Ünsal, S., Ağçam, R., & Korkmaz, F. (2018). Analysing national development plans in Turkey regarding teacher training and employment. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 5(1), 132-148. http://iojet.org/index.php/IOJET/article/view/222/221 Received: 15.06.2017 Received in revised form: 19.09.2017 Accepted: 27.09.2017 ANALYSING NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS IN TURKEY REGARDING TEACHER TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT Serkan Ünsal, PhD Educational Sciences, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University serkan-unsal09@hotmail.com Reyhan Ağçam, PhD English Language Teaching, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University reyhanagcam@gmail.com Fahrettin Korkmaz, PhD MoNE korkmaz2725@gmail.com Serkan Ünsal received his MA and PhD in educational sciences from KSU and Gaziantep University, respectively. He currently works at Faculty of Education, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Turkey. His research interests include teacher training, educational philosophy and educational sociology. Reyhan Ağçam received her MA and PhD in ELT from Çukurova University, Turkey. She currently works at Faculty of Education, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Turkey. Her research interests include language teaching, second language acquisition, academic writing and corpus linguistics. Fahrettin Korkmaz received his MA and PhD in educational sciences from KSU and Gaziantep University. He currently works as a teacher in MoNE, Turkey. His research interests include teacher training, educational philosophy and educational sociology. Copyright by Informascope. Material published and so copyrighted may not be published elsewhere without the written permission of IOJET. http://iojet.org/index.php/IOJET/article/view/222/221 http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0367-0723 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5445-9031 http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9644-3276 Ünsal, Ağçam, & Korkmaz 132 ANALYSING NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS IN TURKEY REGARDING TEACHER TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT Serkan Ünsal serkan-unsal09@hotmail.com Reyhan Ağçam reyhanagcam@gmail.com Fahrettin Korkmaz korkmaz2725@gmail.com Abstract This research is motivated to investigate five-year national development plans (NPDs) prepared in Turkey between 1963 and 2013 with regard to teacher training and employment. The data were elicited from the plans in concern, and qualitatively analysed through content analysis. The overall findings demonstrated that the related decisions were made with a focus on three purposes: (i) to meet teacher shortage, (ii) to reduce the number of students per teacher, and (iii) to balance the distribution of teachers nationwide. The reasons why most of the decisions could not be successfully implemented might be listed as political instability, decisions taken without sufficient preparation, and inadequacy of efforts to implement NDPs. Even though certain decisions were taken considering teacher qualifications and competencies into account, quantitative concerns caused procrastination in their implementation. The study concludes with some practical implications for decision makers on the preparation and implementation of NDPs with respect to teacher training and employment. Keywords: National development plan, teacher training, teacher employment 1. Introduction Education is a long-winded process that is realized by attaining proximal, distal and general goals. Achievement of the identified goals essentially adheres to organizing educational activities within a particular plan without leaving it up to chance. This might be possible with short- and medium- term plans, or general and long- term plans like national development plans, which are among the most likely to implement in the countries. It is seen that these plans have become widespread in the world, and began to be launched in Turkey since early 1960s. They tend to offer results obtained from analysis of various issues such as economics, health, education and culture, and predictions related to them for the periods of five to fifteen years. Accordingly, countries commit a variety of changes in various fields. The plans also provide information as to what extend the identified goals have been attained, possible reasons why particular sets of goals have not been able to achieved, and possible solutions to overcome the failure –if any. Concerning educational matters, teacher training and employment policies are among the issues mostly stressed in the national development plans. More specifically, such issues as the mailto:serkan-unsal09@hotmail.com mailto:reyhanagcam@gmail.com mailto:korkmaz2725@gmail.com International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2018, 5(1), 132-148. 133 ‘relationship between teacher and students’ academic achievement’, the ‘relationship between teacher qualifications and education’, ‘the teacher qualifications’, and ‘teacher shortage/surplus’ are discussed and evaluated while preparing the plans in order to offer possible solutions for the existing problems in education. Ergün (2011) attributes it to the fact that education is a driving force that both shapes the society and facilitates social development. Presence of well-educated, equipped and qualified personnel is undeniably the leading criterion of social development/ progress. In a similar vein, Çapa and Çil (2000) propose that one of the most significant criteria of a healthy society is the functionality of its educational system. Hence, not surprisingly, teachers, who are possibly the most important stake holders in the educational process, are expected to follow innovations in their field of specialisation in a functional, planned and systematic manner. For this very reason, the most emphasized issue in development plans are the betterment of teacher qualifications, followed by decreasing number of students per teacher to the desired level. 