Organized by the Education Reform Initiative with the support of the Sabanci Foundation, The School Leadership Training Program was held at Sabanci University with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education General Directorate of Personnel and the Training Division. The program aimed at improving school administration practices and expanding the capacities of administrators.  A total of 25 administrators attended the program from the provinces of Afyon, Izmir, Kars, Nevsehir, Sanliurfa, Trabzon and Van.

All training courses were given by Mustafa Balkas, the High School Principal of the Enka School, and focused on placing the school principal as the “leader of the teaching and learning processes” at school, and incorporated peer coaching and understanding by design.

Speaking on behalf of the participants, Ali Musa Bina, the principal of the Izmir Kipa 10. Yıl High School, said the following about the training program: “Until now, the seminars we had attended seldom made an impact of more than 5% in class, while this project aims for retaining learnings and implementing them at school, which will likely yield a success ratio of 90%. The project changed our perspectives and practices.  From now on, you may not come across us in our offices when you visit our schools, because we are leaders in education.  We will be walking around the school all the time, spending time with students, keeping track of education activities around the schools.  Our doors will be wide open all the time, and you will easily think that we have several clones, all working at once.”

Various extracurricular activities helped participants share their experiences.  To this purpose, the participants visited the Legendary Istanbul: From Byzantion to Istanbul: 8000 Years of a Capital exhibition at the Sabanci Museum. Additional activities included a boat trip, a visit to the Sultanahmet area, and a tour of the Prince Islands.