Çukurova University Journal of Turkology Research

Abstract

In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire entered the process of disintegration due to losses in wars and minority revolts. Civil and military intellectuals, who questioned the reasons for the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, started to make innovations in various fields in order to save the state. In this context, important innovations have been made in civil education since the Tanzimat period. In education, practices such as usûl-ı cedit, that is, the new method, also included women's education. However, the education of women is not an easy matter. This is not an easy matter not only for the Ottoman Empire but also for other countries. Ensuring that women receive education like men in a period when class social structures are not completely dissolved is related to the idea of social equality. Ideas about the equality of men and women emerged as a result of the Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment processes in Europe. The ideas of equality and freedom spread by the French Revolution of 1789 began to affect women as well. However, while women's education in Europe developed through bloody revolutions, it emerged as a part of the innovations made to save the state in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire established secondary schools for girls for the first time, which they could attend after primary school. Girls' schools, which were established without the need for a bloody revolution, were opened later than boys' schools. However, with the schools opened, the role of women in the public sphere was gradually expanded. Since it was not considered appropriate for male teachers to teach girls for religious and cultural reasons, Istanbul Darülmuallimat/Girls Teachers' School was opened to train teacher/female teachers. This school has been the only school that trains women teachers for high schools. Istanbul Darülmuallimat School did not train enough number and qualified female teachers for girls' secondary schools that were expanded in Anatolia. In Adana Girls' Secondary School, which was established in 1892, the need for female teachers was felt strongly, and the school was in danger of being closed. Apart from this, other interesting problems of female teachers have emerged in this school. These problems, which reflect religious, cultural, economic, geographical and social conditions, are reflected in archive documents. In the study, the problems of women teachers in the Ottoman Empire were examined through the example of Adana Girls' Secondary School. Some of these problems are among the general economic, political, cultural and religious problems of the Ottoman Empire. Some examples are climatic and region-specific. Information obtained from archival documents was used in a cause-effect relationship. In the literature review, it was seen that there was no independent study about Adana Girls' High School, and it was aimed to contribute to the literature. In addition, it was thought that it could contribute to a better understanding of the problems related to women's education transferred from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic.