November 24 - Teachers' Day in Turkey

Posted on November 24, 2020

“Kasim” is “November” in the Turkish language.
And “Ogretmenler Günü” means “Teachers Day.”

The man in this banner is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,
the first president of the Republic of Turkey.

Teachers are important in every nation!

Of course, in some ways, we humans are all teachers, just as we are all learners. For one thing, we teach ourselves many things! Those of us who are not paid to teach do still teach younger siblings, friends, and to some extent older loved ones – and when we are adults we teach our own children and often co-workers, customers, and others.

But some people devote their lives to helping others learn – to teaching, to writing and filming amazing educational materials,
to giving fascinating lectures, to creating museum displays and wonderful video/computer games – to education!

And we all benefit from amazing teachers. Kids who learn critical thinking skills – kids who learn how to read, how to find trustworthy sources, how to do research, how to test ideas using the scientific method – kids who develop their creativity and learn to believe in their own ability to learn – Wow! What can’t a society do when people have quality educations?!

On this date in 1928, the founding President of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, officially accepted the title of head teacher of the nation’s schools.

That’s not exactly what I was expecting; “Teacher’s Day” seemed like it was obviously going to be honoring paid, professional teachers, not a nation’s president.

But Atatürk did show great leadership in adopting a new, Latin-based alphabet for Turkey, encouraging others to realize that
their nation’s future lay in their children, and their children’s educations, and in making progressive reforms that helped the nation become more modern, fair, secular, and industrial.

Hooray for kids, and hooray for teachers, and hooray for leaders with true leadership!