Publication: Modern Suriye’nin kuruluşu sürecinde eğitimci bir modernist : Sâtı el Husri
Abstract
Her şeyden önce siyasi tarih ve eğitim sentezine dayanan bu çalışma, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun yıkılmasıyla birlikte ortaya çıkan Suriye ulus devletinin inşa sürecinde eğitimin nasıl araçsallaştırıldığını ve Arap milliyetçiliğinin öncü isimlerinden Sâtı el Husri’nin Suriye eğitim sistemini şekillendirmedeki rolünü incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Zira bu yeni süreçte eğitim, “Arap Toplumu”nu inşa etmenin yegâne aracı olarak öne çıkarılmıştır. Modernleşmeyle birlikte ortaya çıkan ulus devlet kavramı genellikle ulusal kimliğe dayalı, aynı coğrafi sınırlar içinde yaşayan insanları bir araya getirmeyi hedefleyen bir devleti ifade eder. Modern ulus devletlerin inşa sürecinde en önemli araç olarak da eğitim (sistemi, kurumları vs.) öne çıkmaktadır. Nitekim ulus devletlerde eğitim, genellikle ulusal kimliği güçlendirmenin ve arzu edilen birliği sağlamanın bir aracı olarak görülür. Bu devletlerin eğitim sisteminde öğretim dili, tarih bilgisi, kültürel değerler ve vatandaşlık normları genellikle ulusal argümanlar etrafında şekillenir. Bu bağlamda denilebilir ki, modern ulus devletler genellikle ait oldukları toplum içinde ortak kimlik oluşturma konusunda eğitim sistemini araç olarak kullanır. Bu çerçevede eğitimin, modern ulus devletlerin inşasında “ideolojik aygıt” olarak nasıl işlev gördüğü, Suriye’nin ulus devlet olarak inşasında Sâtı Bey’in (Sâtı el Husri) ne gibi rolünün olduğu, Osmanlı sonrası süreçte Suriye eğitim sisteminin nasıl reforme edildiği bu çalışmanın temel sorularını oluşturmaktadır. Arşiv kaynaklarının taranmasıyla elde edilen birincil kaynaklar bu çalışmanın en güçlü yanını ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Sâtı el Husri’nin Arapça olarak kaleme aldığı eserlerden büyük bir titizlikle faydalanılmıştır. Çalışmanın en temel argümanı ise Suriye’nin Araplık temelinde bir ulus devlet olarak ortaya çıkmasında Sâtı el Husri’nin eğitim reformlarının ve bu reformlar sayesinde inşa edilen Arap toplumunun önemli bir katkısı olduğudur.
First of all, this study, based on the synthesis of political history and education, aims to examine how education was instrumentalized in the process of building the Syrian nation-state, which emerged with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the role of Sati al-Husrî, one of the leading figures of Arab nationalism, in shaping the Syrian education system. Because in this new process, education has been highlighted as the only means of building the Arab Society. The concept of nation state, which emerged with modernization, generally refers to a state based on national identity and aiming to bring together people living within the same geographical borders. Education (system, institutions, etc.) stands out as the most important tool in the process of building modern nation-states. As a matter of fact, in nation states, education is often seen as a means of strengthening national identity and achieving the desired unity. In the education system of these states, the language of instruction, historical knowledge, cultural values and citizenship norms are generally shaped around national arguments. In this context, it can be said that modern nation states generally use the education system as a tool to create a common identity within the society they belong to. In this context, how education functions as an ideological device in the construction of modern nation states, what role Satı Bey (Sati al-Husri) played in the construction of Syria as a nation state, and how the Syrian education system was reformed in the post-Ottoman period are the basics questions of this study. Primary sources obtained by scanning archival sources reveal the strongest aspect of this study. The works written by Satı al-Husri in Arabic were used with great care. The most basic argument of the study is that Satı al-Khusri's educational reforms and the Arab society built thanks to these reforms made an important contribution to the emergence of Syria as a nation state based on Arabism.
First of all, this study, based on the synthesis of political history and education, aims to examine how education was instrumentalized in the process of building the Syrian nation-state, which emerged with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the role of Sati al-Husrî, one of the leading figures of Arab nationalism, in shaping the Syrian education system. Because in this new process, education has been highlighted as the only means of building the Arab Society. The concept of nation state, which emerged with modernization, generally refers to a state based on national identity and aiming to bring together people living within the same geographical borders. Education (system, institutions, etc.) stands out as the most important tool in the process of building modern nation-states. As a matter of fact, in nation states, education is often seen as a means of strengthening national identity and achieving the desired unity. In the education system of these states, the language of instruction, historical knowledge, cultural values and citizenship norms are generally shaped around national arguments. In this context, it can be said that modern nation states generally use the education system as a tool to create a common identity within the society they belong to. In this context, how education functions as an ideological device in the construction of modern nation states, what role Satı Bey (Sati al-Husri) played in the construction of Syria as a nation state, and how the Syrian education system was reformed in the post-Ottoman period are the basics questions of this study. Primary sources obtained by scanning archival sources reveal the strongest aspect of this study. The works written by Satı al-Husri in Arabic were used with great care. The most basic argument of the study is that Satı al-Khusri's educational reforms and the Arab society built thanks to these reforms made an important contribution to the emergence of Syria as a nation state based on Arabism.