ATATÜRK'S PLACE IN TURKISH EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

In order to reveal Atatürk's place in the history of Turkish education, the following issues should be examined:

I. Atatürk's upbringing and his teachers

II. Atatürk's observations and diagnoses on the state of our education

III. Atatürk's suggestions and wishes for our education

IV. Atatürk's teaching personality and being an educational practitioner.

I. Atatürk's upbringing and his teachers

The teachers who raised him have an important role in the formation of Atatürk's personality.

These teachers, besides being Atatürk's teachers, some of them came up with very new ideas for that period and started new practices in pedagogy. For these reasons, they also occupy an important place in the history of Turkish education.

In a speech addressed to teachers in Samsun in September 1924, Atatürk said that he got his "inspiration and strength" largely from Nakiyüddin Bey, the French teacher at the Military High School, and made the following assessment for the Absolute period and the teachers of that period:

“Though we, perhaps, (all) of those who were here, were in the grip of an oppressive (ruthful, deadly) tyranny (rule and oppression) together with the inhabitants of this land when we were born. Mouths were locked. Teachers and tutors were compelled to place only one point in their minds: To surrender to a specter (dream), forgetting everything about one's self, to become its slave. However, it is necessary to remember (remember) that even under that pressure, there were no shortage of true and devoted teachers and tutors who tried to raise us for today. Of course, the science (science) they gave us did not remain without a work (conclusive, fruitless). Now, I came across a person (a lofty, respectable person) here. He was my teacher in the first year of high school. While he was teaching me elementary things, he also gave me the first ideas for the future. “

Atatürk had teachers who were successful in their profession and had the qualifications required by the profession, which is a great happiness for him and the Turkish nation. His teachers influenced him in many different ways and provided him with very useful guidance:

Şemsi Efendi: He was Atatürk's first teacher. He is one of the first to try new pedagogical methods and applications in our education history. Their students were brought up more knowledgeable than the students in the Rüştiye, which is a higher level school. Atatürk's views against bigotry in religion, his innovative ideas, and the development of his sense of discipline undoubtedly played a role in the teachings and practices of Şemsi Efendi.

Captain Mustafa Bey: He is Atatürk's Mathematics teacher in Thessaloniki Military High School. Sensing his student's talents, he nicknamed him Kemal. In this way, he determined his different and superior status from himself and his friends, and provided him with a constant incentive to go towards the better and the more beautiful. This very important historical event should be evaluated as a support that constantly pushes Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to pursue greater success and virtues.

Captain Nakiyüddin Bey: He is a French teacher at the Military High School and gave Atatürk “the first ideas about the future”.

Mehmet Asım Efendi: He was an epigraph teacher in the Manastır Military High School and prevented his student from getting too caught up in literature, which was a bit contrary to military service.

Topçu Kolağası Mehmet Tevfik Bey: He is a history teacher in Military High School and he created a love of history in Atatürk and opened new horizons for him in the field of history.

The main teachers at the Military Academy are: Necip Asım Bey, a French teacher, Rahmi Pasha, a training teacher, and Captain Naci Bey in his entourage.

The main teachers at the War Academy are as follows: Former Ottoman Expeditions teacher Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, Napoleon Wars teacher Staff Major Refik Bey, Higher Mathematics teacher Staff Lieutenant Colonel Macit Bey, Subject teacher Staff Lieutenant Colonel Nuri Bey...

His teachers at the Military Academy and Academy were especially influential in expanding his military knowledge.

Namık Kemal, Ziya Gökalp, Tevfik Fikret, Mehmet Emin Yurdakul and also the books he read had an impact on Atatürk's upbringing and especially on the development of his Turkist views.

II. Atatürk's observations and diagnoses on the state of our education

One of the reasons why Atatürk has a place in our education history is that he made observations and diagnoses about our education, saw the basic mistakes of our education and showed it to our nation. Why did Atatürk make observations and diagnoses about the past and the situation of our education at that time?

His observations and diagnoses regarding our education go back to his childhood years. He says, “ The first thing I remember about my childhood is going to school”  . He also said: “ When I was a child, as I was rolling between lessons and books, I felt that this language needs something. I didn't know what that need was, how to get it; but I always heard that something was needed.”

Atatürk lived his childhood and youth years in the last, most depressed and turbulent periods of the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, he spent these years in the boiling Balkans, then in Istanbul and various parts of the country, and had the opportunity to think about the reasons for the collapse of the falling State and the ways to be saved. With the War of Independence and its reforms, he prevented the extinction of the Turkish nation and established a new State. All these historical events show that he, as a patriotic and observant intellectual, soldier, leader and state founder, made concrete, tangible, clear diagnoses about the problems of our social life, and thought about concrete, clear, convincing and definitive salvation proposals and remedies. made it necessary to continue. He says: “If a nation suffers disaster, it means that that nation is sick and diseased. For this reason, salvation is achieved by detecting and treating the disease in the society.” Again, he states that it is necessary to "clean up and correct the mistakes of the past". Diseases and errors related to education are, of course, at the forefront of them. We can collect Atatürk's main observations and diagnoses on the state of our education in a few items:

1. There is widespread ignorance in our society

“There has been ignorance in this country for a long time. The old administrations considered it necessary for their own continuation to continue this ignorance. It is necessary to quickly eradicate ignorance in this country. There is no other way of salvation.”

