Education at Atatürk’s Speeches and Statements

Abstract

The Turkish Enlightenment process started in the last century of Ottoman Empire and become
more distinctive along with the changeover to a Turkish Republic in 1920s. Certainly, education took an
important part in this enlightenment process. The basic purpose of education is to create an ideal Turkish
community, which could catch up basics of modern life, think critically, consult scientific knowledge and
experiments, be open-minded, fully rational and foresighted. This purpose underlines different philosophical
assumptions of political and educational authorities of the era. This paper examines Atatürk’s thoughts about
education by analyzing his speeches. The findings indicated that education occupied a broad part in his political
leadership. The results suggested that, in addition to major political, social and economic issues, Ataturk showed
a deep concern about the progress of the country in education. As a result, in his speeches, he proposed
comments addressing major educational policy and educational philosophy issues such as principles of Turkish
Educational System, educational planning, educational reform, teacher training and purposes of education. These
results verified the key role attributed to education in the construction of the new Republic of Turkey’s identity