Bias exposed in Turkish education

A research project involving graduate students training to be teachers came up with results that showed the meaning of the term “biased” changes when the subject is the Turks themselves.

The students thought texts that consider the British “hardworking,” “brave,” “religious” and “always right” were biased, and commented on the British being “liars,” “filthy” and “deceitful.”

The study, called “Evaluating Us Through Others,” was conducted by associate professor Yücel Kabapnar from Marmara University and was published with the subtitle: “The opinions of education students on the methodology of history and the educational purpose of the lesson.” The names of the two universities where the 140 graduate student are studying were kept secret due to ethical reasons.

The texts copied from Turkish schoolbooks were altered as such: “Turk,” “Muslim” and “raiders” became “British,” “Christian” and “knights.” The texts were signed by imaginary British writers and the education students were asked to evaluate them through “the attributes of history and social studies and the feelings and thoughts they invoke.” The altered texts are as follows:

“The Christian religion has added to the strength of the already present courage of the British. The British Army was always ready for war; it did not know the meaning of being tired. It was reported by eastern writers that a hundred British were louder than ten thousand Muslims. The courage of the British soldiers was above all estimation.

“The British are the bravest people history has ever known. Through this bravery, our nation has founded great countries that have important places in history and took many peoples under its dominion. The British people hold their independence dear. They fear no one when their independence is in danger.”

“The British dislike cheating and lies. They do not cheat others. They are forthcoming. They are not afraid to say what they believe is right. They are respectful towards others’ rights. They are honest to their enemies as well as their friends because they believe in the necessity of being fair.”

“The British nation believes being clean comes from Christianity. Through this faith, they pay importance to the cleanliness of their surroundings, home and workplace. They pay importance to the cleanliness of the surroundings as much as the cleanliness of the body.”

Results showed that 60 percent of the education students did not think the texts were suitable for history education and said such texts should not be put in schoolbooks. Among the reasons for disliking the texts, students said they were “completely biased;” “prejudiced toward other nations;” “putting their nation in a higher place;” “insulting to Muslims;” and “extreme on the contents of religious or nationalist opinions.” Only 14 of the 140 education students said they disliked the texts because they were similar to the understanding of Turkish schoolbooks.

On the other hand, 27.2 percent of the education students said that such texts are normal in schoolbooks. Some made statements such as: “The students we are training will be the soldiers of the future. That is why it is normal for a nation to exaggerate things and put itself in a higher place.” When told that the texts were actually from Turkish history books, some said those qualities are not suitable for the British, but are suitable for Turks.