As a result of the modernization process transforming much of the world in the nineteenth century, the changing structure and function of the state necessitated the development of a relationship between states and their subjects. In the context of this relationship, states used various instruments to monitor, control, and shape their subjects in order to ensure the survival of the state machinery. Education acquired a pivotal importance in shaping subjects according to state policies. In the Ottoman Empire its importance also began to be perceived in the first half of the century, but it was Hamidian era that such a policy manifested itself most clearly. Yet, for the people living in the villages, it was the agrarian economy that would continue to determine and shape their lives. Thus villages became a field of struggle between the state, which was attempting to penetrate rural life (and, by extension, the lives of the peasants) through education, and the realities of an agrarian existence and the economic and social relationships that it creates. For that reason, a history of education without a comprehensive analysis of the village conditions would be incomplete. This book aims to fill this blank in the history of education by focusing on the socio-economic structure in the villages that derives from agrarian economy. In doing so it also offers new sights to the field of social history through a close examination of the lives of peasants and the complex relationships between them.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - The Organization of The Education System
The Central Organization of Education System
The Development of Bureaucratic Organization
A Shift From Sıbyan to İbtidai?
The Change in the İbtidai School Curriculum
The Coexistence of Sıbyan and İbtidai Schools
The Provincial Organization of the Education System
The Bureaucratic Level
The Provincial Education Councils and Provincial Education Directors
Expanding the Organization To The Smaller Administrative Units
The Provincial Education Inspectors
The Reports of the Inspectors, Members of Education Councils and Education Directors
Conclusion
Chapter 3 - Salonica
The General Character of Agriculture In The Region
The Financial Features of Agriculture
The Agricultural Products
The works in Agricultural Season
How Agriculture Govern the Lives of People: The Observations of Frederick G. Abbott
Number of Schools
The Problems in Estimating the Actual Number of Schools and of Students
Conclusion
Chapter 4 - Agrarian Economy and Primary Education
Economic Difficulties and Education
Educational Expenses and Other Problems
Financing of Primary Schools: Applications, Institutions and Corruptions
The Office of Village Head (Muhtar)
Educators in Tobacco Business
The Imam-Teachers
Rejection of Schools: Affording the Expenses as an Excuse or as a Reason?
Peasant Children Going To School
A Child's Desire to Attend School
Peasants' Attitudes Towards Schools and Teachers
Traditional Knowledge vs. Scientific Knowledge
Agricultural Books and Courses at the Primary School
Agricultural Schools and Model Farms
Conclusion
Chapter 5 - Conclusion
Appendix A - Table of Content of Çiftçilik Dersleri
Appendix B - Curriculum of The Agricultural School in Salonica
