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“Classrooms Changing the World" Social Entrepreneurship Program for Children
Developed within the scope of the “Our Teachers: Insurence of Education” project funded by Z Zurich Foundation and conducted in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, Zurich Insurance, and the Turkish Education Association, the “Classrooms Changing the World: Social Entrepreneurship Program for Children” aims to equip children in grades 1–4 with social entrepreneurship competencies. The program was developed with an integrative and interdisciplinary approach, bringing together social entrepreneurship experts, educators, psychological counselors, visual communication designers, and gamification specialists. Coordinated by İstasyonTEDU, the program-design team included Sinem Güravşar Gökçe, Aslı Aygüneş, Elif Muratoğlu, and İstem Akalp in the development of the social entrepreneurship and content framework; Nurdan Biriz Gündüz, Yavuz Kamacı, and Ebru Kocaboğa in adapting the educational content to the curriculum in a child-friendly way; Şevket Kürkçüoğlu in the gamification of the content; and Emre Güzel in the visual design of the materials, with Assoc. Prof. Ersan Ocak serving as an advisor.
To deliver the educational content in an engaging way, the program includes a storybook centered on social entrepreneurship themes, fun videos explaining core concepts through the narration of the character Zebra Zuzu, the SMaÇ! board game that introduces problem–solution–customer fit in an enjoyable manner, and a student workbook designed to support self-directed learning. With the start of the new academic year, as of September, 50 teachers working in schools across different regions of Türkiye have been implementing the program in their classrooms.
In the upcoming academic year, the launch of Phase 2 of the “Classrooms Changing the World” Program is planned to begin. Within this scope, 150 new teachers will be introduced to the program. Experienced teachers who have already implemented the program in their classrooms will share their experiences with new teachers, and experienced teachers will provide peer mentoring to one another. Through this approach, the program aims to strengthen experience sharing among teachers and further enhance its impact across different school and classroom contexts.