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The Birth Of The Teaching Profession In The Contemporary Sense In Turkey

 The Birth Of The Teaching Profession In The Contemporary Sense In Turkey:

The modern teaching profession in Turkey emerged and began to take shape during the Tanzimat period.

During this period, sometimes very remarkable and sometimes inconsistent initiatives are seen in this field. Revealing and knowing these events and transformations is essential for us to understand and evaluate the teaching profession and its problems properly today. Because some steps taken in the birth years of the profession continue to be effective even today.

In our review, firstly, the basic features of the teaching profession in the Ottoman society until the Tanzimat period will be briefly discussed.

Then, the first attempts in this field in the Tanzimat period, until the end of the 19th century, will be briefly examined.

However, some relations will be established between some developments regarding the teaching profession today and the problems in the first fifty years of the profession.

Finally, some findings and evaluations regarding the teaching profession in our education history will be indicated in articles.


The Birth Of The Teaching Profession In The Contemporary Sense In Turkey

What are the Basic Features of the Teaching Profession Before the Tanzimat?

Before the Tanzimat, there were five main types of teachers in formal education in Ottoman society: 1. Primary school teachers, 2. Madrasah teachers, 3. Enderun School teachers, 4. Military and technical school teachers, 5. Minority and foreign school teachers. 

Among these teachers, especially the professors, there is a suitable way of training and appointment called the mulazemet method. However, over time this system broke down.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet did not teach the Fiqh (Islamic Law) course, which is a difficult course, to the madrasah students who wanted to be a primary school teacher in Eyüp and Hagia Sophia madrasas, and had a course called Discussion Rules and Teaching Methods included in the program for them. This was a very advanced pedagogical discussion. However, after Fatih, this practice was abolished for some reason and traditional methods continued.


How Did the Teaching Profession in the Contemporary Sense Emerge in the Tanzimat Era?

A: Opening of New Secondary Education Institutions for Boys and Training a New Type of Teacher


Newly Opened Boys' Schools:

In the Tanzimat period, which started in the 1839s, it was deemed necessary to construct a new secondary education system other than the madrasah, and innovations in education started in this field first.

The first of these new schools was the Rüşdiye schools, which started to be opened in 1839 and were above primary education, that is, the first grades of secondary education.

Here, the teaching profession in the modern sense arose from the need to train a new type of teacher for the Rüşdiye.


Male Teacher Training:

In 1839, the "new" educational institutions that were established outside the madrasah and started to proliferate, to be able to teach well depended on the training of "new" teachers who knew the teaching methods.

How were these “new” types of teachers to be trained? These teachers would inevitably be trained from the ancient material, the ancient and traditional human element, as no other resources were available. Thus, the students of the teacher's school to be opened would be transferred from the madrasahs, and their teachers would be selected from the madrasah teachers. It was thought that by giving a small scholarship and boarding opportunity to the students who were recruited in this way, they would adopt this new school. 

We can express the reasons [3] put forward by the official authorities for the opening of this teacher's school, which they named Darülmuallimin, in July 1847, as follows:

  1. Although the teachers in the primary schools can teach the courses of these institutions, there is no one among them who can teach the courses of the Rüşdiye schools, especially mathematics and other new (worldly) courses.
  2. The need to train new teachers in order to streamline the education and training methods in middle school.
  3. The necessity for newly trained teachers to teach by learning both the new (worldly) lessons in the programs and the teaching and learning methods.


Opening of Darülmuallimi, a Middle Male Teacher's School, Establishment Order:

Under the leadership of Ahmet Kemal Efendi, who was appointed as the head of the Ministry of General Education and then served as the Pasha as the Minister of Education a few times, for the first time, a male teacher's school was opened in Fatih on Thursday, March 16, 1848, under the name of Dürülmuallimîn (Hijri 10 R. âhir 1264). This opening is an extremely important event in the professional history of the Turkish teacher. This school was later called Darülmuallimin-i Rüşdî.

It is clear from the above official justifications that the authorities consider the establishment of a teacher's school very necessary for the training of teachers who have learned well the new and worldly lessons that are included in the programs of the newly opened Rüşdiyes, and who know the education and training methods well. Thus, the authorities emphasize that teaching can no longer continue in the traditional way, that the trend of the age and the requirements of educational science must be followed, and that teaching is a special profession.

Here, in the Tanzimat period, the birth of the teaching profession in the modern sense took place with these thoughts and purposes.

First of all, a knowledgeable professor administrator named Yahya Efendi was appointed with the title of Chief Hodja. At the first opening, the school had three teachers and they were paid between 500-1000 kuruş. The school had a caretaker and a janitor for cleaning. In addition to the necessary items, there were 3 barbecues, 1 basin and pitcher set, 1 copper pot, 1 mug and 3000 kıyye (close to 4 tons) coal.