This diagnosis of Atatürk reminds one of Namık Kemal's views. He also wrote: “The state's greatest joy is ignorance.”

Let's take a look at some of Atatürk's observations about ignorance and its harms:

“ The greatest enemy of the nation, which has made the nation a tool for the greed and exploitation of others for centuries, is ignorance. It is this ignorance that has not made the nation possess its own identity for centuries and has made the nation careless about itself for centuries. The rulers' use of this or that nation as captives or slaves, and the fact that they regarded the whole country as their own lands, were all due to the benefit of this ignorance of the nation. If we want true salvation, we must first of all destroy this ignorance with all our might, with all our speed. Here we do not take ignorance to mean just reading and writing…”

“When we say ignorant, we do not necessarily mean those who have not studied in school. What we mean is knowledge, knowing the truth. Otherwise, the greatest ignorant people emerge from those who have read, and genuine scholars who see the truth will emerge from those who have never read."

“The real owner of this country and the main element of our society are the peasants. This is the villager who has been deprived of the light of knowledge until now.”

“If ten, twenty percent of a nation is literate and eighty percent illiterate, it is a shame. Those who are human should be ashamed of this.”

2. Our teaching methods are not suitable.

In his student life, Atatürk personally experienced the methods of education and training that are based on oppression - partly freedom, passive - active, transfer (and rote) - experimenter, rational, examined and observed how Turkish children and young people were raised for centuries and what kind of results this gave.

For the first time, Mustafa Kemal started his education in the traditional and simple neighborhood school, left after a few days and went to Şemsi Efendi's school, which taught according to the new methods. He did not like the neighborhood school he first attended and where traditional methods were practiced. Years later, while he was in Thessaloniki as an officer, he visited both schools. When he saw a huge lock on the door of the first neighborhood school he went to, he said, "It was a hit that it was closed".

Mustafa Kemal was educated very well in Şemsi Efendi's primary school, which provided education according to the new pedagogical methods, and in later military schools. He saw that especially in Şemsi Efendi's school, new methods and switching to the method of reading sounds and words by making innovations in spelling saved the students from difficulties.

After primary school, Mustafa Kemal first entered the Civil (Civil) Secondary School in Thessaloniki, where Hüseyin Efendi, his mathematics teacher and assistant principal, beat him unjustly and left his body in blood. The incident was a case of indiscipline and Mustafa Kemal was not guilty. Although his mother, Zübeyde Hanım, tried to console him by saying, "He is your teacher, he can beat," Mustafa Kemal could not bear to be beaten even unjustly by his teacher. He couldn't make the beating of students, people, honor and dignity of humanity. As a matter of fact, after this incident, he left the school and enrolled in the Military High School.

After all these bitter-sweet experiences, observations and examinations, Atatürk made one of the most important diagnoses in the history of Turkish education in front of our teachers at the Education Congress convened in Ankara in July 1921 : I think it is the most important factor.”

3. There is pressure from the family on our children

Atatürk also draws the attention of parents to a wrong attitude of parents about children:

“Most families have always had a very bad habit: they don't make their children say or listen, when the poor people interfere, they say, "Don't get involved in the conversation of the elders," and silence them. What a wrong, even harmful move…”

4. The rise or fall of a nation is related to whether its education is national or not. Our education is not national.

In the speech he made with the teachers in Samsun in September 1924, Atatürk made the following very important diagnosis and determination:

“Decency is what makes a nation live in a free, independent, glorious, high society or leaves a nation to slavery and poverty. “

“(...) There are more than three hundred million Islams on earth. They receive upbringing and morality with the upbringing of their parents and teachers. Unfortunately, the truth is that all these masses of millions of people are in chains of slavery and despise of one or another. The moral upbringing and morality they received did not and cannot give them the human virtue that could break these chains of slavery. Because the purpose of their education is not national. Atatürk  said the following in his same speech:

“In the past, pay attention to the eras of the Turkish states that lasted for centuries. The Turk has forgotten his soul, self and life, and has become the unconscious vehicle of some presidents from where he came from. The Turkish nation seemed to forget its own self, its own mind, its own soul, and with its existence, it was dragged towards a low purpose, the result of which is contempt, captivity, and becoming an unrequited slave. The nation, unfortunately, continued this state of mindfulness for a long time, so it could not save itself from suffering all kinds of poverty and negative situations. He applied all these honors without realizing that the non-national education he received was an inevitable necessity, with the belief that a sound upbringing had an effect. How great is the basis of discipline, the purpose and nature of education. “

According to Atatürk, our non-national education is one of the main causes of our centuries-long disasters. The reason why we lost the Balkans is that the language institutions and education of the communities here and their national consciousness were awakened. 5. We do not have a stable education policy.

