National school i̇dea of Nurettin Topçu

Nurettin Topçu has made a significant contribution to the education of the religion and education in general, by evaluating the history of Turkish education and the educational policies in his period with his own critical perspective. According to Topçu, from the 17th century onwards, problems emerged as a result of the removal of philosophy from the madrasahs and the closure of the case-law. Since the Tanzimat, the understanding that sought the solution in the West continued in II. Constitutional period. Although he did not personally participate in the discussions in education, Topçu shed light on his ideas. The political thought dominated by the nation-state concept also influenced education. Within the scope of all discussions should education be national, religious or cosmopolitan? He advocated the nationalization of education and found solutions to the problems in "National School." However, Topçu's understanding of nationality is different from the thinkers who have adopted the understanding of national education like Ziya Gökalp. In other words, he defended the nationalism of Anatolion, not the nationalism of nation. Based on this understanding, the national school, which Topçu provided as a prescription for the school, is unique from its architecture to its philosophy. According to him, the madrasa was the national school. However, the school lagged behind the moral and social development of the nation and lost its nationality. In order for the national school to be established again, it is essential to increase the number of teachers who have a love of truth within the educational community. The aim of the national school is not to teach everything to the students but to educate people with virtue. Its task is not to pursue the pleasure of the students, but to teach them to live by means of suffering and love. Topçu saw the foreign and private schools as the elements of destruction of national school. With the idea of national school, Topçu has also contributed to education and religious education as a goal, content and method. It has been seen that his ideas have overcome his time and he will be able to solve the problems of today's education. Keywords: National, School, Education