A presentation was made by Assoc. Dr. Abdullah Demir at ESAM Istanbul Branch on October 29, 2023, as a summary of the 5-year study on holistic education in the world, the situation of our country and what needs to be done.
“Holistic Education Approach: Türkiye Example” presentation; It started with “The panorama of the last 500 years”.
Subsequently; The theo-ontological basis of the project, the ecosystem of education, the holistic education approach, countries that provide holistic education (especially the Singapore example), MEB practices and approaches to adapting holistic education for our country were touched upon.
“A SEAMLESS-HOLISTIC EDUCATION MODEL”
Speaking at the presentation, Abdullah Demir said, "An uninterrupted and holistic education model (from pre-birth to the grave) that is at peace with our past, taking into account the accumulation of humanity to date, makes our lives more meaningful in every aspect and enables us to look at issues more holistically. This forms the basic idea of our study. Moreover, the most critical link in education is now the administrator's attitudes towards teachers."
“PEOPLE ARE ALL LIVING CREATURES”
Continuing his speech with various quotes, Demir said, "Ali (R.A.) said, 'Whoever leads the people in something should discipline himself before trying to discipline anyone else'; This upbringing should be by giving advice with his personality before giving advice with his tongue. The statement 'The person who teaches himself and educates himself is more worthy of respect than the one who teaches and educates people' and Ibn Arabi's statement that 'Man is a being in contact with everything' are very important. People are whole creatures and cannot be divided into separate pieces like a puzzle game. While collecting people from pieces; The biological, physical, pedagogical, psychological, cultural, social, emotional, spiritual and moral and aesthetic approach (music, art and physical training) must be taken into consideration in its entirety."