Atatürk made the following diagnosis and determination in 1923 for the last periods of Ottoman education:

“ Each Minister of Education and Deputy had a program. In the education of the country, teaching has become terrible because of the implementation of various programs. “

Speaking with an education director in Eskişehir in January 1923, Atatürk then made the following statement:

“This twenty-three-year-old director of education has traveled to various parts of our country, and according to what they say, he has taken, implemented and had many programs that are incompatible with each other. Because every Minister who has come to the government, makes a program according to himself, encompasses it and tries to implement it. After a while, another Minister comes, he doesn't like him, he has another program implemented.”

6. The aim of our education has been to raise consumer people who do not know themselves and life, have superficial knowledge on every subject.

After Atatürk said that every Minister of Education had a different program implemented, he said:

“What did all these apps and programs give? A team of people who knew a lot, learned a lot... But what did they know? He knew some theory! But what did he not know? He did not know himself, did not know his life and needs, did not know everything necessary to live and was hungry! It can be said that as an unfortunate result of this education style, being an intellectual in the country means knowing a lot, being condemned to misery and poverty. “

III. Atatürk's suggestions, requests and instructions for our education

While the Turkish nation was embarking on the struggle for independence under the leadership of Atatürk and establishing the Republic, it was very important to determine immediately which principles, aims, educational philosophy and worldview the youth should be brought up. The education of youth could no longer be carried out according to an ancient philosophy and worldview that had been tried and proven to be worthless and even harmful. There was a need for humane and rational new educational principles that would take the Turkish nation forward. However, achieving this was not easy. Only Atatürk could do this job, and as a matter of fact, he undertook it. Because, as we explained above, he knew very well the lessons of Turkish history and Turkish education history: Madrasahs and primary schools, which were the main educational institutions in the Ottoman Empire, have been useless since the 17th century. they had turned into schools that gave only religion and Arab culture, and they turned to the innovations and became petrified. The madrasa mentality delayed the entry of even the printing press into the country, hindered the reform movements in education and various fields that started in the Tanzimat period, and continued its negative impact. Atatürk observed that foreign schools in the Ottoman Empire made horses play as they wished, that minorities and all kinds of ethnic communities became economically stronger through education, became politically conscious, and tended to destroy the State. Atatürk saw that the Turks were dragged into captivity in their own homeland only because they remained in the wheels of a purposeless, ineffective, weak, meaningless, rootless education and were raised unaware of their national identity. The madrasa mentality delayed the entry of even the printing press into the country, hindered the reform movements in education and various fields that started in the Tanzimat period, and continued its negative impact. Atatürk observed that foreign schools in the Ottoman Empire made horses play as they wished, that minorities and all kinds of ethnic communities became economically stronger through education, became politically conscious, and tended to destroy the State. Atatürk saw that the Turks were dragged into captivity in their own homeland only because they remained in the wheels of a purposeless, ineffective, weak, meaningless, rootless education and were raised unaware of their national identity. The madrasa mentality delayed the entry of even the printing press into the country, hindered the reform movements in education and various fields that started in the Tanzimat period, and continued its negative impact. Atatürk observed that foreign schools in the Ottoman Empire made horses play as they wished, that minorities and all kinds of ethnic communities became economically stronger through education, became politically conscious, and tended to destroy the State. Atatürk saw that the Turks were dragged into captivity in their own homeland only because they remained in the wheels of a purposeless, ineffective, weak, meaningless, rootless education and were raised unaware of their national identity. He observed that foreign schools in the Ottoman Empire made horses play as they wished, that minorities and all kinds of ethnic communities became economically stronger through education, became politically conscious, and tended to destroy the State. Atatürk saw that the Turks were dragged into captivity in their own homeland only because they remained in the wheels of a purposeless, ineffective, weak, meaningless, rootless education and were raised unaware of their national identity. He observed that foreign schools in the Ottoman Empire made horses play as they wished, that minorities and all kinds of ethnic communities became economically stronger through education, became politically conscious, and tended to destroy the State. Atatürk saw that the Turks were dragged into captivity in their own homeland only because they remained in the wheels of a purposeless, ineffective, weak, meaningless, rootless education and were raised unaware of their national identity.

Atatürk could not be content with all these observations and diagnoses. Because he was the founder and President of the new Republic of Turkey. He also identified a brand new educational philosophy and policy for this new State, and expressed it sometimes in the form of suggestions, sometimes requests and instructions. He especially addressed teachers and educators.

