Institutionalization, Bureaucratization, and Westernization in Curriculum Theory

Abstract

The period after 1826 was remarkable for the Ottoman Empire due to the fact that social change and transformation had taken place quite rapidly. Whereas implementation of educational reforms in military schools continued, a lot of development had also been established in the public realm during that period. New schools and government incentives to take part in public education resulted in the institutionalization of the curriculum studies. This chapter explores the foundation of the Ministry of Education and the activities of the curriculum commissions within the scope of this ministry. These activities carried out within the body of the Ministry of Education also resulted in the development of an education bureaucracy. In addition to institutionalization and bureaucratization, Western ideas become widespread in due course of time within the context of curriculum theory. In addition to Rousseau’s novel called Emile, Herbert Spencer’s ideas about education become widespread during that period and a number of different curriculum theories came into existence. This chapter analyzes the development of Western ideas in curriculum theory and formation of education bureaucracy as a fundamental problem.