Gulen schools have been presenting stunning performance regardless of the society have been initiated.
In this article, we would like to accentuate the successful expansion of the schools in different parts of the world. We thought the International Turkish Language Olympiads numbers would be a good indicator of the expansion of the Gulen inspired schools all over the world.
Before analyzing the growth trend of the schools, we would like to bring up some facts to the get better understating of the schools.
- In average 80 percent of the schools staffs are from the local communities. In some regions this ratio goes up the 90 %.
- Teacher and staff have obtained their professional education through the standard higher education system. Their education background is from the regular universities.
- In some regions schools staff are compose of diverse cultural and religious background.
Most of the schools have been perceived as the beacon of the societies. The elite of the communities are sending their kids to these schools with confidence and trust.
At International Turkish Language Olympiad, students who have learned Turkish from over a hundred countries compete in different titles such as: grammar, oral skills, writing essays, reciting poems, singing songs, theatre and general culture. Majority of the students who are attending the Olympiads were the product of these schools.
The schools have been in operation in global arena where, cultural customs and traditions influence international decisions. Each country even the city poses unique challenges due to their institutional environment and resource endowment of local establishments. For example, emerging economies pose different challenges for a school project than industrialized countries. The schools have overcome all obstacles and become very successful institutions. As depicted in the figure, schools have demonstrated an unprecedented growth rate regardless of different system they are in [1] . These schools rise above geographical, institutional and cultural differences. At this point, we have to emphases the fact that, school founders and managers are not carrier diplomats. So, how come not just few but more than five hundred schools become successful despite the different societies they are in. The core values of this successful growth can be found within the commonly shared thoughts inspired by Mr. Gulen;
- In schools, good manners should be considered just as important as other subjects. If they are not, how can children grow up with sound characters? Education is different from teaching. Most people can be teachers, but the number of educators is severely limited.
- Good manners are a virtue and are greatly appreciated in whomever they are found. Those with good manners are liked, even if they are uneducated. Communities devoid of culture and education are like rude individuals, for one cannot find in them any loyalty in friendship or consistency in enmity. Those who trust such people are always disappointed, and those who depend upon them are left, sooner or later, without support.
- Our humanity is directly proportional to the purity of our emotions. Although those who are full of bad feelings and whose souls are influenced by egoism look like human beings, whether they really are human is doubtful. Almost everyone can train their bodies, but few people can educate their minds and feelings. The former training produces strong bodies, while the latter produces spiritual people.
Published on fethullah-gulen.org, 12 August 2011, Friday
