Led by Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU) Faculty of Education Lecturer Sakine Hakkoymaz, first-year students studying at HKU collected the rhymes, lullabies, jokes and tandoor tales of the region that were on the verge of being forgotten and turned them into a book. Hakkoymaz signed her book, which she titled ‘Gaziantep Rhymes, Lullabies, Jokes and Tandoor Tales’, for the child readers attending the Reading Child Festival Book Fair organised by Şahinbey Municipality, with Hasan Kalyoncu University among its stakeholders.
If We Want to Increase Our Children’s Attention Levels, We Must Tell Them Tales
Giving a talk on ‘Gaziantep Tandoor Tales’ before the signing ceremony and telling families that they should tell tales to their children, Hakkoymaz said, “We are living in the age of technology. Unfortunately, our children are very absorbed in tablets, phones and computers. In fact, the situation is not very different for us adults. When we forget our phone at home or when our phone runs out of charge, we feel as if we have been isolated from the world. We are now experiencing the digitalisation brought by technology. In the century we live in, there are smartphones, smart tablets, smart devices. We cannot save our children from this digitalisation. In the past, the family members gathered around the tandoor had a sense of being ‘we’. As we moved away from tales, we also moved away from the sense of being ‘we’, and the feeling of being ‘I’ began to prevail in all of us. Technology can provide us with some conveniences, but unfortunately, with the effect of technology, our children’s attention levels and listening skills are very weak, because this stems from the technological age they live in. If we want to improve our children’s listening skills, increase their attention levels, and want them to grow into patient and brave adults, we must tell our children tales. Because a tale ends with a happy ending. The hero of the tale always wins.”
At the end of the talk, student teachers from the Hasan Kalyoncu University Faculty of Education told the children the tandoor tale ‘The Sparrow That Got a Thorn in Its Foot’.
