Preparation of future philologist teachers in the Republic of Turkey: historical and pedagogical aspects

Abstract

The key stages of the establishment and development of higher teacher education in the Republic of Turkey have been substantiated in the article on the basis of historical and educational analysis. The first historical stage covers the period from the opening of the first university-type higher education institution till the democratic transformations in the country in early XX century. The second stage is that of the contemporary history of the development of the national higher teacher education system of the Republic of Turkey. The chronological range of this stage includes the period from the start of the democratic transformations in the country till the major geopolitical changes that took place in the 1990s. The third stage is the creation of the unified European educational space, starting from the major geopolitical changes of the 1990s. The author has singled out the peculiarities of the development of the higher teacher education system in the Republic of Turkey at certain historical stages. The effect of the key state bills on higher education reform has been considered; the changes to have taken place in teachers’ university training (unification, autonomy and freedom, competitiveness and funding) have been studied. A quantitative analysis on the growth of Turkish universities as a positive aspect of the establishment of higher teacher education in the Republic of Turkey has been carried out. Turkey is the only Muslim country to participate in the creation of the European educational space, being interested in retaining its own national and cultural identity on the one hand and in using the experience of European countries in the modernization of tertiary teacher education in the Republic of Turkey on the other hand. The modern stage of development of the sphere of teacher education in the Republic of Turkey involves significant changes: the structural renewal, modernization of content and methods of teachers’ training, the implementation of new forms of connection between the professional training of a teacher and the education system and greater interaction between the national teacher training systems of various countries.