“A unique, sustainable, and innovative education project”

The Borusan Story House project, launched and developed by the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation to support education, features unique and innovative children's and teachers' workshop modules. The project began in November 2022 in the Beyoğlu district.

In this project, workshops exclusively designed for the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation are led by educators with extensive experience in interdisciplinary educational fields and bring together students and teachers. In every workshop of the Borusan Story House, storytelling provides a foundation for understanding and expressing ourselves, others, and life, fostering empathy and nurturing its development. Storytelling has been integral to all our workshops, which include expressive play, creative drama, plastic arts, and science-based activities such as math and chemistry.

Implemented through a cooperation protocol between the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation and the National Education Directorate of the Beyoğlu District, the project has three main components: Teacher Meetings, Weekday Workshops for children aged 7-9, and Weekend Workshops.

Teacher Meetings:

At the Borusan Story House, our Teacher Meetings are designed to meet the learning, practice, and communication needs of classroom teachers, aligning with the findings of field studies.

The first series of workshops, conducted with an on-site training approach for teachers from primary and middle schools in Beyoğlu, focused on children's stories, while the second series centered on non-violent communication. In the Teacher Meetings held in 2023, we conducted 79 sessions across 6 schools in Beyoğlu. During these meetings, we delivered sessions exceeding 120 hours on the use of children's stories in classroom communication, reaching a total of 72 teachers.

Weekday Education Workshops:

Borusan Story House sees education as a roadmap and values the importance of addressing individual needs. Our educational program for children, specifically designed for ages 7-9, entirely unique to BKV, brings together various disciplines in an experimental format, meticulously crafted by experts to reflect the needs and trends of the field.

Throughout the academic year, our Weekday Education Workshops host 4 guest educators from 4 different fields in 32 sessions, inviting one class from target primary schools to each workshop. In 2023, we reached a total of 684 students through workshops that included expressive play, Bauhaus, jeux dramatiques, and mathematics.

Weekend Education Workshops:

Led by resident instructor Fatma Filiz Işık Bulut, our Weekend Education Workshops feature 6 workshops per month. These workshops, all focusing on emotions and structuring their educational framework accordingly, are held on Sundays during the academic year, consisting of two sessions.

From February to May and October to December 2023, we reached 964 children through 78 workshops. In this context, following the February 6 earthquakes, we specifically focused our efforts on the Beyoğlu region and also on the children of our colleagues. Additionally, we organized workshops for both our team and caregivers.

Psychosocial Support Workshops:

As the Borusan Story House, following the February 6 earthquakes, we initiated a comprehensive program that provides regular psychosocial support for children and young people in the affected regions. From May 2023 to December 2023, we conducted monthly workshops with a special team of experts in fields related to children in Adıyaman and Hatay.

These workshops aimed to accurately identify the need for psychosocial support (PSS) and conduct regular activities with a dynamic structure that could adapt to any situation.

Our Borusan Story House Psychosocial Support initiative, consisting of three phases, sets an example for helping children return to their social and educational lives. In the first phase, which involved on-site exploration, we conducted 188 workshops (May-July) reaching 4,982 children. In the second phase, focusing on development and micro-groups, we held 228 workshops (September-December) reaching 2,253 children. Over 7 months, we reached a total of 7,235 children through 416 workshops in Adıyaman and Hatay and began the third and final phase in January 2024.

 

A Vision to Shape the Future Exhibition Non-Formal Education Workshops

The Borusan Story House Exhibition Program was specially created to offer children an enjoyable exhibition experience at the A Vision to Shape the Future exhibition, opened by the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation to celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Republic. This program, started in December 2023 in cooperation with the Beyoğlu District National Education Directorate, will continue until June 2024.

Under the guidance of our Story House instructors, we host 3rd and 4th graders from primary schools in the Beyoğlu district, offering presentations suitable for their educational levels. Through this fruitful collaboration, which prioritizes student-centered cultural trips and non-formal educational opportunities, we have engaged with 10,000 children between December 2023 and May 2024, led by our instructor Bahar Gürey.

Borusan Story House reached a total of 9,043 children across 534 workshops in 3 different locations in 2023, with a program spanning the entire academic year and involving expert instructors. Offering education with an original and innovative approach across various fields, we prioritize social good and collective impact. All our efforts are accessible to children and teachers free of charge.