European University of Lefke (EUL) Dr. Fazıl Küçük Faculty of Education organized a panel themed “Being a Teacher at the Present Time”. EUL Academicians Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Ataman, Prof. Dr. Süleyman Çelenk and Prof. Dr. Mehmet Çağlar participated in the panel as speakers which was moderated by Academician of Classroom Teaching Department Prof. Dr. A. Canan Çetinkanat.

Çetinkanat: As long as the knowledge is sufficient, teaching is the most precious profession.

Çetinkanat pointed out that as long as the knowledge is sufficient, teaching is the most precious profession and has a strong artistic aspects and added that “A very good knowledge and most importantly a loving heart are necessary for the teaching profession”

Ataman: Artificial intelligence will occupy a large proportion of professions in the very near future.

Ataman said that “Nowadays, there is a big technological development, that is, what we call artificial intelligence is developing” and added that artificial intelligence will occupy a large proportion of professions in the very near future and there will be no need for labor force. Pointing out that where there is human there is also margin of error, Ataman said that “Where there are machines there are zero errors. Especially in industry, zero error is important. It lowers the cost and thus makes the products cheaper”. In her speech, Ataman questioned the fact that how much artificial intelligence will affect this profession bearing in mind that teaching is a profession that educates people and especially for individuals with special needs and explained the relation and future of special education and technology.

Çelenk: Teacher candidates should be strengthened in three qualifications of the teaching profession

Addressing the proficiency of teaching in terms of duties and responsibilities of state, nation and teacher candidates, Çelenk stated the duties and responsibilities of the state and nation as; to agree on the qualifications of teachers in the parliament, to set off with an effective needs analysis, to idealize the teaching profession, to specialize in the field of teacher training universities, to determine the standards of teacher education. Emphasizing that teacher candidates should be strengthened in three qualifications of the teaching profession, Çelenk listed these qualifications as; good general culture, field knowledge and knowledge of teaching profession.

Çağlar: The basic understanding of teachers should be to provide students with continuous learning approaches

Pointing out that, learning starts at the very moment we are born and continues over the course of life, Çağlar said that “We can say that learning is a continuous and positive process, and that we participate in it either purposely or unintentionally”. Çağlar stated the aims of teachers as; to help the student to become aware of the current and future educational needs and to help the student discover his or her own physical and mental abilities, their limits, in other words their “learning profiles”. Çağlar also stated the basic understanding of the teaching proffesion as; an understanding of education that aims to provide learning, learning and continuous learning approaches and aim at the acquisition of information from different sources, foresees continuous development and centering the student.

The panel ended after the questions of the students.