The First Short-Term Joint Staff Training Transnational Project Meeting
Malatya: an unforgettable experience
27.09/02.10 2021
The city of Malatya, in the southeast region of Anatolia, Turkey, welcomed the first short-term joint staff Training and a transnational meeting of Project SPACES, that took place from the 27th of September to 1st October.
The organization was led by teacher Zuhal Ayik Yildirim, who, with a highly motivated and competent team of teachers, students and staff from the Malatya Science and Art Center (MSAC) welcomed and showed the teams of participants from the different countries that make up the consortium the work developed by this school for talented gifted students and about the Turkish system of education.
Under the topic “Creativity as a key to the future”, this training comprised many activities and promoted much learning.
On the very first day of this mobility, the participants were welcomed by traditional folk dances and were taken on a tour of the school’s facilities, guided by students of MSAC, and took the chance to learn about their lives, expectations and areas of study. During this 3-day training, several teachers, students and a parent of this school showed the different ways in which this institution fosters learning and creativity in workshops dedicated to Augmented Reality, Neuroball and mind games, Tinkercad and 3-D printing, music, Mathematical Reasoning, Calligraphy, Web 2.0 tools, peer mentoring and mindfulness in education and also an enlightening session with the student Feridun Balaban, first prize winner of the International Science and Engineering Competition in the USA and the EU Contest for Young Scientist.
But the training was not limited to the MSAC, and other activities and visits also enriched this experience. Such is the case of the interdisciplinary outdoor activities in Levent Valley, the visit to Adiyaman, the Pirin Caves and Mount Nemrut, weaving carpets with Ottoman patterns at a textile Museum, the surprising photography museum and the largest of its kind in Turkey, a workshop on how to boost creativity at Inönü University and a delicious traditional Turkish food workshop. During this vast and enriching program of activities there were also visits to the Deputy of Education of Malatya, the Mayor, and the President of Inönü University, all of whom demonstrated their interest in the project, explained aspects related to their areas of activity and answered the many questions and remarks made by the participants.
At the Transnational project Meeting several aspects of the organization of the project and of the intellectual outputs were discussed and the coordinator of the project, Marta Margiel, of SPATIA Foundation, answered the questions and clarified the doubts expressed by the different participating teams.
A word of praise and of gratitude to the excellent organizational skills of teacher Zuhal and all her team of teachers, students, staff, and representatives of the several organizations, who were simply flawless and made all the participants feel welcomed in such a way that our minds and hearts shall not forget.
