Policies and practices for the professionalization of the teaching profession in the late Ottoman Empire (1839-1920)

Abstract

Studies in the context of the professionalisation of the teaching profession in Turkey mainly focus on policies and practices for teacher training in the Republican Period. However, the practices and policies in the last period of the Ottoman Empire for training modern teachers, which have an extensive historical background for the professionalisation of the teaching profession, have not been analysed within a holistic framework. Based on this deficiency, the present study discussed the professionalisation process of the teaching profession in the Ottoman Empire. In this direction, the aim of the present study is to evaluate the teacher training policies and practices for modern civilian schools in the Ottoman Empire by analysing them in terms of professionalisation of the teaching profession. Five criteria were determined that indicate the professionalisation process of the teaching profession in the Ottoman Empire. In line with these criteria, it has been understood that important steps have been taken towards the professionalisation of teaching in the late Ottoman Empire. Efforts towards establishing specific criteria for entering the profession, the methods applied for the professional development of teachers, the increase in the roles and competencies of educators/teachers in subjects related to teaching, the possibility for teachers to form professional organisations and, finally, improvement in the social status of the teaching profession were the important steps taken in the last period of the Ottoman Empire. Study data included archive documents, regulations, and ordinances concerning the teaching profession, advertisements, and news or articles about the teaching profession in the press of the period. The historical method was used for this study.