This was because he saw teachers as the leaders of our true salvation. First, let's see his words on the subject:

“Teachers and teachers of Turkey, who are the pitwây-ı mukerrems (respected pioneers) of our future aunt (our future salvation)…”

(while opening the Educational Congress in Ankara on 15.7.1921)

“Unless a nation has an army of wisdom, no matter how brilliantly victories it achieves on the battlefields, the fact that those victories will yield decent (continuous, permanent) results can only be achieved by the army of wisdom (...) The value of the army of wisdom will also be measured by the value of you, the teachers. “  (His address to teachers in Kütahya on 24.3.1923)

“ Teachers! Skinny generation, devoted teachers and tutors of the Republic, you will raise them, the new generation will be your work. The value of the work will be found in proportion to the degree of your skill and sacrifice. “ (his address to the members of the Teachers Union Congress on 25.8.1924)

“It is teachers alone and only who save nations. A nation deprived of teachers and educators has not yet acquired the ability to be called a nation. It is called an ordinary mass, not a nation. A mass absolutely needs educators and teachers in order to become a nation. It is they who turn a society into a true nation (...) The Republic expects high service from you. “

(His speech at İzmir Male Teacher's School on 14.10.19254)

“The victory of our armies has only prepared the ground for the victory of you (the teachers) and your armies. You will win and continue the real victory, and you will surely succeed.”

(His address to teachers in Bursa on 27.10.1922)

“ The inadequacy of our teachers can only be compensated for by the high value and virtue of our teachers.”

Although it can be understood from his observations and diagnoses that we have examined above, what his suggestions and wishes are, it may be useful to consider them under some headings:

1. Future generations should be raised in a way that will protect Turkey's independence and protect and raise the Republic.

“ While our children and young people are being brought up, there is a need to fight against all kinds of foreign anachrony (elements) that conflict with their existence, rights and unity, and they support their national ideas with their perfection (passionately) against all kinds of opposition. ) the necessity of vigorously and self-sacrificing defense against the idea should be encouraged. It is important to instill (instill) these qualities (qualities) and talent into the spirit of the whole generation of the skin.”

(while opening the Educational Congress in Ankara on 15.7.1921)

“Our children and young people should be taught first and foremost that it is necessary to fight against all the main centuries (elements) that are hostile to Turkey's independence, its own identity and nationality, regardless of the boundaries of their education. “

(On 1.3.1922, when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey opened its third convening year)

“The Republic demands guardians (protectors) intellectually, wisely, physically, physically strong and of high character (...) Teachers, your success will be the success of the Republic. The military, political and administrative reforms (revolutions) that Turkey has been able to fit in a few years will be confirmed (strengthened) by your success, respected teachers, in the social and intellectual revolution. You should never forget that the Republic demands from you generations of free mind, free conscience, and knowledge."

(His address to the members of the Teachers' Union Congress on 25.8.1924)

2. Education should be national

Considering the non-national education of previous periods among the main causes of our disasters, Atatürk wanted the education of the new Turkish State to be national. He explains national education as follows in the July 1921 Education Congress:

“When we talk about a national education program, we are talking about a culture that is compatible with our nationality and history, completely free from the superstitions (superstitions) of the old age and foreign ideas that have nothing to do with our natural qualities (the features we are born with), completely free from all the influences that can come from the East and the West. I mean. Because the development of our genius nation can only be achieved through such a culture.”

In September 1924, while addressing the teachers in Samsun, he stated that millions of Muslims are still in captivity and misery because of their non-national education:

“There should no longer be a day of disdain (ambiguity, blur) in knowing what national education means. After national education is essential, the necessity of making its language, method and means national cannot be discussed.

Atatürk's speech addressed to the youth of Konya in March 23 will also shed light on understanding what “national education” means:

“Our intellectuals say, 'Let me make my nation the happiest nation'. He says, 'Let's do it exactly as other nations have done'. However, we must think that such a theory has never been successful in any era. What is bliss for one nation may be a disaster for another. The same reasons and conditions can make one happy but make the other miserable. That's why, while showing this nation the way to go, let's make use of all kinds of science, inventions and progress of the world. But let's not forget that we have to extract the real foundation from within ourselves. “  3. Education should be based on science.

Atatürk said that science should be the only guide for us in education as it is in every field. In this respect, he opened a new era in our education history.

While addressing the teachers in Bursa in October 1922, he said:

“Science and science will be our guide in the political and social life of our nation and in the intellectual upbringing of our nation (...) We will take science and science from wherever it is and put it in the minds of every individual of the nation – there are no conditions or conditions for science and science. “

His address to the teachers on this subject in Samsun in September 1924 is as follows:

“ The truest guide for everything in the world, for materiality, for spirituality, for life, for success, is science. Seeking a guide outside of science and science is heedlessness, ignorance, misguidance (distraction).”

