SELİM SABIT, ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF CONTEMPORARY PEDAGOGY AND DIDACTIC SCIENCE IN TURKEY

Abstract

In the last century of the Ottoman Empire, Selim Sabit Efendi (1829-1910), who held various positions such as teacher, manager, and commission member, also wrote many works related to education and training. These experiences and works related to education and training make him the first contemporary Turkish pedagogue. The aim of this research is to uncover Selim Sabit Efendi's contributions to the development of education and didactic science in Turkey. To achieve this purpose, the author's work titled "Rehnuma-i Muallimin" (in short: Rehnuma) which means "Teacher's Guide" in English, has been examined through document analysis technique. The findings and conclusions derived from these analyses and examinations are as follows: Rehnuma-i Muallimin is a didactic work that covers school organization systems, class and subject classification, content and organization of courses, primary literacy teaching, regulations, school management, educational and teaching methods, and teacher qualifications. It also includes many elements of the education program. This book can be considered as Turkey's first didactic (teaching science) book in terms of teaching new methods and general teaching principles. Additionally, the book Rehnuma-i Muallimin contains course contents such as teaching principles and methods, curriculum development in education, curriculum and instruction, and measurement and evaluation in education. It can be regarded as the precursor to the discipline of curriculum and instruction and contemporary curricula. Ultimately, Selim Sabit Efendi, through these contributions, garnered attention for his pioneering role among contemporary Turkish educators by transferring pedagogical knowledge, which was popular in Europe at that time under the influence of the Renaissance, to the Ottoman Empire and playing a leading role in its implementation. The most significant limitation of the book is its inability to present a unique pedagogical and didactic model that reflects the synthesis of the East and West and takes into account the local and global balance.