Village Institutes: Raising leaders and people of action

Prof. Dr. Ali Arayıcı

The Village Institutes were institutions where free thinking, equal sharing and participation, respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, and the development and practice of criticism and self-criticism were fostered.

According to the new educational methods and strategies identified by UNESCO, “Education should not be confined within school walls, but should continue throughout a person’s entire life. A comprehensive renewal is needed in education, and education should aim to become a genuine popular movement.” The educational approach embraced by the Village Institutes was in line with these core principles established by UNESCO.

FREE THINKING

At the Village Institutes, a culture of free thinking, criticism and self-criticism was dominant in all areas of life.

During flag ceremonies, usually held at weekends, everyone was free to express their opinions and engage in criticism and self-criticism. Cooperation, solidarity, togetherness, and collective living prevailed at the institutes. Most daily tasks were carried out jointly by administrators, teachers, and students.

At the school, all tasks including cleaning, cooking, bed arrangements, and food supply were carried out under the supervision of teachers, administrators, student duty officers, and the student president. Generally, every student president would present a report on their weekly duties during the Saturday flag ceremony.

In a democratic atmosphere, debates were held among students, and when necessary, even the president would engage in self-criticism. Students could voice both positive and negative opinions about the president before moving on to elect a new one. A student was not only free to criticise a peer but could also openly criticise a teacher or even the head of the school when needed.

NOT JUST TEACHER TRAINING

The Village Institutes did not merely train teachers who gave lessons within four walls for the rural population. Beyond this, they raised individuals who produced, researched, resisted the established and exploitative order maintained by capital, large landowners, and usurers; who raised public awareness; who were versatile, closely engaged with all the problems of the people, and who developed solutions enlightened, revolutionary, patriotic, and socialist "people of action" and "leaders."

The duty of Institute graduates was not limited to educating their students in the villages they were assigned to. They were also responsible for promoting and implementing Kemalist reforms and principles, carrying out agricultural, artistic, and literacy activities, and addressing issues such as women's health and childbirth. They were expected to be “models” for peasants in every aspect of life.

These devoted teachers, whose hearts beat with love for humanity and country, fought against despair and poverty on their own, while also striving to instil belief and courage in young minds and future generations to help build a better world.

In the Village Institutes, which were a product of a socialist educational philosophy, the principles of "education is for production" and "education is life itself" prevailed. However, even in socialist countries, institutions that trained teachers did not nurture such well-rounded "leaders" or "people of action" as the Village Institutes did. This model, outside of the Village Institutes practice in Turkey, exists nowhere else in the world.

NO EQUAL IN THE WORLD

For many years, I have studied both capitalist and socialist education systems around the world. I have visited numerous institutions, especially teacher training colleges, as well as some secondary and higher education establishments in various countries, and examined their educational models. It is an indisputable fact that education and production must go hand in hand, and that teaching should be geared toward production.

What distinguishes the educational philosophy of Turkey’s Village Institutes from that of socialist countries is one fundamental and unique feature: the Institutes did not merely train teachers who delivered lessons to students, but also cultivated versatile “leaders” capable of responding to all the needs of rural life and the broader social structure. As far as I know, no teacher training system of this kind has ever been implemented—either in the past or today—anywhere else in the world.

On this occasion, marking the 85th anniversary (17 April 1940) of the founding of the Village Institutes, I salute all those who contributed to these remarkable institutions.

Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled Köy Enstitüleri eylem insanı ve önder yetiştirdi, published in BirGün newspaper on April 17, 2025.