Developments in the field of religious education from the first Constitutional Period to the Republic

The Constitutional Period (1876-1922), from the proclamation of the First Ottoman Constitution to the proclamation of the Turkish Republic, was a period when modernization and reforms in the field of education and specifically in religious education were quite intense. The Constitutional Period was the period in which education was seen as an important issue, the role of education in social change was recognised, and educational issues were much discussed and written. During this period, the discussions in the intellectual field gave direction to Ottoman education and deeply affected the field of religious education. The developments in the field of education and religious education of this period did not only belong to that period, but also affested the Republican Period. This period was seen as the laboratory of the Republic. For this reason, determining the developments in the field of religious education in the Constitutional Period is important both in terms of determining the historical experience and providing the opportunity to solve today's religious education problems based on historical experiences. This study reveals the developments in the field of religious education during the Constitutional Period through the discussions on education in periodicals of the period. The data of this study were obtained from of Sırât-ı Müstakîm, Sebîlü'r-Reşâd, İçtihad, Türk Yurdu, Tedrîsât-ı İbtidâîye Mecmuası, Terbiye Mecmuası, Muallim by the method of document analysis. The findings suggest that despite Turkey's more than a hundred years of educational experience and numerous reforms, the educational issues of the Constitutional Period is still continue to be debated.