Addressing the teachers in Istanbul in July 1927, he deals with the same subject:

“Just as the old hodjas became dominant on the religious basis, so the teachers should bring the dominance they started to gain on the basis of knowledge to a conclusion. “

Finally, let's address the Tenth Anniversary Address of October 29, 1933:

“The torch that the Turkish nation holds in its hands and minds on the path of progress and civilization is positive science. “

4. Education should produce useful, productive and successful people in life.

During the stagnation and regression periods of the Ottomans, the professions most preferred by the Turkish youth were religious duties and civil servants. In the reform movements of Tanzimat in education, civil service and clerkship became even more desirable professions. In the face of regression and collapse, the administrators, intellectuals, instead of trying to shake off the society and seek and implement serious solutions for salvation, on the contrary, continued the understanding of giving excessive importance to the civil service, which is one of the important causes of the decline.

At the end of a petition, Turkish youth were occupied with a hundred kinds of meaningless expressions in order to be able to say "with my best regards", and the subject was seen as important as it became more difficult. So much so that the books that teach unnecessary expressions and formulas were presented to our students under the name Gülbahçesi: “Gülşen-i Muharrerat”, the rose garden of correspondence...

After all this, is it any wonder why the Ottoman Turks rushed to become civil servants, and that the trade, industry and business world remained in the hands of Greeks, Armenians and foreigners?

Ali Suavi is one of the first to observe and express that our education trains civil servants and fills the minds of students with useless, superficial information. He wrote in 1867:

“What is education, what it is for, most of the people do not know. Unless these are explained, education will have no other result than harm. has no other thought. “

Here, Atatürk tried to eliminate the excessive fondness of being a civil servant, which was one of the important reasons for our decline, and aimed to raise a new and active human type in our education:

“The method (method) to be applied in education and training, knowledge (knowledge) is too much ornament for man, a means of domination (pressure), or a practical and capable use (work) that ensures success in material life rather than a civilized pleasure. is to make it a device that is oriented and usable”.

(On 1.3.1923, when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey opened its fourth convening year)

“Teachers! It is important that the training and upbringing of our boys and girls at all levels of education should be practical. The son of the country must be equipped (equipped) at every level of education to be effective, effective and successful in economic life.”

(His address to the members of the Teachers' Union Congress on 25.8.1924) In 1931 he also says:

“Primary and secondary education must give the science and technique required by humanity and civilization, but in such a practical way that when the child leaves school, make sure that he is not condemned to starvation.”

In summary, as Atatürk stated above, he wanted education to raise productive, useful people who will be successful in life, not people who know a little bit of everything but know nothing well, doomed to misery and hunger.

5. Education, by giving freedom to the child, should develop feelings of virtue, self-sacrifice, order, discipline, confidence in himself and the future of our nation in new generations.

The Turkish education history shows us that fear, hopelessness and pessimism have a very important place among the educational values ​​and child-rearing practices of the period of stagnation and regression.

These issues were seriously addressed for the first time in World War II. It was discussed by some of our thinkers during the Constitutional Monarchy period (1908-1918). Educator Satı Bey and Mehmet Akif can be shown among them.

During the defeat and disasters of the 1912-1913 Balkan War, Mehmet Akif investigated our “mistakes” that led to this situation. According to him, the reason why our state is on the verge of collapse is a philosophy of life and education whispered in the cradle, practiced and unfortunately accepted by teachers, professors, preachers, writers and poets, statesmen. This is a world philosophy that aims to discipline with beatings, raises cowardly, timid, inactive generations who do not trust themselves and their nation, and look at the future of the nation with a pessimistic eye. This is our biggest "mistake".

Atatürk also opposed this understanding and explained how new generations should be raised.

While opening the Educational Congress in July 1921, he said:

“A strong sense of virtue and a strong idea of ​​order and discipline should be among the spiritual qualities that the new generation will be equipped with. “

According to Atatürk, it is essential for a child to be brought up in school by passing the normal education degrees, and order and discipline in education are the basis of success.

Atatürk wants an order and discipline based on love, instead of the old era's understanding of order and discipline based on beating. After stating that it is very wrong not to let children talk in the presence of elders in most families, he says:

“On the contrary, it should encourage children to speak freely, to express what they think as they are. Thus, it is possible to correct their mistakes and prevent them from being liars and hypocrites in the future. In short, we should accustom our children to express their thoughts without hesitation, to defend their sincere beliefs, and to respect the sincere thoughts of others. should try to wake him up. In my opinion, these are important points that will always be emphasized in the upbringing of children, from the mother's lap to the highest education centers. Only in this way will our children become useful citizens of the country and excellent people.”

He wanted our children to be instilled in an ideal (ideal) and to be hardworking:

“We don't need anything, we only need one thing very much: being hardworking. If we study our societal ills, we will not discover any serious disease other than this; this is the disease. In that case, our first job is to treat this disease in a fundamental way, to make the nation hardworking. Wealth and its natural result, well-being and happiness, are the right of the hardworking only. “

(Speech to reporters in January 1923)

“ I advise the children of the country who are preparing for the future to work with full patience and endurance, not bowing down in the face of any difficulty, and to the parents of our children in education not to hesitate to risk every sacrifice for the completion of their children's education”.

