The European Union and the Modernization of the Turkish Education ...

Chapter 1

Research Overview

1.1. Introduction

Turkey has been pursuing a project of modernization for at least 2 centuries. Since the 1980s, the thrust of the project has systematically and exclusively focused the country toward Westernization. This direction has as its goal Turkey’s acceptance as an official member of the European Union. Toward this end, Turkey initiated programs beginning with the Kemalist-led revolution’s (1923) transition from traditional Ottoman-Islamic institutions and values to those of the West (Eskicumali, 1994). A central element of this concept has been to employ the national education system as the long-term vehicle for restructuring Turkish society through reforms that would create a better and modern country that corresponds with the secularism of other European nations.

The overall societal goal, coupled with using the education system as the pathway for change to achieve the goal of entering the European Union, requires Turkey to configure its education system in accordance with the education standards of the European Union.