In line with our university's mission of scientific production and social contribution, the Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University Gifted Children Education Application and Research Center (İZÜÇEM) carries out its activities to enable gifted individuals and stakeholders working in this field to realize their potential to the fullest. Our Center's primary aim is to provide services at national and international standards in the educational processes of gifted children and to lead the training of qualified human resources in this field.
The Center's activities are carried out within the framework of qualified teacher training, scientific research and project-oriented strategies. In this context, comprehensive field studies aimed at identifying the talent areas of children and young people using scientific methods were conducted through the “Special Talents Discovery Route” project supported by the Istanbul Development Agency. The workshop training programmes organized for students aged 5–15 in cooperation between the Turkish Foundation for Gifted and Genius Children's Education (TÜZDEV) and our Center have been structured as an original model that combines students' cognitive capacities, 21st-century skills and human values from a holistic perspective.
Acting on the principle that quality in education depends on the quality of educators, İZÜÇEM gives priority to teacher training. In particular, through the “Curriculum Enrichment and Productive Thinking” training programmes organized for teachers at Science and Art Centers (BİLSEM), teachers gain competence in differentiated instruction and creative thinking processes. In addition to this programme, which turns theoretical knowledge into practice, the “TÜBİTAK 2204 Project Writing Trainings” increase teachers' mastery of scientific research methodologies. Through academic workshops and needs analyses planned for the coming period, the Center aims to lead the raising of educational standards in the field.
Driven by a vision of contributing to the academic literature and of cooperation, İZÜÇEM continues its collaborations with BİLSEM, TÜZDEV and the Enderun Gifted Children Center. The academic studies published by the academics on our Center's management team on gifted children and stakeholders in this field, together with the papers they have presented at various congresses, demonstrate İZÜÇEM’s research-oriented identity. To ensure the sustainability of education outside school, our Center organizes “Parent Seminars” and “Family Support Programmes”. Acting with academic competence and a sense of social responsibility, İZÜÇEM plays a strategic role in building the qualified human resources our country needs and resolutely pursues its vision of becoming a reference center at national and international level.