1.1. National Development Plans Planning is simply defined as the whole precautions taken to attain a particular set of goals (Özdemir, 2014). Gönülaçar (2014) regards it as an attempt to direct and shape the future by taking experiences and existing circumstances into account. It could also be defined as an attempt to decide to overcome ambiguity. Even though the future holds such concepts as ambiguity, complexity and unpredictability, planning seems to be a must for achieving the developmental goals of a country. According to Ekiz and Somel (2007), social progress refers to a process that is composed of economic and cultural development of a society. In this regard, a national development plan (NDP, henceforth) could be described as a route map proposed by a governmental organization (Lewis, 2008) with the aim of attaining social, economic and cultural goals in harmony. Being considered the largest plans likely to be implemented in a country, they primarily refer to the commitment of strategic goals to attain in a range of fields within a particular period of time. They are mostly prepared by a state planning committee, and concentrated largely on the economic development of the country for the upcoming five years. They were initially created and implemented in the Soviet Union in late 1920s (See TMMOB, 2007) for facilitating rapid industrialization of the country, and became widespread in the world especially in early 1960s, and Turkey was no exception in this sense. Erdoğan (2012) suggests that they not only aim for social, cultural and economic progress but endeavour to take decisions that shape the developments in the field of education. Hence, the emphasis in these plans has been mainly on teacher requirement, improvement of teacher qualifications, and balancing number of students per teacher in the country. Generally, as previously noted, a state planning organization is established to prepare and implement them. Since it is unable to surmount every single step of the process in concern, the responsibilities are generally shared among various organs of the government. Gönülaçar (2014) contends that NDPs in Turkey has certain common sides with those in other countries with respect to their implementation in that they have shifted from being a means of financial development to the social and political development of the countries. Tutum (1971) proposes that these plans consist of attempts of underdeveloped countries to make more efficient use of political mechanisms, and to redeem the commitments systematically after relieving from colonisation. The author also advocates that they have been employed by the public administration as an effective instrument in transforming the societies since the administrative mechanisms of a country inevitably change. Karaer (1966) informs that they are needed as a means of realizing social, cultural and economic progress, and that the governments are in charge of accomplishing the objectives identified in the Constitutional Law (Act No. 41 and Act No. 121). Implementing an NDP requires a particular processing. The first step involves analysis of the social, economic and cultural Ünsal, Ağçam, & Korkmaz 134 structure of the country, and depicting a picture of existing tendencies and orientations. The second step requires predicting potential tendencies, and setting a goal within the framework of the five-year general and specific NDPs. Finally, precautions, principles and methods/ approaches were decided to realize the goals in concern. Lewis (2007) states that several NDPs were prepared in most countries located in Asia, Africa and Latin America after the World War II, and they deviated from the original aim after a particular period of time due to the differences in content and structure. Accordingly, he lists four essential features of NDPs: (i) identifying the existing economic state of the country, (ii) listing the assumed public expenditure, (iii) discussing the developments in private sector, and (iv) developing a perspective toward macro economy. In accord with the report released by the Union of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) in 2007, NDPs were initially prepared by the Soviet Union in 1920, and implemented in 1928. The first five-year NDP was taken as a model by most of the developing and underdeveloped countries particularly after 1950, and implemented in the early 1960s. It is stated in the report that planning and implementation should be identified based on the state and national resources of the country (TMMOB, 2007). A total of ten NDPs with three perspectives were prepared in Turkey between the years 1963 and 2013 (Ergün, 2011). Altundemir (2012) suggests that the first perspective occurred from 1963 to 1977, and it encompassed a period of 15 years when the first and second NDPs were implemented. The second perspective encompassed a period of 22 years when the third to seventh NDPs were launched (1977-2000). The last perspective is expected to last from 2000 to 2023. Table 1 summarizes the above-mentioned information about NDPs in Turkey. Table 1. NDPs in Turkey (1963-Today) NDPs Period Perspective 1 st NDP 1963-1967 1 st Perspective 2 nd NDP 1968-1972 3 rd NDP 1973-1978 2 nd Perspective 4 th NDP 1979-1983 5 th NDP 1985-1989 6 th NDP 1990-1994 7 th NDP 1996-2000 8 th NDP 2001-2005 3 rd Perspective 9 th NDP 2007-2013 10 th NDP 2013- Due to being currently in effect, 10 th NDP was excluded from the data analysed in this study; so, it is confined to the investigation of the nine five-year NDPs implemented in Turkey between the above-mentioned dates. The following section is intended to outline issues concerning teacher and teacher training which were repeatedly discussed in all NDPs. 1.2.Teacher and Teacher Training Education is evaluated as a means of economic development especially in the underdeveloped and developing countries. In her study on returns to education in low income countries in Africa, Michaelowa (2000) reported education has substantial influences on the economy of the countries at micro and macro levels, as illustrated in Figure 1. