Quality In Gulen Inspired Schools

Cemil Genc

There are currently more than 1000 Gülen-inspired schools around the world. The extraordinary achievement of Gülen inspired schools has been a clear indicator of the quality of education.Gülen inspired schools have been sharing some common values regardless of their locations in the world.

For example, student-centered, non-discriminatory, standards-based curriculum is one of them. Curriculum in Gülen inspired schools have been emphasizing deep rather than broad coverage of important areas of knowledge, authentic and contextualized problems of study, and problem-solving that stresses skills development as well as knowledge acquisition. The curriculum have been entertaining individual differences, and coordinating and selectively integrating subject matter, and focusing on results or standards and targets for student learning. The curriculum structure have been tailored to be gender-sensitive and inclusive of children with diverse abilities and backgrounds.

Gülen inspired schools have been leader on the inclusion of local and national values in the education system they offer. The specific content of school curriculum has been designed to include local and national values in different parts of the world. In the main subject areas of the education, which include language, math, science and social studies, little variation is found among different regions. Local level interests also have an impact on and contribute to the quality of educational content.

Additionally, the schools have been implementing effective school discipline policies as well. Managers in Gülen inspired schools are well aware of the fact that well-managed schools and classrooms contribute to educational quality. They have been putting emphasis on importance of having students, teachers and administrators to agree upon school and classroom rules and policies. And, these rules and policies should be clear and understandable for everybody within the school environment.

The educational perspective of Fethullah Gülen is the illumination of the mind to science and knowledge, and the lighting of the heart in faith and virtue. This can be accomplished though teachers who are committed to devoting their lives, time and knowledge to teach the younger generations in these educational institutions. The teachers in Gülen inspired schools are skilled not only in instructional methods, but also in evaluation and assessment practices that allow them to gauge individual student learning and adapt activities according to student needs. Education system in Gülen inspired schools puts students at the center of the process; student achievement has been seen as the schoolís first priority. Schools have been committed to have the best student learning outcomes and therefore they have been in communication with students to explain the expectations , give frequent and challenging assignments, monitor performance regularly, and give students the chance to participate in and take responsibility for diverse school activities.

Published on fethullah-gulen.org, 03 May 2013, Friday