The curriculum program for principal educational schools dated 1915 in the context of late Ottoman educational reforms: Transcription and evaluation

Throughout its six-hundred-year history, one of the fields to which the Ottoman Empire attached the greatest importance was education. The education system, initially established under the leadership of classical madrasas, acquired a different character towards the end of the eighteenth century with the opening of Western-style modern schools modeled after European states. The increasing number of modern schools created a demand for qualified teachers to provide instruction in these institutions. The first steps to meet this need were taken during the Tanzimat period. In this era, many teacher-training schools were established. These schools, which operated under various names such as Dârülmuallimîn-i Rüşdî, Dârülmuallimîn-i Sıbyân, Dârülmuallimât, Dârülmuallimîn-i İbtidâî, and Dârülmuallimîn-i Âlî, also differed in terms of their curricula. Since the opening of the first teacher-training school, Dârülmuallimîn, in 1848, numerous changes occurred over time in the curricula taught in these institutions. This thesis focuses on the curriculum entitled "Dârülmuallimîn-i İbtidâîlere Mahsus Müfredât Programı (Curriculum Program for Primary Teacher-Training Schools)", prepared by the Ministry of Public Education (Maarif-i Umûmiye Nezâreti) in 1915, which has been transcribed into contemporary Turkish and evaluated. In the introduction, the historical development of the Ottoman education system is examined, beginning with education among the pre-Islamic Turks and continuing through to the final period of the Ottoman Empire. The structure of educational institutions, the approaches to teacher training, and the curricular frameworks of these institutions are analyzed. Particular emphasis is placed on how the modern educational structure took shape in the late Ottoman period. In the main section of the thesis, the 1915 curriculum is transcribed into modern Turkish in accordance with transcription rules. In the concluding section, the curriculum is evaluated, with a focus on the nature of the knowledge and skills intended to be imparted to teacher candidates through this program. Furthermore, the 1915 curriculum is compared with the curriculum currently implemented in the Department of Primary School Teaching at the Faculty of Education of Anadolu University in Eskişehir, representing today's teacher-training programs. In this way, the similarities and differences between the Ottoman Empire's understanding of teacher training and that of the Republic of Turkey are identified, and the interaction between the two periods is revealed