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2018, 5(1), 132-148. 135 Figure 1. Influence of education on macro- and micro-economy (Michaelowa, 2000) As seen in Figure 1, education and economic development of the countries are positively correlated; namely, higher growth and production seem to be possible with education of high standards. Likewise, in his study on the relationship among economic development, education and transnational corporations, Hanson (2008) stresses the role of higher education in the industrialization of the countries. Figure 2 provides the triangle of development based on his arguments. Figure 2. Triangle of development (Hanson, 2008) According to him, investments in especially the education of science and engineering enhance industrialization and the development of the countries. In a similar vein, Budak (2003) notes that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, believed that education plays a key role in overcoming problems that occur in various fields in the country. Hence, it is considered essential to redesign and extend the educational system to meet the needs of the countries. Thereby, teaching profession becomes the core component of such a system (Çapa & Çil, 2000) which is supposed to realize national expectations. In a recent study, Ünsal and Bağçeci (2016) propose that it is evaluated as a highly significant profession from both individual and social perspectives. The Centre for Education National Research Council (2001) declares that teachers stand at the very heart of this system because everything is shaped based on their energy and skills. According to Kárpáti (2009, p. 204), it is a teacher’s duty -among other things- to develop the skills which are essential for a Ünsal, Ağçam, & Korkmaz 136 knowledge-based society and economy to prosper, to be committed to change, to counterbalance rampant consumerism, to create a community and to lessen the gap between the rich and the poor. In this vein, teacher qualifications and helping them develop professionally have a vital significance for the education to attain its role in economic development of the societies. The existing literature has indicated that a considerable amount of research has been devoted to teacher qualifications and teacher competences. Namely, Caena (2011, p. 4) cites that the document ‘the Common European Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualifications’, produced by a working group of Member State experts, classifies three broad areas of competence: (i) working with others, (the values of inclusion embedded in professional values, aimed at developing each student’s potential, together with interpersonal and cooperative skills, as well as psychological-pedagogical knowledge), (ii) working with knowledge, technology and information (abilities of retrieving, managing and critically analysing several kinds of information, involving digital skills applied to professional purposes, together with pedagogical and teaching skills), and (iii) working in and with society (acting as responsible professionals in local educational communities and with different actors, and promoting the development of students as European citizens with global responsibilities, encouraging dispositions and attitudes to cooperation and mobility, intercultural dialogue and respect) (European Commission DG Education and Culture, 2005). Accordingly, teacher quality and training have prevailed in the related literature for the previous few decades. Teacher training is a concept that encompasses teacher employment, and a set of policies established based on this (Karslı & Güven, 2011). OECD report (2005) which encompasses the analysis of teacher training policies in 25 countries concludes that teacher quality is the most important factor in an education system, and the second most important factor (only preceded by family background) among the variety of influences affecting student achievement (cited in Kárpáti, 2009, p. 203). Kárpáti (Ibid) also draws our attention to the results of a survey conducted by McKinsey and Company (2007) on the factors behind the accomplishments of the most successful education programmes in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. It is noted in the report that education systems with better outcomes are prone to be those which performed relatively better at getting more talented people to become teachers, developing these teachers into better instructors, and ensuring that these instructors deliver consistently for every child in the system (p. 40).As for the Turkish context, where the history of teacher training dates back to 1850s, the national educational policy of the country could be summarized under three headings: (i) establishing national cultural union, (ii) extending primary education and citizenship education, (iii) raising educated people. It is clearly seen that qualified teachers are strongly needed for attaining the goals identified in the policy. Karslı and Güven (2011) concluded that teacher training policies in Turkey tend to be developed in parallel with political, cultural and socio-economic developments in the country. That is, it could be claimed that education and social changes in the country are mutually influenced. Teachers have been expected to constitute the leading force of social progress since its foundation in 1923. More specifically, they have been expected to raise students taking economic, political, and legal structure of the environment into consideration. These expectations are closely related to educational policies, and, teacher training has been a concern receiving serious attention by different stakeholders in the society as teachers constitute the most significant component of education (Ural, 2011). In 2007, the Council of Higher Education in Turkey reports that the issue of teacher training remained one of the most significant concerns since then. It is seen that the policies failed to meet the need of qualified teaching staff (Özoğlu, 2010) even though education of primary school teachers has been attached primary significance by the governments in International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2018, 5(1), 132-148. 