Philanthropy or Hegemony: American Presence in Turkish Higher Education in a Historical Context

Date

2018-10-18

Author

Yorgun, İbrahim

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

390
views

0
downloads

Historically European education systems such as French and German densely influenced Turkish Higher Education in late 19th century and early 20th century when compared to the American. In fact, beneath the surface of the iceberg American presence in education system was as influential as the others. While the French and the German influence was partly due to Ottoman political bilateral relations with these countries; Washington extensively made use of the missionaries and disguised them in education, health and anything under benevolence and regardless of Ottoman communities, Muslim or non-Muslim. Throughout time it well understood that Americans were as destructive as the Europeans in various walks of life including but not limited to the institutions and the system of Turkish Higher Education. The mentioned timeline corresponded to a transitional period from the Ottoman Empire to the birth of modern Turkish Republic. Contrary to the understanding and applications of the Ottoman Porte, Turkish Republic under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's guidance was very cautious towards the pacific penetration of foreign education systems, traits or experts to Turkey; in other words it was a very balanced approach not to let a kind of supremacy of any foreign country such the United States in the New Republic in spite of the long lasting remarks of John Dewey and alike. However, this balanced approached was abandoned during Democrat Party rule and Washington became the dominant power in socio-cultural life. Constituting a significant part in social life, Turkish Higher Education with its land grant university system, to a certain extent, was copied and transformed Turkey with generous donations and grants of the American Foundations (Ford, Rockefeller etc.) established by wealthy businessman to the Turkish education system as well as with several state apparatus programs like Fulbright, AFS, Eisenhower scholarships to Turkish intellectuals, the country desperately needed not just for personal developments but for the country's future. This was an interesting period when American educational experts outnumbered their counterparts invited from other countries. This historical trajectory and the discussion will shed light on how the Turkish Higher Education has evolved to its current status.

Subject Keywords

Missionaries, Educational experts, American Foundations

URI

http://www.ihec-conference.com/program/2018/ihec-2018-abstracts.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/76142

Conference Name

The 3rd International Higher Education Studies, (11-13 October 2018)

Collections

Department of Music and Fine Arts, Conference / Seminar

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Gender representations and gender bias in elt textbooks published in the Middle East : a case study of elt textbooks published in Turkey and Iran Skliar, Olga S; Eröz Tuğa, Betil; Department of English Language Teaching (2007) In addition to general knowledge on the official curriculum subjects, including the English language, schools convey multiple cultural and ideological meanings, playing a significant role in the processes of socialization and cultural reproduction. The function of school textbooks as powerful agents of socialization is realized through the texts and visuals in the content. Locally issued ELT materials, written in English by local authors, comprise a combination of local and foreign social meanings. Positive...
Action Research on Multiple Intelligences Based Instruction in Pre-school Foreign Language Classes Arca, Dilek; Akar, Hanife; Department of Curriculum and Instruction (2013) Foreign language education has always been a controversial issue among the educators in terms of methods and techniques and age to start the foreign language education. There are numerous studies in these methods and techniques and Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory (MIT) is one of them. For the view of the age factor, the studies suggest that learning a foreign language is easier and more successful at young ages. However, there is little research in Turkey focusing on foreign language education in early c...
Challenges of English Language Teaching in High Schools in Turkey and Possible Suggestions to Overcome Them Demir Ayaz, Aycan; ÖZTURAN, TUBA (2019-01-01) The English language curriculum prepared by the Ministry of National Education for high schools in Turkey seems to be satisfactory in theory, but the related studies about the attitudes of actual practitioners towards English classes in high schools are not detailed and comprehensive enough. This study aims to fill this gap. To do so, qualitative research was conducted with 13 English language teachers and 55 high school students from different parts of Turkey. They were asked for their opinions, applicatio...
Exploring technology integration approaches and practices of preservice and in-service english language teachers Akcaoğlu, Mete; Eröz Tuğa, Betil; Department of English Literature (2008) In this study, three aspects of technology integration in English Language Teaching within the context of private universities in Ankara, Turkey were investigated. Firstly, preservice and in-service teachers’ computer usage frequencies/types, computer competence levels, perceived barriers to technology integration and attitudes toward computers were explored. Then, factors (age, gender, work experience, institutional factors being preservice or in-service) that might potentially affect the findings of the f...
Gender representations in ELT coursebooks : a comparative study YIlmaz, Elvan; Enginarlar, Hüsnü; Department of English Language Teaching (2012) In all educational institutions ELT coursebooks are used as a guide to teach the language. However, the role of a coursebook as an agent of socialization and its effect on the development of gender roles is usually underestimated. Gender biased coursebooks might affect the learners in a negative way in the process of gender socialization. Most coursebook writers revise the first editions of the coursebooks in order to modernize them and to meet the needs of the learners in a changing world. The aim of this ...

Citation Formats

İ. Yorgun, “Philanthropy or Hegemony: American Presence in Turkish Higher Education in a Historical Context,” presented at the The 3rd International Higher Education Studies, (11-13 October 2018), Kayseri, Türkiye, 2018, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://www.ihec-conference.com/program/2018/ihec-2018-abstracts.pdf.