The Ottomans had inherited from
the Seljuks, including the basic ingredients like mektep or kuttap. In the Ottoman charters for founding primary
institutions they are referred to as, “mektep, mektephane, muallimhane...etc”,
standing respectively, for school, schoolhouse, teacherhouse...primary or
elementary institutions were generally located either in, or nesr the mosque of
the community. People called them “Sibyan” (pupil) mektep. They were often
established by a vaqf (pious foundation). Expendituıres, especially that of the
teacher’s salaries were paid from the endowed income of the vaqf. In these
schools, students read the Koran in the original Arabic without translation.
Turkish children became hafiz.
Some schools gave equal
opportunity to all 5-6 years old boys and girls. Until they had sufficiently
mastered reading, all children shared the same classrom under the supervision
of a single teacher (Hojha). There were no grades or levels. Some vaqf schools
provided clothing, food and pocket money. In schools, pupils sat on their knees
on the floor covered with mats or cilm carpets. Books were placed on X-sahaped
low tables, called “rahle-i tedris”(study
desk). Some praying rituals were taught in Turkish. Physical punishment, slapping
girls’ hands and beating boys’ feet, was the rule rather than exception. At the
school opening ceremonies, it was a common ritual to tell the teacher, “Flesh
yours, bones mine!”
Hüseyinoğlu Ali was a teacher.
In his “Method of Teaching”, he recommended beating as an effective cure for
misbehaviour and laziness. If not beaten that much, the Sultan’s children too
were threatened by the falaka (bow
and rod) hanging on the wall. The bow was used for tying and holding the feet
in position. The motto of the system seems in effect to have been the same in
western scholls until recent times. Teachers of the sibyan schools, Hojha, were
graduates of the special programs given at the Madrasa. Ottomans were
interested in learning the practical arts and sciences. Scholars returning home
from the well established Madrasa located in Egypt, Iran and Western Asia.
After the conquest of
Constantinople (İstanbul), Fatih Sultan had converted eight churches, including
Aya Sophia, into Madrasa. He also built a new complex, still known today as the
Fatih Kulliya, consisting of a
central mosque surrounded by several Madrasa, an elementary school, hospital,
library etc.
Suleiman Magnificient had his
own Sulemania Kulliya, designed and
built by Sinan. In this Madrasa, education lasted one to two years but could be
extended if necessary. Students were classified with respect to the levels:
-
Talaba, at the sibyan (or elementary school)
level
-
Softa or Suhta at lower levels, in early years
of Madrasa
-
Danishmand, at higher levels of Madrasa
The language of instruction was Arabic.
Programs of teaching and curricula seem
to have been grouped
under 3 faculties:1) Religion and Law, 2) The Natural Sciences,
3) Instrumental
Sciences.
Religion or Law included
a-Tafsir, b-hadith, c- Fiqh, d- kelam
The Natural Sciences;
amthematics, astronomy, philosophy
Instrumental Sciences;
logic, rhetoric.
The Sheykh’al Islam (chief mufti)
carried a wide span of responsibilities, second in rank only to the Sadrazam.
Nudarris (masters) of the Madrasa who ranked just under the Sheykh’al Islam,
were subject to court trials but as a rule not given the death penalty.
After 1550, Madrasas seemed to be in
steady decline. Despite serious curricular shortcomings Madrasa education gave:
1-The high quality and
standards of physical and academic life.
2-The excellent room and
board accomodation in free of charge and reach of scholarship holders,
3-Educational philosophy
of students of Madrasas was based on “earn and learn”.
There were also three scholars
in Ottoman education:
Kınalızade
Ali: His book was Ahlak-i
Alai. It consists of 3 chapters; practical ethics, ethics of family
relations and politics of statecraft. His ideal state model was known as the Daire-i Adalet (Circle of Justice).
Katib
Chelebi: His book was Kesh-fuz
Zunun, incleded 15.000 titles. He was critical of Madrasa’s “instrumental
sciences” (i.e. the teaching of Arabic). He was visualizing a modern “pyramid
of learning” where layers rested one on another.
Ibrahim
Muteferrika: He was a Hungarian prisoner of war. In 1727, he
introduced and operated the first printing press in Turkey. Muteferrika means
“carrier of decrees”. After the defeat in Vienna (1689) Ottoman power was in
decline and the time was up for some renovation. Muteferrika seized on this
favorable spirit known as Lale Devri
(The Tulip Era). He was the first the
print Turkish Arabic dictionaries and natural and social science texts for the
students of Madrasa.
Besides these thinkers there are
two scientists. The cartographer-Admiral
Piri Reis. He drew world maps. The
other scientist was the natural historian Ibrahim
Hakki of Erzurum. In his Marifetname he anticipated Darwin’s
evolutionary theory.
