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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION, THE VILLAGE INSTITUTES SYSTEM IN TURKEY AND ITS ART EDUCATION COMPONENT DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Ahmet F. Korur, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2002 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Arthur Efland, Adviser Professor Michael Parsons Adviser Professor Patricia Stuhr Art Education Graduate Program Professor Terry Barrett Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 3049056 _ ___ _® UMI UMI Microform 3049056 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The Village Institutes were intended to a) educate villagers, b) train village teachers and technical personnel, c) introduce villagers to new technologies and professions d) develop the economy and the cultural and artistic environment of the village. The main characteristic of the Village Institutes system was democratic and free education through work and artistic activities, which instilled in students such characteristics as honesty, courage, respect for human rights, and self-confidence. The founder of the Institutes Ismail Hakki Tongu? believed that art concerning the realm of human emotions and feelings and science concerning the shape of the universe constitute the two essential components of education. They are not ends in themselves, but means to foster creativity in children and to allow them to recognize the human qualities. In this sense, artistic and scientific studies need to go hand in hand. Productive work in educational setting involves aspects of both science and art and best fosters the creativity of the child. This system designed primarily to train village teachers created in ten years a generation out of children that came from the most impoverished regions of Turkey : a generation interested in the arts, literature and science and able to build schools, canals, and bridges, and cultivate the soil. Ironically, their success caused the wrath of ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. certain power centers in Turkey, which looked upon the Institutes and their graduates with great suspicion from the beginning. The political constituency supported by the remnants of the feudal structure and the fundamentalist religious and conservative circles came to power in 1950. This conservative and rightist political constituency immediately began to destroy one by one the achievements of the Turkish Republic. The revolutionary institutions of the Republic such as the Village Institutes and the People’s Houses were to be their first target. Thus, the People’s Houses and the Village Institutes were closed down in 1953, their belongings were confiscated; their libraries, studios, press machines, and archives were destroyed. However, 60 years later the Village Institutes system continues to intrigue Turkish educators and intellectuals with its unique and unconventional aspects and methods that gave unprecedented results. m Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedicated to my family iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank to thank to my adviser Dr. Arthur Efland for his patience throughout my dissertation study and for his wonderful support and understanding. I also wish to thank to my other members of committee, Dr. Michael Parsons, Dr. Patricia Stuhr and Dr. Barrett for their kindness, support and unique teaching styles. I have learned great deal from them about art, art education and teaching. I am especially indebted to Dr. Stuhr for her kind interest in and profound contribution to my professional and personal development. I also would like to express my gratitude for my parents and my two brothers for their ongoing support during my studies in America. My father Ali Ihsan Korur’s broad knowledge on the issue has provided me a unique perspective to analyze my research data. I am also grateful to my countrymen who supported my studies abroad for years. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VITA April 05,1963................ Bom - Izmir, Turkey 199 1................................ B.A Painting Dokuz Eylul University 199 2.................................M.A Painting Dokuz Eylul University 1992-1994....................... Research Assistant, Dokuz Eylul University 1996.................................M.A Painting California State University 2001-2002....................... Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Art Education Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Dedication......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. v Vita.....................................................................................................................................vi Chapters: 1. Introduction............................................................................................................1 General state of education in today’s Turkey..................................................... 2 Statement of purpose.............................................................................................8 Four essential components of culture................................................................ 10 Unspoken official language ottoman................................................................. 11 Goals of Turkish education.................................................................................12 Principle of learning by doing.............................................................................14 Language and literature education in the village institutes ...............................15 An alternative to centralized education .............................................................. 17 2. Method.................................................................................................................21 Historical research and the role of the historian............................................... 21 Historical methodology and data gathering...................................................... 23 Sources for data...................................................................................................26 Witness psychology and neutrality....................................................................28 Secondary sources...............................................................................................29 Control of data: internal and external criticism................................................ 30 Reliability of the writer....................................................................................