The impact of Turkish modernization on religion education in higher education

The goal of education is to cultivate the human element, to mature him/her spiritually, and in this way to enable him/her to become an individual useful to his/her country and nation. It is an important issue to update the education system according to the conditions of the age and keep up with the modernizing age. In this context, the field of religious education is one of the areas most affected by modernization processes. This study aims to determine how modernization movements affected religious education. Research conducted in line with the determined purpose has shown that; Turkish modernization represents a difficult process in which radical changes took place and continue today. This difficult process has positive and negative effects in the field of religious education, and at the same time, this study is important in drawing attention to their distinctive aspects and negative effects. In the field research carried out within the scope of the research, the faculty of theology it was questioned whether the religious education the students received had an impact on their perspective on modernization and its elements. In-depth interviews were held with the participation of 50 students from Afyon Kocatepe University Faculty of Theology. The data were analyzed and evaluated using the descriptive qualitative analysis technique and the findings has been interpreted. As a result of the findings, theology faculty students it has been revealed that the religious education they received at the faculty affected their perspective on modernization and its elements. Keywords: Education, Religious Education, Modernization, Faculty of Theology