September 4, 2012

Hizmet Schools: A new pedagogy

Thomas Michel

A teacher watches students playing chess
at the Gulen Movement-affiliated Fatih Koleji
school in Istanbul. (Photo: Justin Vela)
Members of the Hizmet community hope to change society through a new type of education that draws from and integrates disparate strands of previous pedagogic systems. Gülen’s starting point was his recognition of the need for a new kind of school, a system of education that would draw what was best from the existing alternatives and integrate them into the kind of education needed by modern students. Gülen looked at the kinds of education that were being offered in Turkey in his day. He found that each had some strong point but that each was also lacking in some important areas.