My father-in- law, Professor Sabahattin Zaim, a retired professor and a wise man, once said to his children and daughters-in-law:
"It is nonsense for one to say that he has no potential. Everybody has potential, though each person's potential is different."
According to him, there are three things that affect one's potential:
1. Sometimes the people around a person fail to see his potential. This person may not even recognize his own potential. The end result will be that his potential is buried inside him -- unidentified and undeveloped. Thus, he will believe that he has no gift or talent.
2. Some people took the wrong path in the education system, learning things that did not further their natural abilities. Consequently, their best traits could not be developed, leading them to think that they do not have any potential.
3. When some people enter into the working world, they cannot find a job that fully utilizes and sharpens their abilities. Again, these people are left with a lingering sense of dissatisfaction and doubt about their potential.
Those who recognize their own potential, receive an education that develops this potential and find a job that puts it to use are usually those with the greatest success in life. They are the ones who use their full potential to achieve satisfaction in life.
I have two children. As a mom whose kids are learning in the Turkish education system, I can't help but analyze them. I cannot speak for the Turkish education system in general. I am no expert on it. After all, I am only a simple housewife and I am not a Turkish citizen. Thus, I can only speak of the education as I have observed it through my children's experiences.
My children are going to one of the private Coşkun schools. My daughter is in the first grade, while my son is in preschool. Both are studying in the same school.
Let us analyze my son, for example. He is the youngest. As last-borns often are, he is very dependent on me. He is quite behind in his speech skills as he only began speaking Turkish (as his first language) properly at the age of 3 and a half. The same goes with his motor skills and social skills. Though he has an intelligent and creative mind, due to the lack of other skills, he tends to keep himself in a world of imaginary friends and surroundings. He was quite a hopeless case. He needed help.
Two months after he began school, I saw a big change in him. Thanks to his education, my son is beginning to come out of his shell. His motor skills have been improving and he no longer hides himself in his own world. Instead, he is now making friends with his classmates. He is beginning to find himself and his potential.
The school uses a special system that emphasizes the development of the children. There is a consultant who monitors the children's development. Seminars are conducted for parents to understand their children's development. They make great effort to promote the development and potentials of their students. Potential development is among the main focus of the school. I saw my son's teacher trying to teach him to hold a pen properly and how to use a spoon. I even saw how she hugged him with love and compassion. It is in this environment, with attentive, dedicated and compassionate teachers and staff, that i see my son thriving and finding his potential. In such an atmosphere, a child cannot help but feel encouraged to find his personal potential.
I saw the same thing with my daughter when she was in preschool. Though her situation was entirely the opposite of my son, since she was one of the best students in her class, I still saw big changes in her after she started her education in the school. She has always been interested in art. But once she started school, her interest increased drastically and her mind began working non-stop to create art. Now that she is in first grade and learning how to read and write, she is again excelling in a learning environment that is conducive to developing her potential. In short, both of my children are in an education system that does not bury whatever special characteristic a child has, but instead nourishes it.
I think this is important in any educational system, be it in private schools or public schools. True, the development of the child's potential should start at home, but as the child will be spending many of his or her years in education, it is important for schools in Turkey to create a system in which the potentials of each of the students can be recognized and helped to flourish. Such environments are vital for producing more dynamic and successful future generations. For what we invest in them now will obviously be multiplied in the contributions they make to they country when they grow up.
20.11.2007
SIMAH ZAIM İSTANBUL
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