Vice Director of the School of Foreign Languages, Dr. Sezgin Ballıdağ, attended the 2nd Istanbul Educational Research Congress, hosted by Istanbul Medeniyet University on 10–11 January 2026. Held under the theme “Teachers’ Professional Development: Lifelong Learning and Innovative Practices,” the congress was an important scientific event where current academic studies and practices in the field of education were discussed.
The congress program included opening speeches, special sessions, keynote talks, concurrent workshops, and paper presentations, with participation from academics from the Ministry of National Education, universities, and faculties of education. As part of the opening speeches, the Head of the Teacher Academies shared comprehensive and informative details on the foundations, objectives, and long-term goals of the Teacher Academies, emphasizing the importance of supporting teachers’ professional development processes within a systematic and sustainable structure. In this context, it was stated that Teacher Academies offer a new paradigm aimed at strengthening the culture of professional learning.
In the special sessions, studies conducted at the policy, faculty, and school levels within the framework of the professional development ecosystem were addressed, and the importance of inter-institutional alignment in teacher education and professional development processes was discussed.
Within the scope of the congress, the keynote talks as well as the concurrent workshops and paper presentations covered many current topics, including teaching methods, measurement and evaluation, guidance and counseling services, educational research, and interdisciplinary approaches.
