That any rational and accountable being should ever have been found to oppose the progress of truth, is truly humiliating; yet every page of history, which records the developement of new principles, exhibits also the outbreakings of prejudice and selfishness. The deductions of Galileo, of Newton, of Harvey, and innumerable others, have been opposed and denounced, each in its turn; while their promoters have been vilified as empyrics or innovators. Nor has this been done by those only whose self love or worldly interests prompted them to exclude the truth, but by good and honourable men, whose prejudices were strong, and whose zeal was not guided by discretion. Such persons have frequently been found to shut their eyes against the plainest truths, to wrestle with their own convictions, and positively refuse even to listen to evidence. The same thing may happen with regard to education;—and this is no pleasing prospect to the lover of peace, who sets himself forward as a reformer in this noble work.—Change is inevitable. Teaching is an art; and it must, like all the other arts, depend for its improvement upon the investigations of science. Now, every one knows, that although the cultivation of chemistry, and other branches of natural science, has, of late years, given an extraordinary stimulus to the arts, yet the science of education, from which the art of teaching can alone derive its power, is one, beyond the threshold of which modern philosophy has scarcely entered. Changes, therefore, both in the theory and practice of teaching, may be anticipated;—and that these changes will be inconvenient and annoying to many, there can be no doubt. That individuals, in these circumstances, should be inclined to deprecate and oppose these innovations and improvements, is nothing more than might be expected; but that the improvements themselves should on that account be either postponed or abandoned, would be highly injurious. An enlightened system of education is peculiarly the property of the public, on which both personal, family, and national happiness in a great measure depends. These interests therefore must not be sacrificed to the wishes or the convenience of private individuals. The prosperity and happiness of mankind are at stake; and the welfare of succeeding generations will, in no small degree, be influenced by the establishment of sound principles in education at the present time. Nothing, therefore, should be allowed to mystify or cripple that science, upon which the spread and the permanence of all useful knowledge mainly rest.

Üstün yetenekli öğrencilere yönelik özel eğitim hizmetlerinin kalitesini arttırmak amacıyla yürütülen Üstün Yetenekliler için Toplum 5.0 isimli projede 100 BİLSEM öğretmeniyle 27 Kasım – 4 Aralık 2022 tarihleri arasında bir çalıştay gerçekleştirildi. AB Katılım Öncesi Mali Yardım Aracı-IPA tarafından mali destek sunulan proje Bornova Şehit Fatih Satır BİLSEM tarafından yürütülürken Turgutlu BİLSEM, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi ve Celal Bayar Üniversitesi proje ortağı oldu.

Çalıştay kapsamında öğretmenler farklı etkinliklerle uygulamalı olarak proje yönetimi, tasarım odaklı düşünme ve yaratıcı düşünme becerilerini geliştirdiler. Çalıştay farklı üniversitelerden ve BİLSEM’lerden gelen isimlere ev sahipliği yaptı. Farklı uzmanlar ve STK’lar tarafından seminerler gerçekleştirildi. Öğretmenler eğitmenlerimizin danışmanlığında tasarım odaklı düşünme becerilerini kullanarak projeler geliştirdiler. Çalıştayın son gününde ise Bornova Şehit Fatih Satır BİLSEM’de bir uygulama gerçekleştirdiler.

Eğitim sistemi içerisinde yer almaya başlayan tasarım odaklı düşünme sisteminin kullanılması ile oluşacak yeni fikirlerde, tasarımlarda, projelerde ya da sanat yapıtlarında, amatörce ama profesyonel bir ruhla hazırlanan bu kitabın katkısı olması umulmaktadır