Atatürk also wants our students to grow up with a sense of trust in themselves and their nation, and never feel inferior. In 1936 he said:

“I am addressing the youth and growing children of the Turkish Republic in particular: The West was far behind you and the Turks. This was how it was in meaning, in thought, in history. If the West is finally showing an improvement in technology today, O Turkish child, that fault is not yours, but the result of the inexcusable negligence of those before you. Let me also say that, you're so clever! You know, but forget my intelligence! Always be hardworking.”

Atatürk considers sports as one of the main elements of the national education of the youth.

He wants all the qualifications and upbringing to be given to the youth within the framework of secular and coeducation.

6. Education should save the society from ignorance, raise its knowledge and moral level, reveal and develop its abilities.

Atatürk always stated that ignorance should be eliminated as soon as he saw the ignorance of our society among the most important causes of our disasters. Its main demands and goals are as follows:

“The pure character of our nation is financial (full) with talent (ability). However, citizens who are equipped with methods (equipped with methods that can improve) that can develop this natural ability are needed. This duty falls to you, the teachers.”

(While opening the Education Congress in Ankara on 15.7.1921)  “To read, write to all villagers, to give enough geographical, historical, religious and moral information to introduce their homeland, nation, religion and world, and to teach amal-ı erbaa (four processes) is the first step of our education program. is the target. Achieving this goal will constitute a sacred stage in our educational history. “  (On 1.3.1922, when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey opened its third convening year).

“Our national morality should be strengthened (developed and strengthened) with civilized principles and free ideas.” (His address to the members of the Teachers' Union Congress on 25.8.1924)  “Teachers should take advantage of every opportunity to run to the people, be with the people, and the people should understand that the teacher is not just a being who makes the child read the alphabet.”

(His address to teachers in Istanbul on 7.7.1927)

“Our first job is to make the nation hardworking.”

(Speech to reporters in January 1923)

“Rather than reducing the intellectuals to the level of the people, it is necessary to train the whole people as intellectuals in education.*

Atatürk wanted the education of Turkish women and mothers to be taken seriously.

IV. Atatürk's teaching personality and being an educational practitioner

Atatürk not only made diagnoses about education, put forward suggestions and opinions, but also became the teacher and educational practitioner of our nation.

Why is Atatürk a teacher and educational practitioner?

Because he is a State founder and President. Our first education consciousness, Farabi (870-950), said that the head of state should be the educator of the nation, that he should love learning and teaching, and that he should know how to teach everything easily. Atatürk has undertaken this duty of education, which has been neglected by many administrators in our history, in the best way, and has become an example for later statesmen to follow.

Starting from the First World War, Atatürk addressed teachers and the public on various occasions and made speeches about education. He also always attached importance to visiting schools, attending classes, watching teachers and asking questions, thus enlightening them individually.

Atatürk is perhaps the statesman and state founder who best understood and explained the importance of education and teaching. The fact that in July 1921, just before the Battle of Sakarya, he returned to Ankara from a mid-front, opened the Educational Congress consisting of teachers and made a very important speech there, proves this. The newspaper Hâkimiyet-i Milliye wrote about this event: “Mustafa Kemal Pasha is busy with the future (future) duty of the teacher army at the height of the third Greek offensive. This noble and lofty example (noble and lofty example) will be one of the rarest and precious memories of Turkish history.” Undoubtedly, this is an unprecedented example in world history.

In one of the meetings in the Florya mansion in 1936, Atatürk turned to Behçet Kemal Çağlar and gave the order: "You write poetry quickly, go to the room inside, write a poem describing all the qualities you see in me". The poet did as he was asked, and came back half an hour later with a long poem. Atatürk said, "Let's read it". The poet recited his verses lively and dutifully. Atatürk's valor, victories and revolutions were expressed one after another. But Atatürk said, "It didn't happen, I have a real quality that you never wrote it". Everyone was surprised. What could this unwritten quality be? Without making the audience wait too long, Atatürk said, “My real personality is my teaching. I am the teacher of my nation, you did not write this”.

Atatürk really succeeded in the War of Independence and his reforms thanks to this patient, persuasive and reassuring "teacher".

After the War of Independence ended with victory, he was asked, "Here you have saved the country, what do you want to do now?" When a question was asked, Atatürk gave the following answer:

“As the Minister of Education, it is my greatest ambition to try to raise national knowledge. “

He was always interested in and reviewing school schedules and books.

Atatürk also wrote books and some newspaper editorials on the field of military service and some social issues. This shows that he is a researcher and an instructive teacher by writing his thoughts.

Atatürk's efforts to teach the new Turkish letters to the public with the title of Head Teacher reveal that he was a real teacher, the teacher of the entire Turkish nation. He started his works on this path starting from Tekirdağ, Bursa, Çanakkale, Sinop, Samsun, Amasya, Turhal, Tokat, Sivas, Sarkisla, Kayseri and so on. continued in the cities. The subtleties of the art of teaching can be seen in each of the alphabet lessons he gave to the public. For example, let's take a look at the lecture he gave to the public on the blackboard in the garden of a school in Sinop on September 15, 1928. Atatürk taught the vowels and consonants first to the teachers, then to the civil servants and then to some of the public. At one point he summoned a man standing in front of him.