Distinguished education history researcher Osman Ergin states that this teacher's school, which was opened in 1848, "could not see its first program" and says, "but it is not difficult to predict what it will be" and adds: "Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Calculus, Writing, Geography etc. There is no doubt that it was intended to teach things very concisely (very briefly) (…) Darülmuallimin was not a very different institution from the madrasah. Teaching Arabic was essential…”

The fact that these predictions made by Osman Ergin without "seeing" Darülmuallimin's program are not accurate and that corrections should be made in his predictions will be seen when the Darülmuallimin Regulations of 1851, which we will discuss below, are examined. In addition, despite some of the effects of the madrasa on this institution, it will be revealed that Osman Ergin did not sufficiently realize the main purpose of Darülmuallimin, which was very different from the madrasah teaching. Thus, at least between 1851 and 1860, it will be understood that Darülmuallimi was a different institution than what was "predicted". Even some foreign writers, noticing the main pedagogical purpose of Darülmuallimi, noted that the aim was to "provide teachers from outside the ulama community".

After the professor Yahya Efendi, who served as the headmaster and teacher in the Darülmuallimî between March 1848 and August 1850, a 27-year-old, knowledgeable, intellectual, madrasah-exited person named Ahmet Cevdet Efendi was appointed to the head of this institution, this time with the title of Director. Ahmet Cevdet Efendi later served as the Pasha three times as the Minister of Education (1873-1874, 1875-1876) and other Ministerial duties.

Ahmet Cevdet Efendi wrote a regulation for Darülmuallimin dated 1 May 1851 and this document was put into practice with the will of Sultan Abdülmecit (1839-1861). After 21 years of research, we found this document in the Ottoman Archives of the Prime Ministry and were happy to publish it in the Ministry of National Education's journal of National Education in 1990, with extensive explanations and comments. 

The main regulations, provisions and opinions determined in the Regulations of Darülmuallimin dated May 1, 1851 and the explanatory text of its justification, prepared by the Principal of the School, Ahmet Cevdet Efendi, are briefly as follows:

  1. In order to train qualified teachers, a small number of students were admitted to the school, and the number of students was reduced from 30 to 20. These are called active (main) students. Apart from this, student registration was made as a tutor; they may be active under certain conditions.
  2. Students will be admitted by exam. In order to enter the school, it is essential that the candidates have the knowledge to understand and translate Arabic into Turkish, and they should not have bad behavior and behavior.
  3. The duration of the school is determined as 3 years.
  4. Its program is (in today's terms): Teaching and Teaching Methods, Persian, Arithmetic, Geometry, Field Measurement, Astronomy, Geography. It is a very important event that a teaching method course is included as the first course in the program. Also noteworthy is the absence of Arabic. It is understood that this course is not included in the Nizamname, since the condition of knowing enough to understand Arabic at the entrance to the school is introduced.
  5. Students will be paid a full salary (scholarship) so that they can devote themselves solely to their studies.
  6. The tradition of students to go out and "beg" for money and food in order to preserve the "dignity and dignity" of teaching has been abolished (it will be discussed again shortly).
  7. Teaching and exams will be carried out seriously, no one will be treated with "favor", unsuccessful students will be expelled from the school.
  8. Hard-working students are allowed to finish school more than 3 years ago (again, with an exam).
  9. Graduation success grades and rank will be taken into account in the appointment of graduates.
  10. The graduates will be kept in the Darülmuallimin with their salaries to reinforce their knowledge until they are appointed to the task.
  11. A graduate who does not accept a vacant high school teacher's job will have his diploma taken from him and he will not be given a job in teaching or education again.

It is seen that this Regulation has been implemented for a period of at least 10 years without deterioration. One of the first graduates of the school, Selim Sabit Efendi (Hijri 1271 1854) states in his diploma that he only studied Teaching Methods and Mathematics in Arabic and Persian.

As can be seen below, Director Ahmet Cevdet Efendi made great efforts to prevent Darülmuallimi from being influenced by the madrasah. However, since the 1860s, the effects of the madrasah on this institution began to increase.

Nevertheless, it is observed that from time to time, officer teachers are appointed to teach the science lessons at the school. These teachers have made significant contributions to the development of education and training at school. For example, in 1859, Miralay Saffet Bey was appointed as Riyaziye (Mathematics) teacher with a salary of 1,000 kurus and he wrote a Geometry textbook to be taught at school. The number of officer teachers at the school increased even more in the following years, Major Ömer Efendi was appointed as the teacher of Riyaziye (Mathematics) in 1864-1865, Kolağası Arif Efendi was appointed as the teacher of Geography in 1872-1873, and Mirliva Hafız Pasha Riyaziye was appointed in 1874-1875. 

Again, in an article written by researcher Adnan Adıvar in 1948, the 100th anniversary of the Darülmuallimî, some of the madrasah-based students of this school, which he called "softas brought from right to left", were successful not only in social sciences but also in modern sciences, and even published books during their student years. they wrote! [10]

It was a remarkable educational practice for that period that the Ministry of Education brought course materials from Europe for science teaching in Darülmuallimin and laboratory work was carried out at school once a week.


