Looking to the past with hope.

Hope is about the future, isn't it? We hope for good things from the future. So, did I write the title incorrectly? Unfortunately, no. When it comes to the education system, looking to the future with hope is not possible in the current situation. Instead of moving forward, education is constantly regressing. So many ministers of education and so many governments have been unable to stop this downward spiral. Since we have lost hope for the future, let us indulge in a little nostalgia and look for hope in the name of education not in the future, but in the past. 

When one needs to talk about something positive in the history of education in this country, the Village Institutes come to mind first. I would like to share the experiences of the Village Institutes with you in the words of a young Jewish woman teacher from Turkey.

“There was a wonderful atmosphere. Many famous names from America to Iran came to see Hasanoğlan. Those who thought about the country's issues visited Hasanoğlan often. One day, I met İsmet Paşa. There was a Translation Bureau at that time. Two of my students had translated Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’ from English to Turkish, and I had edited it. It was very well received; it was both distributed to libraries and entered into a translation competition in England. We staged Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ We designed the stage layout and the dances in the play together. When there were no classes, I would go to the library. Students who needed help would also come and ask questions about English. Some of the children were older than me. I think it was Musa; he was married and had two children. Whatever needed to be taught to girls was taught. But there was general culture. Boys and girls studied in the same building. They went everywhere together. Gender equality was a very important matter there. I never felt the difference between boys and girls at Hasanoğlan.

The students did everything, and the teachers helped. We would go to the field together and plant parsley. Meals were always eaten at the institute. A teacher could never ask a student to do chores. We had a stove, but for example, a student was never asked to light it. I never saw any disrespect from my students. But one day, I sent a student named Selahattin, who had joined Hasanoğlan later, out of class for not listening. Mualla had said, ‘never do that again, there is no such procedure here.’ Yet, in the schools I attended, this was always done. Then Selahattin apologized to me. Everyone had a uniform like a soldier. When we couldn't find that fabric, the girls had sewn my uniform with printed cotton I bought from Ankara.”

Aren't these accounts magnificent? Just think, students are translating from English and staging a Shakespeare play. Right now, let alone in public schools, even in the most expensive private schools that charge thousands of liras and have all kinds of equipment, expecting such things from students is a dream. Yes, we had such schools in our educational history that we could be proud of. Alas, look at where we were and where we are now. As is known, nothing beautiful and beneficial to the public lasts long in this country; the Village Institutes were also seen as too beneficial to the public, and they were closed in the following process. Our idealistic woman teacher expresses her views on the closure of the Village Institutes as follows: “If the Village Institutes had not been closed, Turkey would have been a completely different Turkey. For example, perhaps we wouldn't have given up on agriculture… I don't believe İsmet Paşa closed the Village Institutes. They forced him to, so he closed them. Otherwise, İsmet Paşa was never against that system.”

If only the Village Institutes had not been closed, the Anatolian enlightenment could have been completed. Instead of consoling ourselves with the past, we could have looked to the future with hope. On this occasion, I express my gratitude to İsmail Hakkı Tonguç, Hasan Ali Yücel, and all the educators who worked for the Village Institutes in their name, for providing this country with such an experience. I am glad you existed, I am glad you passed through these lands.

Who was the idealistic woman teacher mentioned in the article? Let me tell you, sir, she is Bella Eskenazi, who loved being a teacher and did justice to the profession by teaching English, French, German, gymnastics, and sometimes geography to students at the Hasanoğlan Village Institute. Education only progresses thanks to idealistic teachers; I hope teachers like Bella will multiply… I am glad you existed too, Bella.