- What is your name? What is your job?

- Bekir, I'm a coachman, my Pasha.

- Are you literate?

- No, Pasha, I came to learn from you.

Atatürk first taught this man in his fifties to read and write the letters A, O, Ö, U, Ü, and then the letter T. Then he wrote Horse and Grass. Bekir Ağa spelled it, then read it. Ataturk was satisfied. “These folks will be reading and writing in three months,” he said. This incident not only proves Atatürk's incredible teaching ability, but also reveals another great truth that the person who brought this memory to us did not specify. This is a method called "functional (functional) education", which is defined as learning language and literacy starting from subjects related to one's own job, profession and occupation, and has been emphasized by Unesco in various countries for the last 20-30 years. The fact is that it was applied in person first...

Here, I would like to mention a very important issue: Atatürk's speeches to teachers and speeches about education have been determined and published. But there is also what Atatürk said to our teachers whose classes he attended. Attaching great importance to visiting schools, Atatürk attended the classes of many teachers, gave lectures, listened to the lectures, asked questions to teachers and students, and made explanations himself. Although this subject is very original and a very important part of Atatürk's published views and thoughts on education and teachers, it has not yet been addressed. Some of our teachers, whom Atatürk attended, published their memoirs here and there. But they also need to be collected, put together, and memoirs that have not yet been published should be compiled. Best of all, Our teachers can still do it. It is up to them to seek and find old, retired teachers in the regions they live in and to compile if they have memories of Atatürk. This would be a very nice, useful and enjoyable task for them. Atatürk Research Center, Ministry of National Education etc. If institutions publish these published and newly compiled memoirs collectively, we will learn the very important ideas that Atatürk focused on in the classroom environment and how he taught. We can get to know the characteristics of our successful and sometimes unsuccessful teachers better. As a matter of fact, he liked the teachers in some lessons and disliked them in others. What are his assessments like? This should also be considered. It's up to you to seek out retired teachers and compile if they have memories of Atatürk. This would be a very nice, useful and enjoyable task for them. Atatürk Research Center, Ministry of National Education etc. If institutions publish these published and newly compiled memoirs collectively, we will learn the very important ideas that Atatürk focused on in the classroom environment and how he taught. We can get to know the characteristics of our successful and sometimes unsuccessful teachers better. As a matter of fact, he liked the teachers in some lessons and disliked them in others. What are his assessments like? This should also be considered. It's up to you to seek out retired teachers and compile if they have memories of Atatürk. This would be a very nice, useful and enjoyable task for them. Atatürk Research Center, Ministry of National Education etc. If institutions publish these published and newly compiled memoirs collectively, we will learn the very important ideas that Atatürk focused on in the classroom environment and how he taught. We can get to know the characteristics of our successful and sometimes unsuccessful teachers better. As a matter of fact, he liked the teachers in some lessons and disliked them in others. What are his assessments like? This should also be considered. we learn the very important ideas that Atatürk emphasized in the classroom environment and how he taught. We can get to know the characteristics of our successful and sometimes unsuccessful teachers better. As a matter of fact, he liked the teachers in some lessons and disliked them in others. What are his assessments like? This should also be considered. we learn the very important ideas that Atatürk emphasized in the classroom environment and how he taught. We can get to know the characteristics of our successful and sometimes unsuccessful teachers better. As a matter of fact, he liked the teachers in some lessons and disliked them in others. What are his assessments like? This should also be considered.

I would like to show with two examples that these original compilation and publication studies, which I said should be done, will teach us a lot:

He attended the course of a Physics teacher named Abdullah Efendi at Atatürk Kayseri High School. The teacher continues his lesson very naturally, as if Atatürk and his friends were not present in the classroom. At one point, when Atatürk stood in front of the blackboard, the teacher said, "Pasha, step back, the children cannot see the blackboard." Atatürk is in great admiration and his friends are in great amazement... Abdullah Efendi continues his lecture until the bell rings. So, he was a teacher who was not interested in anything but the lesson in his class. The teacher who sees the classroom as a temple and the classroom as a worship! That's why Atatürk admired teacher Abdullah Efendi.

Atatürk took the course of History teacher Kamil Su at Balıkesir High School in 1933. The deceased Su published this precious memory. I've heard from him too. After the lesson, in the principal's room, Atatürk tells the teachers about an incident related to the Turkish ruler Mete, which corresponds to the epic hero Oğuz Han. This event in Chinese sources is briefly as follows:

When Mete succeeds his father, one of the neighboring heads of state sends an envoy to ask him for his horse, which he loves very much and runs very fast. Mete's congress convenes; Members suggest that this humiliating request be rejected and, if necessary, fought. But Mete gives his horse, saying, "How can we keep a horse more valuable than a neighboring state?"