Vocational Courses in Teacher Schools:

It was thought that there was no teaching method course in the program of Darülmuallimin, which was opened in 1848. Above, we saw Osman Ergin's “predictions” on this subject. However, with the Regulation dated 1851 that we published, it was revealed that such a course was the first course of the program.

However, it is a fact that in the following years, vocational courses were not given importance from time to time.


The Effects of Madrasah on Teachers' Schools:

The teacher schools opened during and after the Tanzimat period were more or less influenced by the madrasas in terms of the place of establishment, program, teachers, students. As we mentioned above, both the teachers and students of Darülmuallimin, which was opened in 1848, were transferred from the madrasahs. This has been a necessary path as there is no other source from which they can be obtained.

However, it should never be forgotten that Darülmuallimin is not affiliated with a madrasah, does not follow madrasah programs, and has a different purpose and work than madrasahs. It should also be remembered that the Principal Ahmet Cevdet Efendi made very important attempts to change the attitudes and behaviors of the students in the madrasah with the Regulations made in 1851. [12] Such thoughts may be one of the reasons why he did not take the Arabic course in the program. In addition, he abolished the tradition of 'going out of cerre', which the students used to come to this institution by transferring from the madrasahs, and even practiced in Darülmuallimin from 1848 to 1851. Since this subject is a very important innovation in the professional history of the Turkish teacher, it would be appropriate to dwell on it:

Ahmet Cevdet Efendi, one of the important elements of the madrasah order, went to the countryside (outside of Istanbul) to preach to the people, make them worship, and in return collect food, clothing, and money during the 'three months', which is called the 'three months'. described the practice as 'begging' and removed it. He also proved that he was a very forward-thinking educator by seeing the drawbacks of the 'cer' method, even though he was brought up in a madrasah, and alienating the students of Darülmuallimin from it. Thus, Ahmet Cevdet Efendi considered it necessary for the Darülmuallimin, which was opened outside the madrasah, to get rid of the attitudes and behaviors peculiar to the madrasah order and to become a new institution required by the teaching profession. This is an extremely important thought and practice in the professional history of the Turkish teacher.

Ahmet Cevdet Efendi prevented the students of Darülmuallimin from 'going out' by citing two reasons:

  1. The education of the students who spend a few months in the country due to 'Cer' is disrupted, and they even forget what they have learned. However, science is gained through constant and hard work; The greatest harm in learning science comes from letting it go.
  2. 'Going out and collecting provisions is 'begging' and this makes students lose the 'dignity and prudence' required for teaching, that is, dignity.

Ahmet Cevdet Efendi's preventing students from 'breaking up' in order to maintain the 'dignity and prudence' required for teaching was a brand new idea that was put forward very boldly and accurately at that time. This thought and practice is very valuable among the experiences and lessons that emerged from the history of Turkish education. This is probably the first opinion and practice that was put forward to determine the attitudes and behaviors of teachers and the characteristics required by the profession, while transitioning to non-medrese civic education and teacher training.

However, Darülmuallimin was again under the influence of the madrasah in the following years, and this was the case during the Second World War. It lasted until the constitutional period.


Opening of the First Male Teacher's School:

Tanzimat statesmen did not start the innovation in education from traditional primary schools and training teachers for them. Two of the most important reasons for this may be: a) The difficulty in achieving rapid success in this very comprehensive subject, b) The thought that the innovations in this field can be misunderstood in the society due to the fact that the primary schools are more influenced by religious traditions and habits.

However, an Instruction was issued for primary school teachers in 1847 and some arrangements were made here. [13] In summary, the most important innovations brought by this document in terms of the teaching profession, which is our subject, are as follows:

  • Inspectors will be appointed as assistants and guides to the primary school teachers, who will teach the teachers new and easy teaching methods and guide them. Thus, Tâlimat says that primary school teachers will receive some kind of in-service training and wants them to learn new methods.
  • Primary school teachers will still receive wages from the parents, but the State will also make the necessary contribution in terms of salary so that they can lead a decent life, etc.

The above items are very important developments that will strengthen the teachers of primary schools and thus the profession.

A teacher's school was opened in Beyazıt on November 15, 1868 to train male teachers for primary education.


Numerical Status of Teachers:

In-Service Training In 1871, there were a total of 200 students, 100 salaried and 100 unpaid students, in three branches of Darülmuallimi. It can be said that the Darülmuallimin's were insufficient to provide even the Rüşdiye school teachers, whose number exceeded 300 in the whole country in 1874.

Some developments in teacher training in the so-called Absolute (or Abdulhamid) period, which began in the 1878s, are as follows: 

In 1882, a practice school called “Darülameliyât” was opened in Istanbul and in primary schools in Üsküdar, Galata, Eyüp districts to show new teaching methods and to train talented teachers and to be accepted even those who want to learn these new methods from the teachers in traditional primary schools.

The training of primary school teachers in the countryside was started in Bosnia, Crete and Konya from 1875 onwards, and between 1882-1890 in Sivas, Bursa, Amasya, Kastamonu, Jerusalem, Trabzon, Edirne, and later in Thessaloniki, Kosovo, Manastır, Aydın, Schools were opened in Aleppo, Mamuretulaziz (Elazig), Erzurum, Mosul, Van and Bolu.


