Öğretmen Akademisi Vakfı (ÖRAV – Teachers Academy Foundation) is the first and only NGO in Turkey focusing on the personal and professional development of teachers.
Their primary objective is to offer professional development opportunities for teachers in Turkey, enhancing their capacity to raise the next generation and advocating for more recognition for teachers and their work. The foundation provides trainings free of charge and they have reached +175,000 teachers and school staff since it was started in 2008.
ÖRAV has been working with Aflatoun since 2015 and has introduced its curricula as part of the 5 Stones Social & Leadership Programme. Each of the five stones represents one concept of social and financial leadership. The focus of the programme is to increase the social and financial literacy of all children and young people in school, by developing skills via a student-centered approach and active learning methods.
Practically speaking, ÖRAV train trainers on the content and the methodology of the programme. Then those trainers train public school teachers who voluntarily apply to participate in different cities throughout Turkey. When the school year starts, these teachers implement the program in their classes and clubs. Mentoring opportunities are also provided through trained mentors that offer support throughout the year and help ensure success.
In the 2019-2020 school year, the Aflatoun curricula will be used in 9 different cities with 11 groups and roughly 300 teachers. “I feel lucky that I am involved in this programme. My view on social entrepreneurship has really changed because of the training. I think that the active learning methods will ensure that the programme is successful with students, Tuğba Aksoy, training participant.”
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