From the Aegean Region of Turkey

Dear All,

I have been in the Aegean region of Turkey for 2 days. I am in a small village _Akçay_ to visit my mum-in-law and to rest for a while. The wonderful view of the Kaz (Goose) Mount and also the refreshing climate of here makes us understand once more why people here live longer.

My past weeks were very busy and tiring. We shared the outcomes of our Istanbul European Cultural Capital City Project_Bigg-İst with the media. From then on we will focus on ICT Seagulls Projercts and also 11th ICSQCC.

The schools who would like to participate in the Convention have had different possibilities to attend:

Case study presentations, Poster and Slogan making, Debate and also drama competition. To learn more, please tick the logo on the right. Wew recommend you to apply at once to make the early preparations.

ICT Seagulls teams also finalize their web page designs. After the preliminary assessment, the peer- and judge-assessments will come. Wish good luck to all.

Have a nice weekend.

Hayal Köksal

Happy Children's Day

Dear all,
Turkey has a very special celebration occasion: 23rd April!

It was the opening day of the first National Assembly in Ankara by the great leader Atatürk and his friends. Believing that the formers and leaders of the future are children; Atatürk presented that day to children as a gift. His aim was to make them the owners of the future concerning all the national issues. That is why the celebration of today has had a very great importance not only for our nation but for all the nations in the world. That's why Turkish Broadcasting company (TRT) organizes an international Children parade every year in Istanbul and Ankara. In 2004; we had hosted a team of City Montessori School with a great proud.

I wish a happy and cheerful "Children's day" for all the world children.
With love and peace...


Hayal Köksal

The Sharing & Caring Day of our 2010 Istanbul European Cultural Capital City Project

Dear All,
We had a wonderful sharing day at "Sepetçiler Kasrı" yesterday. More than 100 participants (Administrators, parents, teachers and students) were together to learn the developments about our 2010 İstanbul European Cultural Capital City project: "An ICT İmece; From Past to the Future Istanbul". From five different schools of secondary and high schools of Istanbul , seven quality / İmece Circles came together and presented what they did until yesterday.

They follow the PDCA philosophy and through ppt, they shared their interest areas. The steps were based upon the past of a monument (research methods), the present problems of the monument (problem solving skills) and the future of it (creativity). The names of the schools and the monuments / historical buildings were as follows:

1. Moda Elementary School Circles: Haydarpaşa Train Station and Mahmut Muhtar Paşa Pavillion,
2. Saint Pulcheri Foundation, Private New Generation 2000 Primary School: French Archway,
3. Vehbi koç Foundation, Private Koç Primary School: Sandal Covered Bazaar, Amcazade Hüseyin Paşa Waterside Residence,
4. 30 August Primary School: Lady's Tower and,
5. Levent Girls' vocational School: Kethüda Bath.
Two Associations concerning handicapped people participated in our event with three members to be a partner of the project. A university students' club was also with us. My students who are working for the Education and Research Clug (EREC) of the Educational Faculty of Bosphorus University decided to support the young participants with their technological and translation sides.

Oki Printing Solutions ve AMBA Printing house supported our sharing and caring day. we are grateful to them. Nilgün Ören' participation from the Organizing commitee of the 2010 Platform powered us. Mrs. Tülay erünsal from the Istanbul Municipality was among the followers. We felt happy with the great support of the administrators, teachers and parents as well.
We also presented the projects of the Association for Continuous Improvement (Sü Ge Der) which was founded by Prof.Dr.Filiz Karaosmanoğlu, Prof.Dr.Ümit Serdaroğlu, Şeniz Ciritçi, Dr.Erol İnelmen, Hayri Dereli, Servet Köksal and me. The signature Day of my last book: "ME_ The Continuous Learner through the Child within me" was the final part of the event. The income of that book will be given to the Associaiton mentioned above. You can see the photos and the project ppts of the event on our web page soon: http://www.bigg-ist.com/ .
With love and peace...

Hayal Köksal

News from the Convenor

Dear Colleagues,

I woul like to salute all of you with love, respect and admiration from Istanbul. The spring is on and all the birds are singing the song of "Quality and Peace" for the upcoming 11th Convention on Students' İmece Circles. Our efforts continue with a great enthusiasm on the way of realizing a good and efficient convention for all participants and contributers.

The co-founder and the honorary president of the Turkish Center for Schools of Quality; Prof. John Jay Bonstingl will be with us for the convention. This makes us very happy and proudful.

2008 Nobel Peace Award nominee school's (CMS) founder and general manager Mr. Jagdish Gandhi, my sister_ the founder principal of CMS; Dr. Vineeta Kamran, Dearest Dost Prof.Dr. Syed Ali from John Hopkins university, a great quality leader Mr. P.C. Bihari and TQM-Head of CMS Mr. Dheeraj Mehrotra have been with us from the planning steps of the Convention.

It It is also lovely to hear that our dearest colleague Prof. Dr. Mary Stuart_vice rector of the Kingston university, UK_ will be with us with her keynote paper titled; "Student Engagement". Again Hillary Hunt with her Quality and Peace Education workshop will take place within the program.

Schools from India and Mauritius have started to register. It is a great honour for us to host a multi-cultural "PEACE & QUALITY" event as Turkey. We hope the ties and bridges between the groups will be strengthened through this collaboration (=İMECE). Please visit our web page to download the informative pages and also to register: http://www.hayalkoksal.com/en/convention.html

Today is the 68th opening anniversary of the "Village Institutions" which used to be the leading schools of Ataturk's Enlightenment Period. their life lasted very short but their incomes still effective upon the community. I would like to send my best wishes to their founders; Atatürk, Yücel and Tonguç. Related to the philosophy of the Village Institutions, I conducted 9 imece circles alst year at 2 different universities. This year there exists 9 more. Our responsibility is to carry the qualified approaches to the next generations.

Have a nice day. With love and peace...

Hayal KÖKSAL

The Convenor

Sharing Day of Our 2010 Istanbul Cultural Capital Project: Bigg-İst

Dear All,

Our 2010 Istanbul European Cultural capital Project: "From Past to the Future Istanbul (www.bigg-ist.com)" is going to be introduced to the public on 19th April at Sepetciler Kasrı in Istanbul. The project circles of Moda Elementary School, Vehbi Koç Foundation Koç Private Elementary School, Saint Pulcherie Foundation Private New Generation 2000 Elementary School, 30 August Elementary School and Levent Vocational Girls' High School will share their reflections. In the following terms, schools from Hungary, Germany and Greece will also take part in the project.

If you want to learn the steps of the project, to see the current developments regarding to the project, to take part in our members schools and to learn more about the recent educational developments, please register for the event. We have limited room for the participants. With love and respect.

Dr. Hayal KÖKSAL

Project Coordinator

www.bigg-ist.com
VENUE: SEPETÇİLER KASRI, SARAY BURNU- ISTANBUL

DAY & HOUR: 19 APRIL 2008 SATURDAY , 10.00-12.30

FOR REGISTRATION:
TEL: 0 532 541 49 12, 0 212 341 26 01FAKS: 0 212 341 26 02
OUR INVITATION IS FOR 2 GUESTS / PER SCHOOL.