Education Prof Represents ODU in Meeting with Istanbul Education Director

Lea Lee, an associate professor of teaching and learning in Old Dominion University's Darden College of Education, met recently with Muammer Yildiz, national education director for Istanbul, Turkey, to share information about ODU's teacher training programs and discuss the possibility of pursuing scholarly research exchanges and opportunities for Turkish teachers to study abroad.

"Dr. Yildiz was extremely enthusiastic and is anxious to build the international reputation of the Turkish education system," Lee said following their Feb. 7 meeting. "He is striving to find ways to increase Turkish students' performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment, a worldwide assessment of 15-year-old students' scholastic performance. He believes in the importance of teaching English as a second language in early childhood and elementary schools to assist students in becoming competent global citizens and leaders."

"This diplomatic visit and contact with Dr. Yildiz began a conversation about future possibilities for scholarly research as well as study abroad programs with the Darden College of Education," said Charlene Fleener, the chair of ODU's Department of Teaching and Learning. "Dr. Lee's effort helped to make ODU better known in Istanbul, which in the long run can enhance the university's reputation as well as contribute to the Darden College's goal of being listed among the top 50 colleges of education in the United States."

Prior to meeting with Yildiz, Lee presented a paper titled "Best Practices of Teaching Traditional Beliefs Using Korean Folk Literature" to the World Conference on Educational Sciences. The WCES conference (www.wces.info) was held at Bahcesehir University, in Istanbul, Feb. 3-7. More than 1,000 scholars from 67 countries attended. Lee's paper has been accepted for publication in Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences.