TEACHER PROFILE BETWEEN 1923 AND 1950: THE CASE OF ANTALYA PROVINCE

Thesis Type: Doctorate

Institution Of The Thesis: Akdeniz University, Institute Of Educational Sciences, Social Studies Education, Turkey

Thesis Supervisor: Ahmet Köç

Approval Date: 2026

Thesis Language: Turkish

Abstract:

This study examines the professional, social, and economic profiles of teachers who

served in the province of Antalya between 1923 and 1950 within the context of the early

Republican period. The research was designed within the framework of a qualitative research

approach and conducted using the document analysis method. The primary data sources of the

study consist of teacher personnel files, archival documents, and official publications of the

period. The collected data were analyzed through content analysis in line with the objectives of

the research.

In the study, teachers are examined through various variables such as gender, place of

birth, educational background, branch distribution, foreign language proficiency, length of

service, economic conditions, professional problems, disciplinary actions, and appreciation or

reward processes. In this respect, the study approaches teaching not only as a profession but

also as a significant social actor in the process of social transformation during the early

Republican period.

The findings indicate that teachers were positioned as key agents in transmitting the

values of the new regime to the provinces, and that their professional identities were shaped by

the ideological, economic, and social conditions of the period. The case of Antalya provides a

concrete example of the challenges teachers faced under provincial conditions and the practices

developed in response to these challenges.

By focusing on the teacher profile, this study aims to make the historical transformation

of the teaching profession in the early Republican period more visible through local data and to

contribute to the literature on the history of education in Türkiye.