Who was John Dewey?

The Village Institutes were a project that was quite advanced for its time, emerging in the light of reason and science and bringing the ideology of the Republic to all the people of the country. I don't know about you, but in my opinion, if the Village Institutes had not been closed down under various pretexts, I believe we would now be a more developed country with more enlightened people and a deeper-rooted civilisation.

This is because the Village Institutes, established throughout the country with the aim of providing equal opportunities in education, sought to achieve both individual and social enlightenment. The War of Independence had been won, and now it was time to develop the newly established Republic of Turkey, which was in a state of deprivation. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk knew very well that the most important thing needed to achieve this was education.

With the proclamation of the Republic, reforms were carried out in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres to ensure the social development of the newly established Republic of Turkey and to build a national identity. One of these efforts was the establishment of a new education system to instil a national identity.

The opinions and suggestions of scientists were also needed to establish the education system of the newly founded Republic of Turkey. To this end, many scientists were invited to the country. One of these scientists was the American philosopher and educational theorist John Dewey. His philosophical thinking formed the basis of the republic's educational infrastructure. The foremost area of application for this philosophical thinking was the village institutes.

The Village Institutes movement, based on cooperation between the state and the villagers, ensured a significant increase in the number of students and literate people in a short time by preventing the interruption of education due to reasons such as absenteeism, in addition to compulsory five-year primary education and, in some cases, strict enforcement of prosecution. In this context, the Village Institutes, which emphasised learning by doing and vocational education, adopted a mixed education approach throughout the year and carried out activities such as directing students who were not successful in one area to different areas as part of training everyone involved in the education system. For example, students unsuited to becoming teachers were directed towards professions such as blacksmithing, carpentry, healthcare or midwifery, with the aim of them benefiting society in the future by practising these professions.

Five years after the establishment of the Village Institutes, John Dewey, the founding father of the system, described the scene he witnessed on his second visit to Turkey as follows.

‘The schools I envisioned have been established in Turkey as Village Institutes. It would be appropriate for the whole world to see these schools and restructure their education systems with these schools established by the Turks in mind.’ With these words, he expressed his admiration for the educational and teaching approach and the extraordinary development achieved in a short time by the Village Institutes, to which he contributed greatly with his ideas and suggestions.

Unfortunately, the lifespan of this educational approach, which was implemented through the Village Institutes and produced results that were ahead of its time and very beneficial, was short. The first attempt to phase out the Village Institutes emerged after the 1946 elections with the removal of Hasan Ali Yücel and İsmail Hakkı Tonguç from their posts. Subsequently, the change in government following the 1950 elections altered the new government's perspective on the Village Institutes and accelerated the aforementioned process.

The Village Institutes, which played a major role in important matters such as instilling the principles of the Republic and the revolutions and modernising production activities in villages with modern methods and techniques, were not only a collective work of Turkish society but also served as a lever for the transition to a modern social order, entirely based on the ideology of the nation state, free from political interests. They played an important role in shaping the history of the Republic and in forming and developing national identity. John Dewey's views and suggestions significantly influenced the future of the new Republic of Turkey.

Dewey did not shy away from America's social issues, sincerely expressing his thoughts on democracy, education, and politics. Among the many issues he supported were women's suffrage, progressive education, educators' rights, the humanist movement, and international peace.

According to Dewey, education is the only tool that can bring about democracy. A scientific and free educational environment is a fundamental condition for the democratisation of society. According to his understanding of education, values and moral principles vary according to the individual's experience, society, and the cultural characteristics of that society. Based on this, in the reports he prepared after his studies on education in different countries, he emphasised that each country should structure its own education system by consulting its own intellectuals, teachers, and educators.

In my previous article, I tried to explain the Fulbright Agreement to you as best I could. The education system implemented since 1949 is still in force and continues to be applied. The situation continues to fluctuate, serving as a playground for political powers. Atatürk is not just a leader for a nation, but also the mind and conscience of that nation. The situation we find ourselves in is ultimately very sad...

What is the Fulbright Agreement?

https://strasam.org/egitim/egitim-politikalari/fulbright-antlasmasi-nedir-3872