The Birth Of The Teaching Profession In The Contemporary Sense In Turkey



B: Vocational Awareness, Appointments of Teachers and Efforts to Protect the Profession in Darülmuallimin:

1. Legal Status of Teachers and Reaction to First Appointments from Outside of Profession


The opening of a school to train teachers in 1848 is a new understanding and a very important event in the history of Turkish education. Would Rüşdiye (middle school) teachers be appointed only from the graduates of this school? There is no provision in the Regulations (1851) of the school that we have published, that teachers can be appointed "from outside". In addition, other archival documents (1860-1861) that we have published definitely reveal that Darülmuallimin, which was opened in 1848, was initially seen as the only source of Rüşdiye teachers. These documents dated 1860-1861, which have great value in the history of the teaching profession in Turkey, are as follows: 

The first Minister of Education, Abdurrahman Sami Pasha, in 1860, arguing that "teachers are needed" and that "Darülmuallimîn graduates are insufficient in number and knowledge" and appointed teachers from outside of this school "by examination" to 8 (eight) middle schools outside of Istanbul.

Thereupon, the students and teachers of the Darülmuallimin submitted a petition to the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) and claimed that these appointments were illegal, contrary to the Regulations, and "injustice" was done to them.

In this petition, the students of Darülmuallimin demand the implementation of the provision in the Regulations of Darülmuallimin dated May 1, 1851. According to this provision, the graduates of this school will be appointed to the teachers of Rüşdiye schools. There is no provision in the regulation that teachers will be appointed to the Rüşdiyes in any way, even through exams, through other channels.

So, in December 1860, the students of Darülmuallimin claimed that an illegal action was taken on the basis of this regulation, and they claimed that no one other than themselves could be appointed to the Rüşdiye teachers, even with an examination, and that it was their right to teach in these schools.

According to the petition, the Rüşdiye schools, where teachers are appointed by examination from outside the students of Darülmuallimin, are located in the following cities: Hanya, Damascus, Aleppo, Bursa, Hisar. This is the last Afyonkarahisar, and the Rüşdiye school was opened there in 1275 (1858-1859). At that time (December 1860), exams were held for the appointment of external teachers to the Rüşdiye schools of the following cities: Biga, Izmit, Erzurum.

In fact, there is no provision in the Regulations of Darülmuallimin dated 1851 that teachers can be appointed other than the graduates of this school. This shows us that at that time, the entrance to the teaching profession was determined very accurately, in other words, the foundations of the profession were solidly laid. According to the regulation, the fact that the first course of the program is a teaching method course is a definite proof that teaching is seen as a profession.

In summary, students who are receiving vocational education to become teachers are trying to protect the profession against external appointments with this complaint petition they submitted to the Grand Vizier, and thus show a very important reaction. This is one of the most important and meaningful events of the teaching profession in Turkey.

As a result, in March 1861, the official authorities "legalized" this unfair way of appointment by putting a provision in the Regulations of this school that "until there is no need" and "temporarily" teachers can be appointed from outside the Darülmuallimîn.

Thus, since then, the way has been opened for the Ministry of Education to appoint non-vocational school graduates to the teaching profession, and a rationale has been found for 140 years: “There is a need!”

In March 1861, after an article was added to the Darülmuallimin Regulations for the first time, stating that teachers can be appointed from outside due to “need” and with the condition of “temporary”, this provision was reinforced by being included in the Regulation of Public Education dated 1869. Article 63 of this is as follows:

“Teachers who have studied at Darülmuallimin will have a right of priority (priority right) to other teachers (those who applied to become teachers without studying at Darülmuallimin) to become a teacher for the general school.” This statement leaves open the way of transition to teaching from other sources as well. The same provisions are valid for the graduates of Darülmuallimat, which is a girls' teacher's school (art. 76). Undoubtedly, such a path was deemed inevitable because teacher schools were far from meeting the needs. However, this right of priority, which allows entry to the profession from other sources, should be considered as one of the constant obstacles to the professionalization of teaching.


2. Introduction to the Teaching Profession in the Era of Absolutism:

During the Absolute (Abdülhamit) period, many people who were not graduates of teacher education were recruited into the teaching profession. These appointments were generally made for the İdadî schools, which are considered to be at the secondary education (High School) level. Although examinations are sometimes held in these appointments, direct recruitment is common.

In this period, the following two sources of external appointments to the teaching profession are important:


Civil School Graduates:

In the Absolute period, especially from the 1880s onwards, the graduates of the Civil Service were directly appointed to the education directorates of the provinces, mainly as İdadî principals and teachers. This situation was legalized by adding an article to the Civil Service School Regulation. According to our findings, 14 of the 55 people who graduated from the Civil Service School in 1889-1890 went to İzmir, Adana, Konya, Edirne etc. Principals or teachers were appointed to the İdadî schools in important cities such as the province of Aleppo. In addition, almost all of the Mulkiye graduates who had administrative duties were also teaching with additional duties. Private teachers and administrators have made great contributions to the innovation of education. 


