College of Education Faculty Collaborate with Educators in Bursa
Dr. Jesse Gainer || January 7, 2025
Based on the established partnership between Dr. Khalid Arar and Yedi Vadi Schools, alongside their academic advisor, Professor Selahattin Turan, a series of collaborative efforts have taken place. In the 2023 academic year, Dr. Khalid Arar and Dr. Eman Abo-Zaed Arar were invited to Yedi Vadi Schools to explore possibilities for future collaboration were they delivered different workshops and talks.
Building on this partnership, in December 2024, a team from the Texas State University College of Education traveled to Bursa, Turkey, to collaborate with Turkish educators, researchers, and primary school students. The collaboration included a series of workshops, a book exposition, and a symposium focusing on innovative pedagogical practices and school improvement. The Texas State team comprised Dr. Khalid Arar from the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education, and School Psychology (CLAS), and Dr. Jesse Gainer, Dr. Eman Abo-Zaed Arar, and Ms. Nancy Gainer from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. The events were skillfully organized by Dr. Selahattin Turan of Bursa Uludağ University, along with Mehmet Güneş and Burçak Bozgeyik of Yedi Vadi (Seven Valleys) Schools.
Dr. Eman Arar, Nancy Valdez-Gainer, Dr. Jesse Gainer, Dr. Selahattin Turan, and Dr. Hamit Özen presenting at the Seven Valley Schools Symposium
![Yedi Vadi [Seven Valley Schools] 5th grader teaching her mother and sister how to bind a cartonera book.](https://docs.gato.txst.edu/717168/w/2000/nJu07TGolIcw/1.jpg)
Yedi Vadi [Seven Valley Schools] 5th grader teaching her mother and sister how to bind a cartonera book.
On December 9 the team visited the Yedi Vadi primary school and conducted Cartonera book making workshops with the teachers and students of third and fifth grades. Under the direction of the team, students and teachers drafted manuscripts for their books over the previous months leading up to the workshop. The student-created books included many topics such as local Turkish history, cultural practices from the region, family stories, and other topics of interest selected by the students. The project, Yedi Vadi Cartonera featured a student-centered writing practice where children have autonomy to select topics and go through the writing process in a purposeful and sustainable practice of publishing their work as cartonera books utilizing recycled cardboard for the covers.
Cartonera book workshop with third grade students and teachers at Yedi Vadi School
On December 13, Dr. Khalid Arar lead a workshop for academic researchers entitled, On Becoming a Qualified Scholar and A Reviewer for Leading Journals in Education, Leadership and Policy. Over 30 education professors and graduate students from different institutions across Turky attended this workshop. Many of the participants flew in from other cities or drove for hours in order to participate. Dr. Selahattin Turan of Bursa Uludağ University organized and facilitated the workshop and provided excellent translation for participants who needed it.
On Saturday, December 14, the Texas State Team participated in the Seven Valley Schools Symposium: 100th Anniversary Meeting and Exhibition in Education. This event was organized by a team from Yedi Vadi/Seven Valleys Schools including Mehmet Güneş, President and Coordinator of Seven Valley Schools, Burçak Bozgeyik, Cartonera Project Coordinator of Seven Valleys Schools, and Murat Gören, Principal of Seven Valley Schools. The event, attended by over 100 teachers and education researchers, included a keynote and panel presentations. Dr. Khalid Arar delivered the 100th Anniversary Keynote Address entitled, Bridging the Gap: Advancing Social Justice to Overcome Inequalities in Education. The keynote was followed by panel presentations chaired by Dr. Selahattin Turan. The first panel presentation was given by Texas State Curriculum & Instruction faculty, Dr. Jesse Gainer, Dr. Eman Arar Abo-Zaed, and Ms. Nancy Valdez-Gainer. Their presentation, Bibliodiversity: Children’s Rights to Language Literacy, and Play, focused on the theory and practice of cartonera book-making pedagogies. The next presentation, Inequalities in Education in Turkey and the search for Quality Education for the Future of Our Children was presented by Dr. Hamit Özen of Eskişehir Osmangazi University. The final presentation, Student-Centered Education: Nurturing Minds and Voices Through Children’s Rights, Literacy, and Play in Today’s World was presented by Dr. Khalid Arar.
After the symposium, conference participants joined children and families from Seven Valley Schools for a Cartonera book exhibition that featured the published works by Yedi Vadi students from kindergarten through fifth grade. After a ribbon cutting ceremony, educators, researchers, families, and young children mingled as they read and admired the student work.
The final activity included a reflection and debriefing with the leadership team from Seven Valleys Schools. The team from Texas State along with members of the school’s directorate discussed the powerful experience that arose from our collaboration that blended theory, research, and practice. Everyone involved agreed that they will continue the collaboration into the future, and they are currently making plans for next steps relating to expansion of the scope of the collaborative work to follow.