Relationships between Dewey’s Pragmatism and Early Times of Turkish Education System

Beginning in the late Ottoman period through the first decades of the Republic, Turkey (and Ottoman) experienced a series of significant changes in educational policy and practice aimed at improving the quality of education and underwriting the modernization of Turkish society. One of the most significant outside influences on this process, especially after the inauguration of the Republic of Turkey, was American pragmatism. Pragmatism was introduced into the country and popularized by the visit of the great American pragmatist philosopher, John Dewey— then at the height of his international fame as a proponent of progressive, democratic education—who was asked by Turkish officials to assess the country’s educational system and offer his recommendations for its improvement. The result of his three-month visit was an important indicator of influence of pragmatic educational philosophy on the development of Turkish educational system. This historical and philosophical analysis will trace the influence of pragmatism on Turkish education from the “village institutes” of the 1930s and 1940s through its height of influence in the 1950s to its lasting influences on the goals and principles of contemporary Turkish education.