The subjects identified as problem areas in the 2019-2023 Strategic Plan Performance Indicators of our Institution (leadership, classroom management, teaching method, material preparation, communication, efficient and efficient use of technology, and professional ethics) and one of the EU's 2020 strategic goals students’ “learning to learn” are the needs of our schools and take place as a priority target in our strategic plans. By means of this project, we aim to improve the quality and productivity of the education and training, to strengthen the professional development of teachers, to support them in coping with the diversity within the classroom, to support teachers to adopt collaborative and innovative practices, and to strengthen the teacher leadership role in education. Our schools should develop creative solutions and materials in order to carry the understanding of education to European standards and to make progress in education without sacrificing quality. Classroom management is an interdisciplinary field of application that requires the use of many concepts, tools and techniques that can be used in the education process. Supporting the lessons with in-class materials and activities can be achieved by using innovative methods. Our goal has been achieved with the course “Increasing Teacher Competencies in the Field of Effective Classroom Management”.
Our project was prepared for the teachers who work for General Education Secondary level in Directorate of Cankaya National Education. The aim of the project is to improve teacher competencies in the area of Effective Classroom Management. The results of the reports prepared by all the teachers in the vocational study period at our schools were examined by the project team of our directorate and determined that teachers are especially insufficient and have difficulties in the effective classroom management in 9th grades. The education of adolescents in the age group of 15 in the 9th grade, having different socio- economic and school backgrounds, and the process of adaptation to each other and the environment in the 9th grade are defined as the reasons for this problem. Teacher-student problem, disciplinary events, teachers' unwillingness to attend classes and student failures are mostly observed in the 9th grade. It was concluded that a major portion of the students in schools come from low-income and fragmented families, some of them are the members of disadvantaged groups (learning difficulties). Besides, having these students in the same classroom prepares the ground for many behavioural disorders, which necessitates effective classroom management. In the context of quality improvement and internationalization, a meeting was held with the district manager, branch managers, project team and high school principals in the district. According to the results of the report prepared by the branch teachers and determining the needs of teachers during the professional working period at the beginning of the year, "Increasing Teacher Competencies in the Field of Effective Classroom Management" was determined as the field that our consortium would like to develop.