EDUCATION AND ETHICS

Abstract

In general terms, the word ethics are expressed as a system of good or bad determining what to do or not to do for a person at a specific time in a specific culture. Education is a conscious and planned process that contributes to completion of the development of individuals or groups in a positive way. Given the definitions of ethics and education, both concepts focus on providing an individual with the competency for required to live much more harmoniously in a society. Thus, in this study the relationship between the concept of ethics that helps individuals distinguish "good" and "bad" and the concept of education that aims the positive development of society is addressed. Research has a theoretical basis. In this context, resources such as magazines, books etc. discussing the concepts of ethics and education are scanned. Depending on the importance of resources, approaches of certain civilizations to ethics and education and opinions of significant thinkers are classified based on the historical period. These two concepts that underwent a significant change in ancient Greek, have intertwined recently. Yet with the industrial revolution and then rapid advances in technology and science, ethical values of education seem to prevail. Education starts with the mankind. There is no data about first people but after the invention of writing, information about education programs of people is available. Turkish, Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Sumerians, Iranians, Israelis, Greeks and Romans are nations who studied in the field of education between 4-5 thousand B.C. and 4-5 hundred A.C. In particular, with Greeks there was a radical change and the concept of ethics was started to base on rationality. In ancient Greece education is an issue that is considered very important. Some sayings of philosophers reflect how ethics and education intertwines. The saying of "Know thyself"(Çevirmen Notu: Bu sözlerin çevirisini yaptım ama orjinalleeri vardır) , Socrates’s saying, focuses on person's inner maturity; "self-defeat is the largest victory", Plato’s saying urge people to suppress bad feelings; "Concerning virtue, it is not enough to know it, you need to have it and abide by it", Aristotle saying, encourages to implement theoretical ethics. The most prominent feature of education in ancient Greece is to give soul and body the feeling of competency, and harmony. Aristocrats regard education as strengthening body, dancing, racing, and the teaching of games and songs. Romans had strong family relations. That’s why, unlike the Greek culture they believed that education originated from family. Family depended on a strict sense of morality and discipline. Education in Romans was for practical purposes. They wanted to train good citizens who knew their responsibilities and managed to adapt daily life successfully. With good citizen, it was aimed to cultivate resourceful and virtuous people with strong character. Having different meanings from time to time, virtue is the general name of attribute such as doing good to others, having pity, bravery, and honesty. Strong character is Eğitim ve Etik 113 Turkish Studies International Periodical For the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic Volume 10/7 Spring 2015 personality that appears depending on societal values and moral criteria. It is understood that education in Romans was based on benefit. Romans showed great respect to teachers. “Teachers must be good example to students”, a saying of Scholar Seneca, emphasizes the need for teachers to be good examples. According to Seneca, the duty of educators is: "Assignment of educator is to have soothing effect on human soul with soft words, to make youth virtuous by leading them to life with advices and dissuading them from evil. While doing this, teachers should take individual character traits into account. Children should be given different tasks in accordance with characteristic differences. Quintilanus said that teachers should never get angry. They should not be indifferent to studies of children and also praising and rebuking should be balanced. First of all, teachers should determine capabilities and degrees of students. "A good trainer and teacher should be like a father to students" Quintilanus said. With the spread of Islam education based on new ethical values emerged. There had been a primitive life in Arab peninsula before Islam. A moral collapse was obvious. Female infants were buried alive, women were humiliated. Islam lead people to pureness, industriousness and honesty. In regard to this, Prophet Mohammed and his friends are educators. He said that he was sent to complete the supreme morality. In Islamic philosophy there are virtues such as showing patience, keeping promises, abiding rules of societal courtesy, respecting parents, forgiving evildoers. Having human at the center Renaissance began in the 15th and 16th century. Opinions of the philosophers of that period about ethics and education are as follows: Dutch philosopher Eresmus is known for humanist views. In his books, he deals with teaching methods. He underlines the importance of etiquette rules in education. Well-known book of his is Free Education of Children. Rabelais emphasizes the effect of education in the development of talent. According to Rabelais, “If education does not improve talents, it has no value.” One of the sacred duties of a father is to raise a good child. The best tool of education is to set a good example. According to Montaigne (1532-1592), the goal of education is to “accept the child's learning of scientific knowledge that has moral values through experimentation”. Modernization efforts that began in the late Ottoman period gained momentum with the establishment of the Republic and education efforts were also at the center. Especially, the opinions of the Renaissance and post- Renaissance philosophers have been important cornerstones of the Turkish education system. Considering the relationship

Özet

Genel anlamda etik kelimesi belirli bir zamanda belirli kültürde kişilerin ne yapması veya yapmaması gerektiğini belirleyen "iyi" ya da "kötü" olarak ifade edilen normlar sistemi olarak ifade edilmektedir1. Eğitim ise toplumun içindeki bireylerin veya grupların olumlu yönde gelişimlerini tamamlamalarına yardımcı olan bilinçli ve planlı bir süreçtir2. Hem etik sözcüğünün hem eğitim kavramının tanımlarına bakıldığında bireyin toplum içinde daha uyumlu yaşaması için gerekli olan yeterliliği kazandırmaya odaklandığı görülür. Böylelikle bu araştırmada bireylerin "iyi" ve "kötü"yü ayırt etmesini temel sayan etik sözcüğünün toplumun "olumlu" yönde gelişmesini amaçlayan eğitim kavramıyla tarihi süreç içindeki ilişkisi ele alınmaya amaçlanmıştır. Araştırma kuramsal bir çalışma niteliğindedir. Bu çerçevede etik ve eğitim kavramlarının ele alındığı birçok dergi, kitap, vb. kaynaklar taranmıştır. Ulaşılan kaynaklardan önemine göre belli medeniyetlerin eğitim ve etik anlayışı ile bu medeniyetlerde iz bırakan düşünürlerin görüşleri tarihi döneme göre bir tasnife tabi tutulmuştur. İlk Çağlardan ele alınan eğitim ve etik sözcükleri günümüze kadar geçirdikleri değişimi ilişkisel olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Özellikle Antik Yunan'da önemli bir değişim geçiren iki kavram günümüze geldikçe daha içiçe geçtikleri görülmüştür. Yine sanayi devrimi ve ardından bilim ve teknolojideki hızlı gelişmelerle birlikte eğitimin etik değerleri daha çok işlemeye başladığı söylenebilir