The seminar, which focused on the roles and responsibilities of child development graduates within the publishing sector, was held with the online participation of students and academic staff. The guest speaker of the program was Child Development Specialist Feyzanur Ak Güney.
The event was moderated by Research Assistant Kevser Tuğba Çınar Karasu from the Department of Child Development. In her opening speech, the moderator emphasized that the work areas of child development specialists are not limited to schools, hospitals, or institutions, and highlighted that children’s publishing is also an important professional field for child development graduates.
In the first part of the seminar, guest speaker Feyzanur Ak Güney shared her career journey from completing her undergraduate degree in child development to becoming a content consultant at a publishing house, and discussed her experiences transitioning into the publishing sector. In this section, students received concrete information about how child development specialists can enter the field of publishing.
The program continued with a detailed explanation of the process of preparing children’s books. Ak Güney described the collaboration between editors, designers, authors, and child development specialists throughout the stages from the initial idea to the printing of a children’s book, emphasizing that this is a multidimensional and interdisciplinary process. She noted that child development specialists have important responsibilities such as assessing the developmental appropriateness of texts, ensuring emotional and cognitive safety, and considering ethical principles such as gender equality and cultural sensitivity.
The seminar also included information about the daily work routine of child development specialists in publishing houses. The guest speaker provided examples related to manuscript evaluations, team meetings, content discussions with authors, and visual review processes, highlighting the broad scope of their role within the publishing field.
Another significant topic addressed in the event was the importance of adhering to ethical principles in children’s literature. Feyzanur Ak Güney emphasized that elements such as violence, discriminatory language, developmentally risky content, and inappropriate value messages should not be included in children’s books, noting that child development specialists serve an essential filtering function in this regard.
At the end of the seminar, students’ questions were addressed. Participants asked about internship opportunities in publishing houses, recruitment processes, required competencies for child development specialists, and developmental evaluation criteria.
In her closing remarks, Research Assistant Kevser Tuğba Çınar Karasu stated that the event was highly productive in highlighting the potential roles of child development specialists in the publishing sector, adding:
“Today, we once again saw that child development specialists can work wherever children are. In the world of books, we also undertake an important task by touching and supporting children.”
The seminar concluded with expressions of gratitude and positive feedback from participants.
