contemplative understanding of our own tradition of thought. Designed for educators and parents, this program aims to develop children's reasoning skills while also helping them transform core-hearted values such as patience, justice, sharing, love, and self-control into everyday living practices.

Üsküdar University Trainer Training Certificate:

At the end of the program, organized in cooperation with the Üsküdar University Human Values Application and Research Center and the Institute for Sufi Studies, participants will be awarded the Üsküdar University Trainer Training Certificate. Those who successfully complete the program will be presented with Üsküdar University Training Program Certificates registered on e-Government through a ceremony.

Participation in Live Classes

• Classes will be held via the Zoom video conferencing application, which all registered participants can easily access.
• It is recommended to log into the session 10 minutes before the class starts.
• When you click on the Zoom link, you are required to type your first and last name on the screen that appears. Otherwise, you will be removed from the class by the system.
• Please make sure your microphones are muted throughout the session so as not to interrupt the flow of the class. You can submit your questions in writing via the “Chat” box.

Class Recordings and Watching Sessions

• Classes will be recorded, and the account details to watch the video recording of the class will be sent to the participant via e-mail. Class videos remain accessible to participants for 6 months.

Program Registration and Payment Information

• The program fee is 36,000 TL, and there is an option to pay in 6 installments.
• A 10% discount is applied for single payments.
• You can make your payment transactions at https://uskudar.edu.tr/tasavvuf/online-odeme. When your payment is completed, payment information will be automatically sent to your e-mail. To complete your registration process, you must forward the payment information to tasavvuf@uskudar.edu.tr. Your system registration will be carried out and your user credentials will be sent to your e-mail.

Warning

Account details are sent only to registered students. All rights of the program are reserved by Üsküdar University as the publishing organization. Live broadcast and recording links must strictly not be shared with third parties. Any legal responsibility arising from such sharing, within the scope of copyright and cybercrimes, will belong to the address of the participating user who shared them.

2. 8-WEEK TRAINING SCHEDULE

Training for Educators and Parents

“Thinking and Connecting Together with Children (Ages 7-14)”

INSTRUCTOR STAFF

Meryem Afacan, P4C Expert Trainer

She graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Philosophy, and completed the Non-Thesis Master's program in Philosophy Group Teaching at the same university. She carries out editorial activities in the field of publishing. She has worked as a philosophy group teacher and guidance counselor in public and private institutions. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the Department of Islamic Civilization, Thought, History, and Literature at the Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies.

Since 2015, she has been working in the fields of Philosophy and P4C Coordination, and educational material writing and development at the New Turkey Education Foundation (YETEV) Curriculum and Publication Development Directorate.

Sırrı Akbaba, Prof. Dr.

He completed his undergraduate education at Gazi University, Department of Educational Sciences, Division of Psychological Counseling and Guidance in 1985. He completed his master's degree in 1988 at Gazi University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Psychological Services in Education with his thesis titled “The Effect of Parental Attitudes on Some Personality Traits,” and his Ph.D. in 1994 at Atatürk University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Psychological Services in Education with his thesis titled “The Effect of Group Psychological Counseling on Altruism, a Social Psychological Concept.” He became an Assistant Professor at Atatürk University in 1994, an Associate Professor in 1999, and a Professor in 2005. In November 2014, he retired from Uludağ University and started working in the Department of Psychology at Üsküdar University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

He served as a project manager supported by the European Union and the University under the titles of “Parent School” (2003-2004) and “Let There Be No Working Children on the Streets” (01.12.2007- 31.11.2008). He served as the Head of the Department of Educational Sciences and the Head of the Division of Guidance and Psychological Counseling at Atatürk University and Uludağ University. In addition to editing and writing numerous books, he is a member of the editorial and peer-review boards of many domestic peer-reviewed journals. He is a member of the Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Association.

Cangüzel Güner Zülfikar, Dr. Asst. Prof.

