NEWS ON TURKEY

Turkish and American high school students explored New York City

Turkish Exchange Students Review Their Three Weeks in New York

Students find mutual understanding transcends different styles

31 January 2006

By Michael Jay Friedman
Washington File Staff Writer

New York -- "If we restrict liberty for security," asked one advocate, "what happens afterwards?" Another pondered, "What does it mean to be secure in our rights?"

The serious thinkers posing these questions were not political philosophers -- at least not yet -- but rather Turkish and American secondary school students taking part in a three-week exchange program organized by the New York-based American Forum for Global Education and funded by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Six Turkish students from Kabataþ Erkek Lisesi, an Istanbul public secondary school, attended class at New York City’s Bard High School Early College, an elite public secondary school offering advanced classes to motivated students. Selected through an essay competition, the Turkish students and two teachers lived with Bard host families, socialized with Bard faculty and students and enjoyed activities designed to afford them a sense of the diversity of New York life.

Two similar groups of Turkish students and teachers paired up with U.S. schools in other parts of the city. As the Kabataþ Turks prepared to return home, and to host a group of Bard students in March, the group contemplated some of the issues they had encountered over the previous three weeks.

A DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL STYLE

The Turks commented frequently on the relatively open and unstructured Bard classroom environment. "People are much more individual here," instructor Özlem Mutlu said. She cited the absence of school uniforms at Bard and the way students could briefly step out of the classroom without first obtaining permission. In Turkey, those practices were more common in universities, she said.

Student Ceren Coban agreed that the Americans generally wore what they pleased, and spoke freely in class. For her classmate Zeynap Gor, the American classes required students to "think rather than just memorize." Zeynap noted that Turkish classes required more rote learning than the Bard classes, and suggested that an approach encompassing both methods might be best.

A QUESTION OF IDENTITY

Many of the Turkish students perceived differences between the two nations' respective national identities. Ceren contrasted a Turkish "national culture" with an American "mixed cultural lifestyle." Yigit Sonmez praised the multiculturalism he found at Bard, while Endina Bajgoric expressed surprise at how many African-, Chinese- and Russian-Americans he saw on the streets of New York, and at how New Yorkers proved more friendly and helpful than he had expected.

In some instances, the Turks argued that their American counterparts were overly critical of their own society. After a number of Bard students expressed the need to improve race relations, several Turks responded that their U.S. counterparts tended to view such forms of cultural expression as music and literature through a racial prism, whereas in Turkey different styles might be studied as part of the same body of national achievement.

Yigit, who during his stay lived with a multiracial New York family, said, "I can see there is no racism but people are always trying to talk about it." His American friends replied that the situation is more complex and challenges more subtle.

EXPLORING NEW YORK

Bard in many ways offered an ideal base from which the Turkish students could explore New York. The school is located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a crowded neighborhood that historically has been home to waves of newly arriving immigrants from different parts of the world. The Turkish and American students visited the nearby Eldridge Street Synagogue and Lower East Side Girls Club, toured the Statue of Liberty and explored Ellis Island, where from 1892 to 1954 more than 12 million immigrants entered the United States.

Another highlight was a visit to the Bronx County justice complex to observe the American criminal justice system at work.

The Turkish students also attended a number of special lectures, saw a Broadway show and visited the American Museum of Natural History.

Possibly the most valuable learning opportunity was the chance to live with American host families. Family life, several Turks agreed, differed in some aspects from their situations at home. Ceren observed that even though his host family was loving and affectionate, after eating dinner together, family members typically spent the evening in their own rooms.

The Turkish students’ most common observation was that their American counterparts were willing to criticize authority figures, from their instructors to the president of the United States.

A group of Bard students will complete the exchange by studying at Kabataþ Erkek Lisesi beginning in late March.

The American Forum for Global Education is a private, not-for-profit organization, founded in 1970 to foster in American youth the ability to think creatively, analytically and systematically about issues in a global context. Its Youth Leadership Development Project-Turkey focuses on student leadership in the areas of student government, student newspapers, debates and service learning.

ECA’s Linking Individuals, Knowledge, and Culture (LINC) program aims to foster mutual understanding between youths aged 15-17 from the United States and from countries with significant Muslim populations through three week to six week reciprocal exchange projects.

Additional information on youth exchange programs supported by the State Department is available on ECA’s Web site.

For more information on New York diversity, see "Diverse, Dynamic New York City Looks to the Future."

For information on studying in the United States, see the State Department’s EducationUSA Web site and the electronic journal, College and University Education in the United States.