Military School Graduates:

Apart from teacher schools, military school graduates have a special place among the appointments made to the profession from various sources. They taught the exact sciences, which started to take place in the programs, and they filled more than half of the teaching positions in schools at all levels, and this situation continued until the Republican period, with a decrease in the rate of military teachers. Since the military schools were far from the influence of the madrasah, their graduates were able to make positive contributions to the innovations in civilian schools.

During the Absolutism period, a very important Instruction was issued for the professionalization of teaching. This document is one of the most positive educational work in the Absolutism era. The main provisions of this document, titled Instruction on the Establishment of a Vocational Specialization in Teaching, are as follows: 

"The following conditions are set for entry to the teaching profession: 1. To be of good moral and behavior 2. Not to be engaged in any other duty or civil service than teaching duty 3. To adhere to the course to be given to oneself and to adhere to specialization."

As can be seen, with these provisions, very important conditions have been introduced for the professionalization of teaching in terms of appointment to teaching. These conditions retain their value even today.

The instruction also determined the subject groups that are related to each other, and introduced the principle that teachers can only attend classes within these groups.

A provision in the Education Yearbook dated Hijri 1316 (1898-1899) is also very important. This reveals that the principle expressed as "teaching is the main thing in the profession" at the beginning of the Republican era has been adopted and expressed before in our education history. The provision in the Yearbook dated 1316 is as follows:

“Those who graduate from Darülmuallimin will first advance in the teaching class (profession) and then be appointed to an appropriate task such as İdadî schools and education directorates. But for this promotion, five years of good service in teaching is essential.” As can be seen, this provision states that the duty of education administrator will be given to teachers under certain conditions, which has always been the case since then.


C. Opening of New Secondary Education Institutions for Women and Training of a New Type of Teacher:


Newly Opened Schools for Girls:

The first Rüşdiye for girls was opened in Istanbul in January 1859. It was also called Cevri Usta (Kalfa) İnas Junior High School, Sultanahmet (Horse Square) Kız High School.

In those years, boys and girls in primary schools were separated from each other and started to study in separate schools. This practice was first initiated with the April 1847 Order.

It was planned that the building of the Cevri Usta Primary School, which was built in 1819-1820, was also reserved for girls and brought to the secondary school level. The Ministry of Education sent a memorandum to the Grand Viziership (Prime Ministry) and asked for permission for this initiative. 

In this article, the Ministry of Education said that “the happiness of every state and nation depends on the salvation of its people from ignorance” and added that this can only be achieved if children receive a good education. The views of the Ministry on the education of girls were as follows: In the neighborhood (sibyan) schools, mixed education between boys and girls has been provided so far. There are some drawbacks to this. Apart from this, education cannot be done as desired. For this reason, it would be appropriate to open a separate school for girls (as well as for boys) and to provide education by "appointing reliable and qualified teachers".


Girls Teacher's School Darülmuallimat:

Although the establishment of the Rüşdiye schools, which were at a higher level than primary education for girls' education, in 1859 was a very important development in the history of Turkish education, as in other examples, a logical priority was not taken into account. The same path was followed when Rüşdiye schools were opened for boys in 1839. Namely, where would teachers be provided for these "new" schools? Teachers trained with a "new" mindset and "new" knowledge were expected to be appointed here. The training of teachers for these schools could be dealt with after about 10 years, so in 1848 Darülmuallimîn was opened to provide teachers for male Rüşdiyes, and a girls' teacher's school named Darülmuallimat was opened in 1870 to provide female teachers for girls' middle schools and girls' primary schools.

In the first years, "old and good moral male teachers" were appointed because there was not enough number and quality of female teachers for girls' middle schools. Muslim and non-Muslim female teachers (masters) were employed only for some handicraft lessons such as sewing and embroidery.

However, it was thought that the teachers of the girls, who were now at the age of being young girls in the Girls' Middle School, must be women. Because they were now at the age of veiling (veiling).

The Maarif-i Umumiye Nizamnamesi, published in September 1869, also stipulated that a teacher's school (Darülmuallimat) would be opened for girls and introduced detailed regulations.

Preparations were made immediately for the opening of the girls' teacher training school. A wooden mansion was rented on Yerebatan street in Sultanahmet, Istanbul and organized as a school building. Advertisements were also placed in newspapers to provide students and teachers.

In one of these advertisements, dated October 1869, it was stated that those who would apply should "be highly literate in Turkish".


Opening of Darülmuallimat:

Darülmuallimat was opened on Tuesday, April 26, 1870, with a speech by Education Minister Saffet Pasha. At the opening, senior education administrators and officials, teachers and students of the school were present.