137 different periods. Namely, many teacher training models have been implemented since then; however, they all failed in practice due to the fact that they were prepared disregarding the existing educational system of the country and ideological prerequisites. Ergün (1987, 1998), on the other hand, suggests that Turkey has a rich experience in teacher training. Especially in the early Republican years, when western-style teacher training became popular, Turkey established its own institutions and began to launch peculiar models to train teachers. Implementing separate policies for teachers to be employed in urban areas and for those to be employed in suburban areas could constitute the most prominent example for that. Akyüz (2011) notes that illiteracy of the majority of the population was the primary problem; namely, the proportion was below 10% in the country, and the case was even worse in the suburban areas like villages. This situation primarily raises the problem of training teachers to be employed at primary schools. Two different teacher training programmes were prepared for the teachers to be employed in cities, and for those to be employed in villages between the years 1924 and 1954 (Sağlam, 2011). Village teaching schools, teacher’s training schools/ training colleges, educator’s courses, and village institutes were launched for teacher employment in primary schools in village, and primary teachers' schools were established for teacher employment in towns and cities. Following the village institutes were abolished, primary teachers' schools remained as institutes where teachers are trained for primary school teaching. Consequently, it is observed that quality of education has considerably decreased, and educational problems have become more and more challenging to deal with particularly since 1960s. Therefore, it has been consistently emphasized in NDPs that an efficient training programme is strongly needed for teachers equipped with all qualifications of the profession. Altundemir (2012) analysed NDPs in terms of educational problems and goals, and concluded that they failed to attain educational goals and objectives. In a similar study, Küçüker (2012) examined the change Turkish Educational Planning underwent between 1963 and 2005 with respect to NDPs. Analysing the eight-year NDP implemented between the years in concern, the researcher reported that sense of education did not significantly differ across the historical process, and that education was evaluated as a means for attaining economic goals identified in the plans. The literature review shows that NDPs have been investigated by many scholars regarding various dimensions of education. Gül (1992), for instance, examined the attainment of quantitative goals for formal education identified in the 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th NDPs in Turkey, and analysed the problems triggered by the growth in education. He found that the number of students per teacher significantly increased in common middle and high schools, and that the problems related to imbalanced distribution of teachers working at these schools between provinces, and double shift schooling remained unsolved. Another finding of his study was that the schooling rate in higher education was achieved beyond expectations, whereas teaching staff capacities of the universities could not be enhanced. Kavcar (1980), on the other hand, explored the relationship between NDPs and teacher qualifications, and concluded that teacher’s incompetencies received serious attention in the 4 th NDP but they could not be eliminated due to the practices of the incompetent political figures. In a unique study, Altundemir (2012) analysed NDPs with a focus on the theory of collective goods, and educational concerns, and goals. The author reported that the feature of collective goods of the educational services and contributions of education to economic development are emphasized in the NDPs. He also noted that the plans in concern failed in attaining educational goals and objectives. Gönülaçar (2014) investigated the relationship between NDPs and education, and, and found that educational facts of Turkey were successfully identified in the NDPs; however, most of the decisions for eliminating problems could not be implemented. Ünsal, Ağçam, & Korkmaz 138 All in all, it is observed that NDPs has not been previously investigated in terms of teacher training and employment. Therefore, this study is motivated to gain an in-depth understanding of the way teacher training was handled in NDPs, and the implementations of teacher employment. The results of the study are expected to make significant contributions to the literature, and to function as a source to be taken into consideration in the process of decision making on teacher training and employment. 1.3. Aim of the Study The present study aims to analyse nine five-year NDPs launched in Turkey between 1963 and 2013 with respect to teacher training and employment. Accordingly, possible answers were sought for the questions of what decisions were taken on teacher training and employment, to what extent these decisions were related to what dimensions of teacher training, and what the main reasons of failure in NDPs are in terms of teacher training and employment. The research design of the study is provided in the following section. 