Ahmet Toprak

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Ahmet Toprak (* 1970 in Kayseri , Turkey ) is a German professor of educational sciences at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences of Turkish origin. As an author, he dedicates himself to topics with an intercultural approach, such as intercultural conflict management and the situation of German-Turkish migrant families , especially advising young men. Toprak advocates applying more “confrontational pedagogy” methods in pedagogical work with young people and promoting the intercultural competence of pedagogues.

Life

Toprak attended elementary school in Turkey and then a secondary school in Cologne. Toprak reports that neither his secondary school teachers nor his parents, who said he should become a locksmith, trusted him for high school and college. But he made an agreement with his Turkish father: If he didn't pass the Abitur in Turkey, he would come back to Germany to become a roofer. After obtaining the general university entrance qualification in 1990 , he studied English in Ankara, German at the University of Bonn and pedagogy at the University of Regensburg. Toprak received his doctorate in education from the University of Passau in 2001 and has been Professor of Educational Sciences at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences in the Department of Applied Social Sciences since 2007. He participates in the German Islam Conference as a member of the working group “German Social Order and Consensus of Values”.

Educational work with young people of Turkish origin in Germany

Violence is a topic that can be found in every culture and in all social milieus. In studies of attitudes and behavioral motives, it is repeatedly emphasized that the strategy often practiced in German social work of treating young people with behavioral problems or even delinquent ones with understanding and leniency is not fruitful. In relation to young people of Turkish origin, the specialists who deal with the problem of violence seem to have reached the end of their pedagogical “Latin” because the young people mostly refer to the peculiarities of their cultural identity.

The aim of the educational work is therefore to first understand the living conditions and the cognitive hypotheses of the boys, especially those of Turkish origin who are prone to violence, in order to work successfully with a sure instinct, an appropriate educational method and a conversation that is tailored to this target group. Toprak has developed methods of "confrontational pedagogy" for this purpose.

Confrontational versus understanding pedagogy

Toprak advocates a “confrontational school education” in dealing with migrant children. In the context of increasing violence in German schools, Toprak sees the confrontation as a respectful taking of adolescents, which as a learning goal leads to an examination of boundaries and to respect for others. Toprak gained his experience with young people in so-called anti-aggressiveness training courses according to Section 10 of the Juvenile Court Act and in exchange with educational specialists.

Toprak's concept of “confrontational and provocative therapy” includes educational goals such as “respect for authorities”, “honesty” and “togetherness”, which flow into the educational act. In contrast, the concepts that Toprak labels “understanding pedagogy” often have different weightings. This is why Toprak advocates using the various methods of the "principle of confrontation", such as. B. to try out confrontational conversations, interactive pedagogical training and theater pedagogical procedures in other pedagogical and educational contexts such as in the family, in kindergarten, school and in professional situations.

His recommendations are based on an analysis of the conflicting educational goals: Turkish parents, for example, demand subordination and adjustment from their children, while the open society at school expects the opposite, namely democratic understanding, consideration and fairness.

When asked about the sense of integration efforts when men in particular massively oppose any attempt at integration, Toprak replied with numerous suggestions for social institutions and information campaigns that would expand the scope of action for women affected.

Intercultural competence

Toprak points out, however, that his concept of “confrontational pedagogy” is not a panacea for the real and supposed grievances in the social education situation. He cites the training and further education of those involved in social work to become professionals with intercultural skills as an essential requirement.

The conception of the “confrontational method in the counseling situation” is based on “ intercultural action competence ”, as defined, for example, by Stefan Gaitanides from the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

Forced marriage and double standards

Toprak criticizes the fact that in the context of forced marriage, the public focus is primarily on women and men are hardly discussed. In his study “The Weak Sex - The Turkish Men”, the educator Ahmet Toprak deals with violence prevention and intercultural education. In eight interviews, he asked 15 young Turkish men who had their wives selected by their parents in their home village, even though they were born or grew up in Germany between 1964 and 1982 . He asks her about her thoughts on forced marriage, starting a family, intra-family communication and sexuality. For a long time, these issues were not examined from the perspective of men. The author brings up the subject of forced marriage from the perspective of selected Turkish men of the second and third generation of immigrants.

The result of this work is the realization that quite a few young Turkish men and families are open to forced marriages / "marriage arrangements" or even practice them themselves. The 15 men who were questioned in the context of the study all come from traditionally poorly educated backgrounds. Therefore, according to the author, the study “only allows conclusions to be drawn about families in this milieu. It is not representative ”.

But Toprak does not remain in the highly critical assessment of forced marriages are, but shows the third part of his book on how short-term and long-term efforts a taboo forced marriage is to be achieved in order in this way married Turkish women and men in Germany to integrate.

Works

  • I'm not actually aggressive. Theory and practice of an anti-aggression course with young people of Turkish origin. Lambertus Verlag, Freiburg i.Br. 2001, ISBN 3-7841-1370-2
  • "Cultural conflict?" Methods of intercultural conflict management in youth welfare . Ed. Campaign for youth protection, Landesarbeitsstelle Bayern e. V. 2003, ISBN 3-9807250-6-5
  • Door openers and stumbling blocks. Parental work with Turkish families as a contribution to violence prevention. Ed. Campaign for youth protection, Landesarbeitsstelle Bayern e. V. 2004, ISBN 3-9807250-9-X
  • “If you don't hit your child, you'll lose out later.” Use of parental violence in Turkish migrant families and the consequences for parental work. Centaurus-Verlag, Herbolzheim 2004, ISBN 3-8255-0478-6
  • Boys and violence. The application of confrontational pedagogy in the counseling situation with Turkish youth . 2nd Edition. Centaurus-Verlag, Herbolzheim 2006, ISBN 3-8255-0527-8
  • The weaker sex - The Turkish men. Forced marriage, domestic violence, double standards of honor. 2nd Edition. Lambertus Verlag, Freiburg i.Br. 2007, ISBN 978-3-7841-1688-4
  • “On God's command and with the words of the prophet…” Effects of the style of upbringing on the choice of partner and marriage of Turkish migrants of the second generation in Germany . Centaurus-Verlag, Herbolzheim 2002, ISBN 3-8255-0354-2
  • Socialization and language problems. A qualitative study of the language behavior of second generation Turkish migrants . IKO publishing house, Frankfurt a. M. 2000, ISBN 3-88939-533-3
  • "You can't get away with it ..." Confrontational pedagogy in everyday pedagogical life . Edited by Campaign for Youth Protection, State Office of Bavaria. e. V. Munich 2006.
  • Muslims unwilling to integrate? A milieu report . Lambertus-Verlag, Freiburg i.Br. 2010, ISBN 978-3-7841-1959-5 .
  • Muslim children and young people in Germany. Living worlds - thought patterns - challenges . St. Augustin / Berlin 2011.
  • “Our honor is sacred to us”. Muslim families in Germany . Herder-Verlag, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 2012.
  • Muslim boys - princes, machos or losers? A method manual . Lambertus-Verlag, Freiburg i.Br. 2012
  • Confrontational pedagogy - intervention through confrontation. Together with Marlene Alshut and Nilüfer Keskin. Centaurus Verlag, Freiburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86226-131-4

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "Integration is not a one-way street": Interview with Professor Ahmet Toprak - wa.de - November 25, 2010 FH Dortmund
  2. ↑ Willingness to use violence as an educational issue . In: Kölner Stadtanzeiger , January 25, 2008
  3. ↑ a b Jos Schnurer: Review in socialnet
personal data
SURNAME Toprak, Ahmet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German educator and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Kayseri , Turkey