Since the speech of Education Minister Saffet Pasha is interesting in many respects and is an important document of our history of female teachers, it would be useful to translate it exactly into today's language:

“As women are worthy of all kinds of respect due to their nature, it is necessary to pay attention to their education. Because a child is under the education of his mother until he starts school from the cradle, and during this time, what he hears settles in the minds of the children as there is nothing to occupy their minds. For this reason, it is clear that mothers have a great share in the education of their children.

“Just as men need to acquire knowledge and skills, women also need to adorn their beauty with various knowledge and their adornments. In the past, women who knew the subtleties of literature and poets emerged from the Islamic ladies; their names are written in literary works; they are famous for their intelligence, superior understanding and knowledge. Many poets and writers have grown up in Europe and their respected works are still being read.

“Although men and women of eastern countries are able to learn all kinds of social and positive sciences in terms of personal intelligence and talent and to advance all kinds of professions and arts, they have been left behind in these fields until now, especially women have not been able to get their share from education, only because of their educational opportunities. caused by its absence. Because, until now, there were no secondary schools for women in the Ottoman Empire, so girls continued to attend primary schools until they were eight or ten years old, staying long enough to read the charcoal (marked) text, and some learned to read some religious texts at home. There was no school for them further than that, so the poor girls would have stayed like this.

“However, there is no obstacle for women to embellish their creation by learning science, and the hadith 'to learn science is obligatory for every Muslim, male and female' requires women to study like men. There can be no doubt that women who have received a good education and know the state of the world will always consider it their foremost duty to protect their honor and dignity. There is a lot of art and knowledge that women's veiling is never an obstacle to earning their living by doing them. Although hundreds of thousands of girls and married women in Europe earn their living by doing various handicrafts at home, it is regrettable that Islamic women do not do such things and are deprived of any financial gain.

“As there were no schools for girls in Istanbul, they were studying with boys. There were some drawbacks in this, and last year, boys and girls were separated, and thanks to our education-loving Sultan, 7 girls' middle schools were opened in various parts of Istanbul. However, since their teachers are male, girls over the age of 9 and 10 will not be able to stay in these schools for more than two years on the grounds of covering. However, it is clear that they will not be able to acquire sufficient knowledge in two years. For this reason, the ability of girls to stay in girls' primary schools for 4 years depends on their teachers being women.

“From now on, it was necessary to establish a Darülmuallimat in order to train women teachers for both primary and secondary schools, and this issue was included in the Regulations of the General Education. Today, this is the school that we have opened with the wish of good luck. Later, other classes will be opened to train female teachers for non-Muslim girls' schools, and necessary teachers will be provided. This Darülmuallimat is one of the highest institutions of our Sultan and will provide endless benefits to the education of women. It is our duty to pray at every moment for the increase in the life and glory of our Sultan due to this great success.”

At that time, the Ottoman Sultan was Abdulaziz (1861-1876). Courses of Darülmuallimat The first program of Darülmuallimat included the following courses:

Mebâdi-i Ulum-ı Diniye and Morality, Kavâid-i Language and Construction, Account, Embroidery and Ameliyât-t Hiyatiye, Painting, Calligraphy and Nesih, History-i Osmani, Geography. In 1873-1874, Rik'a letter was given and a year later Music lesson. This last course was not included in the program at the beginning with the idea that it "prevents students from being interested in more important and useful courses".

In 1874-1875, a course called Tâlim-i Elifba was given to the 3rd year of Darülmuallimat. This is a special teaching method course in the sense of 'teaching the alphabet and literacy'. Thus, although there was not a more general teaching method course called Usûl-i Tedris in those years, a special education course was included in the programs.

Ayşe Sıdıka Hanım has an important place in the establishment and development of the Usûl-i Tedris, that is, Teaching Methods course and in the education of girls. Ayşe Sıdıka Hanım, who is the daughter of a ulema, studied at the Zapyon Greek Girls' High School in Beyoğlu and was appointed to Darülmuallimat as a Geography, Ethics and Handicraft teacher upon the will of Sultan Abdülhamit. In his will, the Sultan said for him to "teach his citizens what he has learned until he dies". Ayşe Sıdıka Hanım saw the lack of a pedagogy course in this vocational school as a deficiency and suggested to the Ministry of Education to introduce such a course. The Ministry took this suggestion into consideration, and included the Usûl-i Tedris course in the program and gave her teaching to Ayşe Sıdıka Hanım. After she taught this course for five years, she wrote a textbook in 1897 with the title of Usûl-i Tâlim ve Terbiye Dersleri. Book, It consisted of the information he taught in his classes and the quotations he made from books in the West. This is one of our first educational science books. In summary, Ayşe Sıdıka Hanım is our first female educational scientist and writer. In the first sentence of the aforementioned book, she says, “the most accurate criterion of the measure of a country's civilization is the level of education of women.” Ayşe Sıdıka Hanım died in 1903 at the age of 32.

In the program of Darülmuallimat dated 1895, the subjects of Usûl-i Tedris and Administration-i Mekatip were to be covered in the course of Usûl-i Tedris. These are about getting to know children, teaching methods, school management, etc. are subjects. Here, it is an important development that a course called Administration-i Mekatip (School Management) is included in the school.