She graduated from Ankara University, DTCF, Department of General Turkish History. She completed her Ph.D. thesis titled “The Foundation and First Century of the Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Complex” at Hacettepe University, Department of History. She has lectured on Sufism and Islamic Civilization at North Carolina Chapel Hill and Duke Universities. She worked as the assistant director at the Research Center for Middle Eastern and Muslim Civilizations at UNC-Chapel Hill (2006-2010). She founded the Turkish Studies Program at UNC-Chapel Hill (2009) and served as its instructor until December 2013. She works at the Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies.

Through her interdisciplinary research and studies, she prefers to contemplate the possibilities of observing traditional disciplinary system methods in contemporary family and society.

Tuba Işık, Prof. Dr.

She serves as a professor of Islamic Education and Practical Theology at the Institute of Islamic Theology, Humboldt University of Berlin. Her research areas include religious education and pedagogy, virtue ethics, Muslim women, and comparative theology. Işık holds a master's degree in public international law and pedagogy from the Georg-August University of Göttingen, a Ph.D. from the University of Paderborn, and has studied Catholic Theology in Paderborn and Rome. Additionally, she received advanced training in Islamic Education at the University of Osnabrück and the Faculties of Theology in Bursa and Ankara. Işık is the co-editor of the first textbook written in German on the didactics of Islamic Religious Education (2022). Her monograph on character building was published in 2022. In her most recently edited work, titled Islamic-Aesthetic Education, various authors discuss different dimensions of learning through aesthetic experience.

Işık is the coordinator of the "Mesnevi Children's International Project: Moral Education Project with Selected Stories from Mesnevi" launched in December 2023 within the scope of bilateral cooperation studies between the Humboldt University of Berlin Institute of Theology and the Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies.

Meltem Narter, Dr. Asst. Prof.

She completed her undergraduate degree in 1996 and her master's degree in 1998 at Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Psychology. In 2002, she earned her doctorate degree from Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology with her Ph.D. thesis titled “Republican Identity Definitions of University Youth.” She worked as a research assistant in the Department of Social Psychology at Istanbul University Department of Psychology between 1998-2004, and as an Assistant Professor in the same department between 2004-2008. Between 2008-2014, she worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Psychology at Istanbul Aydın University Department of Psychology. In 2002, she won second prize in the research article competition organized by the Ministry of Culture Directorate of Publications with her research titled “Republican Identity Definitions of University Youth.” Her study titled “Social Representations of Psychoanalysis in Turkey,” supported by the Istanbul University Scientific Research Projects Unit, was completed in 2008, and her book of the same name based on this study, published in 2012, was deemed worthy of the 2012 Psychoanalysis Writings Achievement Award by the Istanbul Psychoanalysis Association. She is currently a faculty member at Üsküdar University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology.

Esin Tümer Kurnaz, Dr.

A graduate of METU Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture (1989), T. Kurnaz completed her first master's degree (1994) and doctorate (2001) at the intersection of Energy Efficiency and Smart Buildings, and worked professionally as a “Project-Construction Manager” in various companies abroad; after returning to Turkey, she provided consultancy services. Having written columns for Habertürk Newspaper for four years, T. Kurnaz actively continues her architectural services with the design and construction of eco-villages. T. Kurnaz has served as an academician at various universities. Having completed the Master's (2019) and Ph.D. Programs (2025) at the Institute for Sufi Studies during her tenure at Üsküdar University, T. Kurnaz has, following her doctorate titled Stories in Religious, Moral, and Sufi Mesnevis in 16th-Century Turkish Literature (Identification, Analysis, and Origin Research), 4 articles published in domestic and foreign journals, and 3 articles accepted and in the publication stage in 2026. Having presentations and publications in her field of specialization at symposia and congresses, T. Kurnaz has a translated book published under the title Cosmology and Architecture, originally edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and written by Samer Akkach. She currently teaches the course “Prophetic Truths in Stories from a Sufi Perspective” at the Üsküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies.