A CURRICULUM ABOUT TURKISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN THE BALKANS: CASE OF DOBRUJA (BALKANLAR’DA TÜRKÇE EĞİTİMİNE DAİR BİR PROGRAM: DOBRUCA ÖRNEĞİ)

The Balkans is an area which was under Ottoman Empire rule lasting from the 15th century up until the early 20th. This period is also an area that needs further research on the history of education. As doing research on the history of education in the Balkans, curricula are one of the main materials that can be used by researchers. One of these curriculum was prepared in Dobruja territory which comprises two areas: the north part belongs to Romania and the south part belongs to Bulgaria now. The mentioned curriculum, which was printed in Constanza, 1937, consisted of 15 pages. It was published by Association of Mecidiye Madrasah Graduates in Emel Print House. In the objectives of this curriculum and syllabus it is remarkable that there are references to some educators and philosophers like Montaigne, Locke, Pestalozzi, and Comenius. The overall objective of this curriculum is to integrate the Turkish schools within the same sub-objectives in Dobruja area. There are classes in the curriculum such as religion: Quran Recitation, religion classes, history of religion, religious hymns; mother language: read and write (alphabet), reading, grammar, composition, memorization; music; painting classes. The curriculum, which has just an overall list of classes, gives great importance to religion and Turkish language education. Therefore, it seems like a framework program. It is also seen that the Turkish classes part of the curriculum has similarities with the 1924, 1926 and 1930 Turkish curricula.