Educational policies in legitimizing power (1920-2015)

This study's main purpose is to be analyzed through the laws, regulations, national education councils, circulars, and discourses enacted by the education policies established by the political powers between the years 1920– 2015 in Turkey. Political powers can construct education according to their ideology and use it as an effective device to reproduce their hegemony. It is also a power struggle. Therefore, the elements of this struggle will be looked through in the thesis. The building process of ideological power, the reforms made, the effects of neoliberal policies on Turkey's Education System, how the educational policies of political powers build on discourses, images, symbols, and concepts between the years 1920-2015 will be examined. Turkish-Islamic synthesis has become a privileged component of national identity Educational policies, which political powers regard themselves as a means of legitimization, differed historically. At the date of the Republic of Turkey's establishment year, while the state-building process was going on, culture-oriented education policies have been adopted, and after 1980, neoliberal - anti-elitist inclined educational policy has been adopted; Turkish-Islamic synthesis has become a privileged component of national identity. As of 2010, this situation has also been reflected in the practices in education.