Their teacher is Emin Efendi, the first Director of Darülmuallimat. Musa Efendi taught religion and ethics, and İsmail Efendi taught calculus and geography. The writing teachers were Hacı Raşit for Sülüs and Arif Efendiler for Rik'a. The embroidery teachers were Hatçe Hanım and Madam Armik, and the painting teacher was Madam Balker. 

Since the 1880s, the number of female educators has started to increase in both the administrative staff and the teaching staff at the Darülmuallimat. [22] In the 1882-1883 academic year, 4 out of 4 teachers in the Sıbyan branch and 3 out of 7 teachers in the Rüşdiye branch were women. Moreover, these teachers have started to attend not only vocational courses but also theoretical courses. The fact that Nakiye Hanım attended the History-i Osmani course on the same date shows this. Especially towards the beginning of the 1900s, with the appointment of Darülmuallimat graduates as teachers in their own schools, female teachers had an absolute majority in the school. As a matter of fact, in 1897-1898, there were 18 female teachers as permanent and additional staff, compared to 6 male teachers, including the Principal.

His administration made the following provision in Article 71 of the Maarif-i Umumiye Regulation of 1869: “Darülmuallimat will have a female principal and a female teacher for various lessons, an embroidery master and two maids. Teachers can be appointed from men, provided that they are old and decent until they are trained as desired from women.”

As we mentioned above, the appointment of female teachers was accepted as the basis for the girls' Middle Schools and Istanbul Darülmuallimat opened after the Tanzimat, and for the Darülmuallimats opened in the provinces. It was also a sought-after qualification for male teachers to be “ugly”. At least 40 years was understood by the terms “old” and “maturity age” at that time. This practice, which found its legal source regarding the appointment of teachers to girls' schools in the 71st article of the General Education Regulations dated 1869, II. Constitutional period (1908-1918) lasted until the middle.

Who is the first female Director of Darülmuallimat and when was she appointed? According to the State Yearbook dated 1299 Hijri, Fatimatuzzehra Hanım appears as the Director in November 1881. This means that he was appointed just before, probably in the 1880-1881 school year. The authors of the work, which was published in 1933 with the title of İstanbul Girls' Teachers' School-Darülmuallimat, write that Fatımatüzzehra Hanım "started to work" as a director in the 1879-1880 academic year. It can be thought that those who prepared this work in 1933 had reached the first and solid information and documents at that time. Osman Ergin also benefited from this source and gave the date 1879-1880.

As we just mentioned above, the 1869 Maarif-i Umumiye Regulation, published 7 months before Darülmuallimat was opened in 1870, decreed that this school would have a “female Director”. We have seen in the above paragraph that such a female Director was appointed for the first time before November 1881.

However, in the Darülmuallimat Instruction published in July 1895 during the reign of Abdülhamit, it was stated that the school would have a "male Principal" and "a female principal in his entourage". According to this Instruction, the female Principal will "never interfere" in the external affairs and correspondence of the school, and in the internal affairs of the school, "he shall certainly not engage in any small or large practice without the approval of the male Principal".

Thus, the 1895 Ordinance designated the position of the female Director as lower than that of the male Director, greatly restricted her administrative powers and duties, and clearly stated that the real management and powers belonged to the male Director. In our opinion, these provisions are a sign of a mentality that goes further back than the General Education Regulation, which was published 26 years ago.

Students and Graduates of Darülmuallimat were all “daytime” students.

Darülmuallimat gave its first graduates in 1873. Exams started on 27 June. There were 21 students in the last year (3rd grade). One of them did not take the exam, the other three remained to make up. Thus, 17 women graduated from Darülmuallimat for the first time. The exam was made from the following courses. 

Arabic, Persian, Account, Geography, History, Construction, Rik'a, Thuluth, Embroidery, Painting.

Hafız Fethiye from Üsküdar took the first place with full marks in each course and was deemed worthy of an extraordinary award. Two other students also won awards, and three students also won zikr-i cemil (various student awards).

The youngest of the first graduates of Darülmuallimat was 14 years old and the oldest 30 years old. These first graduates were appointed as teachers to girls' schools in Istanbul. II. During the reign of Abdülhamit, in parallel with the general quantitative developments in education, significant efforts were made on the education of girls. As a matter of fact, the number of girls' primary schools spread throughout the country during this period reached 74, thus increasing the number of girls who had the opportunity to study at the primary level of secondary education. There were also improvements in the curriculum of Darülmuallimat and in the number of students.

Parallel to this increase, the number of graduates of the school increased each year, reaching a total of 381 until the 1901-1902 academic year. This means that an average of 12 women graduated from Darülmuallimat every year as teachers until then. These numerical data are, without a doubt, very insufficient in the face of the country's need for female teachers. However, female teachers who graduated from Darülmuallimat in those years were the leading factors in the spread of girls' Rüşdiye schools and the increase in the schooling rates of girls both at the level of girls' primary school and girls' primary school.


