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

Therefore, the current study examines the reconstruction of Turkish history/social studies curriculum and assesses how well the program conforms to the established EU directions and norms. The purpose of this study is to reconcile the issues of Turkish accession, the implementation of European Union education standards and policies, the influence of political change (with regard to the EU) on history/social studies texts in Turkey, and the differences between traditional pedagogy and curricular reforms for the whole of Turkish education.

1.2. Research Rationale

In general, history as a school subject has traditionally assumed the role of inculcating or reinforcing national identity, national consciousness, and political values (Maw, 1991; Weinbrenner, 1990). International research shows that curriculum and textbooks are significant vehicles for the transmission of values that project the ideology of the state (Apple, 1989; Banks, 1995; Carnoy & Samoff, 1990; Giroux & Penna, 1979; Jansen, 1990). “The history textbook is a political forum in which individuals and groups advocate their views. Every writer, every publisher of school books has political beliefs and advocates these in their work” (Richardson, 1986, p. 31). Hence, this current study is very important in addressing the EU’s political perspectives on history education.

While examining the rise of the nation state, macrosociologists have repetitively argued that the provision of formal instruction is a universal imperative across the modern state system (Benavot, Cha, Kamens, Meyer, & Wong, 1991; Meyer, Ramirez, & Soysal, 1992; Ramirez & Boli, 1987) and one that is tied to national political identities and state responsibilities (Meyer, Ramirez, et al., 1992). Gellner (1983) suggested that the provision for education determines a state’s entry into the modern industrial world, and claimed that education systems expose the realities of state power. Therefore, history education plays a very important role as it is connected with all other subjects like a reflector.