After a while, the ambassador comes again and asks for Mete's wife. Again, Mete gave his wife to the members of the Congress, who offered to fight immediately, saying, "How can I hold a woman above the neighboring state?"

The neighboring ruler, who thinks that Mete is afraid and will get whatever he wants, this time wants a barren land on the border where no one lives. The members of the convention do not mind giving a small, insignificant, useless piece of land after the horse and woman are gone. But Mete does not think like them this time. Saying, "The land is the foundation of the state, it is the property of the nation", he cuts off the heads of the members of the Congress, fights with the neighboring state and wins a great victory...

Kamil Su says, “Atatürk described this event with such a sweet and attractive expression that we all listened to him with great admiration.”

The main conclusion to be drawn from Mete's attitude in this case is that, in our opinion, this great Turkish ruler acted extremely rationally in the administration of the state, avoided war and bloodshed as much as possible, and resorted to war only for real national causes and when there was no other way. Atatürk had the same understanding in the administration of the state and it is very meaningful for him to tell the teachers about this event.

It turns out how important and instructive these memories are. Bringing together and publishing many more published and unpublished memoirs like these will undoubtedly be a lasting work that will be of great benefit to our teachers.

Conclusion:

Atatürk has a very important place in the history of Turkish education. Because he saw and showed very well the causes of our disasters that could not be diagnosed in detail, accurately, systematically and definitively, even though some of our intellectuals were partially aware of them, and their relations with education. Based on these, he adopted a new educational philosophy and policy for the new Republic of Turkey and made the most difficult but necessary breakthroughs in our education.

We must always keep in mind the duties that Atatürk gave to teachers and all of us, and the goals he set for education. These are the basic principles of a rational, humane, contemporary, national Turkish education. There is no doubt that when we forget and neglect them, we will suffer great harm. When we apply them sincerely and duly, the development and rise of our nation will definitely take place.

For this reason, it is the duty of everyone, especially teachers, educators, students and statesmen, to read again and again his observations and diagnoses regarding education, his suggestions and requests, to learn them thoroughly and to act in the direction they show. While doing this, he should often avoid comments. Because Atatürk expressed his thoughts in a very clear and understandable way. It is extremely instructive and enjoyable to get to know him directly from his own thoughts.

RESOURCES

AKYÜZ, YAHYA: History of Turkish Education (From the Beginning to 1985), Ankara, 1985, 2nd Edition, 462 p.

AKYÜZ, YAHYA: Some of the Teachers Who Raised Atatürk, Atatürk Revolution and Education Symposium (April 1981), Ankara, 1981, p. 109-122 (A.U. Faculty of Education Science, Publication)

ATATÜRK's Discourses and Statements, Ankara, 1961-1963, 3 C. (June Nimet Arsan). Turkish

Golden Book, Gazi's Life, Istanbul, 1928. CEBESOY, ALİ FUAT: My Classmate Atatürk, Istanbul, 1967, 174 p.

FEYZİOĞLU, NEYZİ: Teacher's Responsibility and Society, Milliyet, 9 October 1978 (About Atatürk's participation in the lesson of Physics teacher Abdullah Efendi at Kayseri High School).

GÖKSEL, BURHAN: Atatürk's Views on Education and Misak-ı Maarif, Journal of Atatürk Research Center, July 1985, Issue 3, Vol. 1, p. 921-958.

KOCATÜRK, UTKAN: Atatürk's Ideas and Thoughts, Ankara, 1984, 3rd Ed., 374 p.

ÖYMEN, HIFSIRRAHMAN RAŞİT: Atatürk's Teacher Commemorated with Respect, Naki Yücekök, Educational Movements, November-December 1971, c. 17, Issue 200-201, p. 1-5.

PASİNLER, GALIP: An Educationist with a Love for Profession and Duty, Evening, 13 December 1938, p. 9 (About Şemsi Efendi, Atatürk's first teacher).

Su, KÂMİL: Atatürk in a History Lesson, Belleten, January 1981, c. XLV/I, Issue 177, p. 419-436 (About Atatürk taking History course at Balıkesir High School in January 1933).

UNAT, FAİK REŞİT: Atatürk's first teacher, Şemsi Efendi and his School, Education, March 1963, Vol. 3, pp.38-42.

UNAT, FAİK REŞİT: Atatürk's Educational Life and the National Education System of the Age, Atatürk Conferences (Turkish History Publications), I, Ankara, 1964 (A photograph of Atatürk's first teacher Şemsi Efendi in the "Pictures" section and There are four documents showing the grades Atatürk received in various schools.).

ÜLKÜTAŞIR, M. ŞAKİR: Atatürk and the Alphabet Revolution, Ankara, 1973.

Prof. Dr. Yahya Akyüz

Source: ATATÜRK ARAŞTIRMA MERKEZİ DERGİSİ, Sayı 10, Cilt IV, Kasım 1987