BACKGROUND
In Turkey, the Emotion Friendly Education Association and the Emotion Coaching Turkey Institute established the 1st day of June as the Emotion Friendly Awareness Day. Professor Nalan Kuru’s vision was to raise public awareness about the role of emotions in social-emotional learning and development. Since 2022, on June 1st, emotion friendly education activities are enjoyed in schools and homes across the country, university seminars and conferences share research and effective practice and social media campaigns capture and promote participation.
The first Emotion Friendly Awareness Day was held on 1st June 2022, with 70 schools, 150 teachers and parents, and nearly 3,000 children from over 30 provinces participating . In 2023, the 3rd Emotion Friendly Awareness Day was celebrated at an international level with Dr. Louise Gilbert, co-founder of Emotion Coaching UK attending. Following the conference, online connections were made with participating schools involving 200 teachers and about 5,000 children from 40 different provinces, including those in the devastated earthquake region.
2024 REPORT
In 2024, the Emotion Friendly Awareness Day promoted education activities in schools and homes with over 150 teachers, and about 3,000 children and parents, from 13 different provinces.
To promote inclusion, the Emotion Friendly Awareness Day Conference was held online. The day included a range of experts talking about effective practices and a panel on Best Practices in Social-Emotional Learning in Early Childhood in Turkey. The day was attended by 150 individuals, including academics, teachers, school principals, psychologists, and students from two different countries and 39 different Turkish cities.
Key speeches
Prof. Dr. Belma Tuğrul emphasized the significant role of emotions in learning and life for both children and adults in her talk entitled "Don't Mix Emotions into Your Work."
Prof. Dr. İsmihan Artan, spoke about "Don't Neglect Neglect: Recognizing, Understanding, and Preventing Emotional Neglect in the Classroo,." This talk explored childhood emotional neglect, and highlighted the benefits for children raised with emotional friendly education.
Prof. Dr. Nalan Kuru, spoke on "Starting One Step Ahead: The Pedagogical Power of Social-Emotional Learning in Early Childhood," . Being emotion literate and recognizing and managing emotions emphasising the adults as role models for children to both experience and copy.
Dr. Louise Gilbert, introduced "Emotion Coaching and Social-Emotional Learning in Early Childhood," discussing the impact of relationships on children's social-emotional learning and the use of the 'Emotion Coaching' in UK schools.
Panel
The well received panel on Best Practices in Social-Emotional Learning in Early Childhood was moderated by Prof. Dr. Özgül Polat. The panel included presentations by Gizem Haktanır Yazıcı on "A Safe Way to Create a Positive Classroom Climate: The Second Step Program," Halenur Kuru Şevik on "The Magical Friends that Contribute to Our Children's Social-Emotional Learning: Identity Dolls," Dr. Ayça Ülker on "Creating Space for Social-Emotional Learning: Tuning in to Kids Applications in Turkey," Sevginar Pek and Aslı Aktaş on "Social-Emotional Learning in Daily Routines in the Preschool Classroom," Melek Altun Dinç on "The Contribution of the Lionsquest Program to Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood Education," Zekiye Aybüke Efe on "The Circle of Friendship in the Village: Inner Unity through Social-Emotional Learning," and Dr. Demet Koç and Expert Nihal Kesen on "Emotion Friendly Child Preschool Education Program (EFKids)."
Everyone is looking forward to the next Emotion Friendly Awareness Day June 1st, 2025
Save the date and… see you there
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