| Chapter 2: | Historical Framework |
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What made the Kemalist transformation effort different from previous efforts was actually the radical notion of disposing all traditional institutions and lifestyles and the adoption of Western institutions and values in their place. But some of the reforms were actively opposed by various segments of the population, a portent of future initiatives with different goals. Ataturk undertook perhaps his most difficult task, which was to alter the mentality of Turkish people, because he believed that the essence of modernity lay in the minds of people. Only by instilling in the common people a sense of national consciousness, identity, and patriotism could the new political and social order survive and be secure (Eskicumali, 1994). This desire to change in mentality becomes the core concept for reshaping Turkish society in preparation for EU membership years later.
Both the nationalism of the modern state of Turkey and the role of education in establishing the standards and attitudes of that new nation are significant. The former, at least in part, becomes an impediment to EU integration, while the latter becomes the recognized vehicle of choice for changing the mentality of the Turkish people, readying the population for community citizenship as when Turkey becomes an EU member.
2.3.1. Kemalism, Post-Kemalism, and Education
Education played a vital role in changing a traditional social structure into a Western pattern. Kemalists (who follow Kemalism as a political path) relied on education to inculcate the necessary values and attitudes in the minds of Turkish youths so that they would uphold the republic, protect its independence, and continue the process of modernization. As a result, the establishment of a modern secular education system and the availability of it to every section of the society became one of the main modernizing goals of the Kemalist government. Only through a completely modern education system could a traditional society, together with its concepts and institutions, accomplish the transformation to a modern-national state (Eskicumali, 1994). Therefore, it was important for Turkey to be part of the EU with a modern education system.
As part of the great task of a new education system, the Turkish curriculum was restructured to cultivate a political, social, and cultural transformation of the society.