Analysis of the Turkish education system in terms of the paradigm shift since 1980

Political and ideological changes taking place in recent years have resulted in the paradigm shift in the world. This paradigm shift has played a vital role in shaping the education systems of many countries. The paradigm shift that affected Turkey in the last 40 years has caused radical changes in the Turkish education system. The aim of the study is to analyse the paradigm shift in the Turkish education system since 1980. In the study, historical research which is one of the qualitative methods was used. Data collected by scanning various political documents were analysed using critical discourse analysis. According to the research findings, it has been seen that positivist and nationalist paradigms which are the dominant paradigms in the early years of the Turkish Republic have weakened. It has been determined that themes such as religion, being religious, religious schools, religious education in early ages, religious teachers, religion and culture relationship, nationalism, nationalism and religion, globalisation, integration, lifelong learning, standardisation, competitiveness, stratification, development, privatisation, marketisation, entrepreneurship have come to the forefront in educational policies, higher education, teacher training, vocational education and religion education in Turkey since 1980. In the related documents, it has been seen that training marketers, competitive people, entrepreneurs, consumers, people who must learn lifelong, standardised individuals, people living in the past, obedient, religious and conservative individuals has come into prominence. Globalisation, neo-liberalism and new right paradigms which have been the dominant paradigms in the last 40 years have shaped the Turkish education system.