Meaning given to concept of national education from origin to present day (1908-2011)

In this research, the development of the Turkish national educational policy within the historical process was evaluated. The educational policy of the Turkish Republic was determined to be the national education following the declaration of the Republic. Even though the national policy of education expresses the educational policy of the state for all the periods, it has represented different views dependent on the characteristic features and special conditions of different periods within the historical process.In the research, statements of the statesmen of certain periods as of the process of the formation of the national policy of education, the steps within the framework of the educational policy, government and party programmes, the change that national education went through within the historical process were evaluated by analyzing the educational programmes.The results obtained from the findings of the research are as below:?Although the policy of the national education expresses our policy of education for all the periods, it has carried different meanings, as well. The policy of the national education remains unfulfilled.?What Ziya Gökalp tried to express by making a distinction between culture and civilization is a notion of education which bases its concept of national discipline on the national culture.?The national education determined to be the policy of the state on the republic period is a secular, contemporary and nationalist educational policy based on Ziya Gökalp?s concept of national discipline.?The educational policies of the Inönü period are the policies of education which are nationalistically weak and dominantly humanistic.?The educational policy on the period of the Democratic Party is a nationalist and moral policy of education by which the nationalism weakened during the period of Inönü was compensated.?The educational policies conducted from 1960s to 1980s were policies of education that were grounded on the nationalism and economy. The educational policies of this period were identified within the framework of the Turkish-Islamic synthesis.?The educational policies from 1980s through the present period were the policies of education controlled by the formal ideology of the state and affected by the nationalism and liberal policies of education.?The contemporary educational policy is not nationalist due to the changes on the educational programmes and discussions of the last decade. Our educational policy put forward the universal instruction rather than the national education.Key Words: National Education, Universal Instruction, Educational Policy