Introduction to the Teaching Profession:

The opening of a teacher's school called Darülmuallimat for girls in 1870 is a very important event in the history of Turkish education. 22 years ago, in 1848, a teacher's school was opened for boys with the name Darülmuallimin.

Would teachers now be appointed only from graduates of these schools? The answer to this question, which is very closely related to the professionalization of teaching, was explained just above when we were talking about the appointment of teachers and the right of priority for Darülmuallimin graduates.


Conclusion and General Evaluation:


A number of very important conclusions emerge from the explanations we have made above regarding the emergence of the teaching profession in the modern sense in Turkey. We summarize some of them below:

When a teacher's school named Darülmuallimin was opened for the first time on March 16, 1848, the authorities who initiated this initiative had the belief that education was a science and that teaching was a profession based on knowledge of education and teaching methods. This thought led to the birth of the modern teaching profession in Turkey. Then, it is necessary to evaluate teacher training and appointments over a period of 150 years, by looking at whether this criterion is applied or not.

The fact that Darülmuallimin was initially under the influence of the madrasah cannot make one forget some of his admirable goals and practices. These are that the director of the institution, Ahmet Cevdet Efendi, who prepared the regulation dated May 1, 1851, put the Education and Teaching Methods course as the first lesson in this school, gave priority to quality in teacher training, and brought and defended the principle of the dignity of the teacher. He laid the foundations of the teaching profession with this regulation and emphasized that the teacher's school is a school for a new understanding and a profession, apart from the madrasah.

The first appointment of those who were not trained as teachers to the profession took place in 1860. It was Abdurrahman Sami Pasha, the first Minister of Education, who paved the way. The two main justifications put forward by the official authorities that paved the way for the appointment of those who were not trained as teachers are as follows:

Inadequate number of teacher school students.

Some of the teachers' school students are not competent in terms of knowledge.

  1. Over time, these two reasons have generally remained valid, although external appointments have been made to the profession for other reasons.
  2. The appointment of those who were not trained as teachers to the profession was initially made on a "temporary" basis, but as it is often seen, this temporary situation has been extremely "permanent".
  3. In 1860, when teachers were recruited from outside for the first time, the shortage of teachers for Rüşdiye schools, which Darülmuallimi claimed could not meet, is so few that it can be counted with the fingers of both hands. So this was a very easy problem to solve. The number of students of Darülmuallimi could be increased and the quality could be increased, and the way of appointing teachers from outside could not be opened.
  4. However, an unexpected and well-intentioned practice of Ahmet Cevdet Efendi, who made the 1851 Regulation, was effective in opening the way for the Ministry to recruit teachers from outside. Because that teacher reduced the number of students in order to improve the quality of his school. That was true, but not good planning.
  5. Even a near future could not be foreseen, and it was not thought that Rüşdiye schools would increase in number in a short time. Thus, the "first planning" in the field of training sufficient number of qualified teachers could not be done successfully.

  6. The reaction of the students of Darülmuallimin against the appointment of teachers from outside for the first time is admirable; This indicates that they have a strong professional awareness.
  7. With the opening of a girls' teacher's school named Darülmuallimat in 1870, the modern teaching profession begins for women: Thus, the state now undertakes to train female teachers with professional formation in a vocational formal education institution, in an orderly, disciplined, systematic manner, and for the women who are trained in this way. He works in the status of "officer".
  8. However, if the legal texts did not impose various restrictions on the salary of female teachers and their ability to be school administrators, the teaching profession would undoubtedly be more enviable for women, which would facilitate faster and wider schooling for girls in general. Because there would be many successful and effective female school administrators and models in front of them.
  9. One of the factors limiting the success of teacher schools for many years is that they usually teach in old, rented buildings and move from one building to another. The fact that the state did not provide these institutions with a suitable educational environment in terms of buildings limited their influence and success.
  10. While it is necessary to learn the valuable lessons from the Turkish education history and to implement a policy of training and appointing more qualified teachers every day, it is surprising that tens of thousands of young people were given a superficial education by means of "accelerated" or "training teachers by letter" in the 1970s. This is the result of the authorities not making a good teacher training and appointment planning. Thus, the appointment of 50 thousand unemployed university graduates as primary school teachers in 1996 without even taking an exam is an inconceivable practice. As a result, in 2001, the variety of sources from which primary school teachers come from has increased to 433! However, the National Education Basic Law of 1973 defines teaching as a “specialized profession” (art. 43). To the very important teaching profession, where everyone is made capable, Acting with the idea of ​​providing teachers for cheap, quick and sometimes political purposes not only damaged the teaching profession, but also lowered the quality of general education and training. However urgent and great the need may be, it can never justify the training and appointment of unqualified teachers. The urgent and great need, however, requires very good and consistent planning and implementation in a timely manner. In other words, the "need" reason put forward by the state for external appointments in 1860 still cannot be asserted in 2002, that is, 142 years later!
  11. In addition, the strengthening of the profession cannot be achieved only with appropriate teacher training and appointment policies. The economic and social status of the profession should be strengthened as soon as possible.


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