Training village children as village teachers for village work: the Turkish village institutes

Village Institutes were founded in Turkey in 1940 in order to educate village teachers. Graduates of these Institutes were educated to guide peasants in agricultural and technological matters. Legitimising Kemalist ideology and supporting the single‐party system of the day were two of the roles undertaken by these Institutes. This article evaluates the nationalisation and modernisation process of Turkey in terms of Village Institutes by emphasising their dual educational and political roles. A second aim of the article is to analyse Village Institutes and similar educational movements in other countries in comparative perspective within the context of work‐based education. Consequently, the contribution of Village Institutes to pedagogy and its place in the history of education are examined. As a result of the research, it is contended that work school and production school movements in Village Institutes were part of one endeavour and that these Institutes were important examples of the new school movement that was based on contemporary principles of education in Turkey at the time.