I've refrained until now, so I could have a month to get a better idea of it, just like you don't know much about a course from just a week of attending.
The students here take more classes than we're used to back at home- the average is 7 or 8 per semester, but I have a few friend who's stuck with 15. 15. 15 classes. He starts school at 8, and leaves at around 7.
The universities seem to take the 'independent learning' approach, and while there are lectures, students are graded on presentation on different topics, and term papers. With Turkish classes, however, the don't write term papers since there's no equivalent to www.turnitin.com, so plagiarism is rampant.
The classes let me get a new perspective on issues, which has been invaluable. Learning about the media from a Turkish standpoint has made me really appreciate what we have back in Canada. While people will criticize the Globe and Mail for a subversive leftist agenda, and others will mock the National Post for some clandestine neo-conservative movement, they are pillars of quality journalism compared to the news one would find in Hurriyet, or Taraf. There is no real middle ground here- half the media is staunchly nationalist, the other half is pushing the Islamist aim of reducing the secular structure of the Turkish government.
Having said that, the comment sections in both Turkish and Canadian newspapers still make me cringe.
Although I've mostly focused on the university aspect of the education system, I've also had the chance to volunteer with an organization called TGEV, or the Turkish Educational Volunteers. It's an NGO that works throughout Turkey to provide students (mainly under the age of 12) with education enrichment to remedy the failures of the elementary school system here. Many of the children lack quality education in their home villages, so they're bussed out to the different TGEV schools, and once a week get to learn about science, chemistry, math, English. It's a great program, and it's the leader in the Turkish NGO movement.
