Georg Kerschensteiner's influence on the pedagogical thought of the Early Republic era in Turkiye

Abstract

Georg Kerschensteiner (1854–1932) was a world-renowned proponent of the work school concept (die Arbeitsschule). His educational philosophy was adopted not only in Europe but also in other parts of the world, both in the fields of primary school and vocational education. This study aims to analyse how Georg Kerschensteiner’s views on vocational education, civic education, work school, and teaching were interpreted and adopted by the Early Republican period Turkish pedagogical thinking. Moreover, it aims to scrutinise the impact of his pedagogy on educational practices. In the post1908 period, in particular, concepts such as work-based education and applied education played an important role in the establishment of the idea of work education. With the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, Turkish administrators adopted such vocational school principles as the official pedagogical guidelines for its primary schools. During this period, Georg Kerschensteiner’s publications were translated into Turkish, and his work school gained an increasingly important place in Turkish pedagogy. Turkish educators such as Halil F. Kanad, İsmail H. Tonguç, and Hıfzırrahman R. Öymen played an important role in the adoption of his ideas. The Kerschensteinerian approach to education was more directly applied to teacher education in Türkiye, particularly between 1935 and 1954.