Merve Meral İçilensu

I am a child development specialist and researcher working at the intersection of child development, neurodevelopment and education. In my work I approach development not through the child’s individual characteristics alone, but within family relationships, caregivers, educational settings and the wider bioecological context. This approach aligns with the perspective of connectivity articulated by Prof. Dr. Türker Kılıç — understanding a system through the relationships and interactions between its parts rather than through the parts themselves.

After completing my first undergraduate degree at the University of London, I turned my academic direction towards child development. I completed the Child Development undergraduate programme at Istanbul University and a master’s degree in Child Development and Education. I deepened my work on neurodevelopmental processes through a second master’s degree in neuroscience. I am currently continuing my academic work in the Child Development doctoral programme at Istanbul Aydın University.

My research concentrates in particular on executive functions in childhood, on neurodevelopment, and on the familial and environmental factors that shape development. I carry this work alongside many years of teaching and educational coordination across different ages and levels of schooling, which followed the English language teaching programme I completed in Canada.

My aim is to evaluate scientific knowledge on child development and neurodevelopment through a critical, evidence-based lens; to narrow the distance between academic knowledge and practice; and to contribute to an understanding of children’s development within the dynamic connections between individual, relationships and environment.

Development: relationship, time, context.