Neoliberal Transformation of Education in Turkey

KEMAL INAL is an Associate Professor of Education at Gazi University in Turkey. GULIZ AKKAYMAK is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

"A highly readable, well-theorized, and biting evaluation of the neoliberal-cum-Islamo-conservative reformation/reformulation of schooling and education in Turkey over the last 30 years. Its wide-reaching and trenchant analysis makes clear the importance of understanding and critiquing the neoliberal and neoconservative assault on public services, public sector workers, and education globally. In addition, it exposes the Islamicization of education and society in Turkey under the AKP government, belying Western approbation of Turkey's supposed 'moderate Islam.'" - Dave Hill, chief editor, Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies and visiting professor of Education at the Universities of Athens (Greece), Middlesex (England), and Limerick (Ireland) "This is an important book that deserves serious attention, especially at this precipitous historical moment of the crisis of neoliberal capitalism. The authors sound a dire warning that, if not heeded, will sound the death knell for public education. Clearly what is happening in Turkey is a global problem that requires a global solution: the struggle for a socialist alternative to transnational capitalism." - Peter McLaren, professor in the Division of Urban Schooling, the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, The University of California, Los Angeles, US

• Foreword; A.Darder PART I: AKP AND EDUCATION IN TURKISH MAP 1. The Political Economy of Education in Turkey;Gamze Yücesan-Özdemir and Ali Murat Özdemir 2. Educational Politics of AKP; Kemal Inal PART II: REFORMS, FINANCE AND UNIONS IN EDUCATION IN THE AKP ERA 3. Constructivism and the Curriculum Reform of the AKP; Hasan Ünder 4. Marketization of Primary School Curricula and Textbooks under the AKP Rule; Ünal Özmen 5. Curriculum Change in Turkey; Hülya Kosar-Altinyelken and Güliz Akkaymak 6. Learning to FlexLabor; Ergin Bulut 7. Turkey under the AKP Rule; Nejla Kurul 8. External Education Projects in Turkey; Gülay Aslan, Erdal Küçüker and Ergül Adigüzel 9. The New Stream of Trade Unionism; Duygun Göktürk, Gökçe Güvercin, Onur Seçkin PART III: AKP AND NEOLIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE RECONSTRUCTION IN EDUCATION 10. Marketization of Higher Education in Turkey (2002-2011); Nevzat Evrim Önal 11. Neoliberalization and Foundation Universities in Turkey; Ömür Birler 12. Dershane Business in Turkey; Ayhan Ural 13. Growth of Islamic Education in Turkey; Mustafa Kemal Coskun and Burcu Sentürk 14. Body Politics and Sexual Education under the AKP rule; Serdar M. Degirmencioglu 15. Early Childhood Education in Turkey: A Critical Overview; Mehmet Toran 16. Fights over Human Rights; Tugba Asrak-Hasdemir 17. The System of Teacher Training during the AKP Rule; I. Rifat Okçabol 18. Transformation of the Teaching Profession in Turkey; Esin Ertürk 19. Transformation of Adult Education in Turkey; Ahmet Yildiz