2. Research Design Researchers interested in education and related topics usually benefit from a variety of document resources such as senatorial records, public and private institutional reports, law acts, and data owned by statistical centres (Merriam, 2009). Accordingly, NDPs prepared by the Ministry of Labour could be accepted as document resources for educational sciences due to the fact that they also include educational decisions. Data were collected through the method of document analysis, which is viewed one of the most significant data sources, and involves examining written materials on the phenomena or events aimed to be explored (e.g. books, journals, official publication and statistics) (Cansız- Aktaş, 2015; Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013). It requires determination and identification of themes, topics and phenomena in a given material (Giarelli & Tulman 2003). In this particular study, the data were administered to content analysis since the data set was constituted by the documents (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2005). According to Yıldırım and Şimşek (Ibid), the basic process of content analysis is to bring similar data together within the framework of certain concepts and themes, and to organize and interpret them in an intelligible way for the readers. As it is believed that obtaining first-hand knowledge is the most significant step to take for the validity and reliability of the research, the resources investigated in this study were obtained from the official website of the ministry of labour in Turkey. The documents analysed in this study were nine five-year NDPs prepared and implemented in Turkey from 1963 to 2013. For being currently implemented, 10 th NDP was not included into data set. They were analysed through content analysis, which is identified as a scientific method that enables researchers to examine oral, written, and other kinds of materials in an objective and systematic manner (Tavşancıl & Aslan, 2011). Each NDP was discussed on the basis of two broad dimensions as pre-service and in- service teacher training. Subsequently, decisions made on the pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes were examined to see what dimensions were relatively more concentrated. More specifically, the accomplished decisions, and the decisions which were taken most frequently in the NDPs were identified. The problems related to teacher training and employment were also identified in the study. Besides, the precautions taken for the solution of those problems and to what extent they were successfully implemented were analysed. For the sake of reader friendliness, the related findings were tabulated for each NDP identifying the period it was implemented, the problems identified in it, the decisions taken in order to solve the problems in concern, and the outcomes of the implementation of each plan. The following section is intended to outline findings of the study in detail. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2018, 5(1), 132-148. 139 3. Findings and Discussion As each NDP was investigated in its own right with respect to teacher training and employment, it is considered functional to tabulate findings obtained from the plans in concern. Hence, Table 2 is provided to summarize them in terms of the period they were put into effect, identified problems of education, decisions taken in order to overcome them, the implementations, and the ultimate outcomes in each. Table 2. Teacher training and employment in NDPS in Turkey (1963-2013) NDP& Period Identified Problems Decisions Scope of Decisions [Pre-service (Pre-S)/ Inservice (InS)] Implementations &Outcomes 1 st NDP (1963- 1967) * Illiteracy (60%) * Teacher shortage * Imbalanced distribution of teachers in country * Teacher training schools should be given high priority. * Teaching should be made an attractive profession by improving its working conditions (viewed as a precaution for unemployment) * Students should be directed to professional and technical education. Pre-S Pre-S Pre-S * No radical changes on educational system (Gönülaçar, 2014). * Programmes of reserve officer teacher and recruit teachers were used (Mete, 2009) *Regulation of Nomination, Transfer, and Exchange for Primary School Teachers was implemented. 2 nd NDP (1968- 1972) *Teacher shortage * Teacher recruitment of out-of-field * Decreasing quality in education * Imbalanced distribution of teachers in country *Proportion of students per teacher should be decreased. * Teachers should primarily be nominated/ appointed to the newly established schools or to the schools with no teachers. Pre-S&InS Pre-S * Teachers were not allowed to transfer or exchange during a school year except obligatory cases –for the sake of steadiness in education 3 rd NDP (1973- 1978) * Failure in professional and technical education *Teacher shortage * Imbalanced distribution of teachers in country * Failure in educational management (Gönülaçar, 2014) * A comprehensive educational reform is needed * The educational system should be restructured considering all levels of education into account Pre-S &InS Pre-S &InS * Number of teachers increased 14.4% thanks to an accelerated programme (15 week) administered to 50.000 students. * Number of students per teacher significantly decreased. * Quality of education became problematic. Ünsal, Ağçam, & Korkmaz 140 4 th NDP (1979- 1983) * Decrease in quality of education due to teacher shortage in secondary level of education * Imbalanced distribution of teachers in country * Conditions of teacher employment should be improved. * Precautions should be taken to enable teachers to refresh their professional experience continuously. * All teacher candidates should be trained at institutions of higher education. * A flexible teacher training system is needed in order to raise teachers to be employed at different levels of education. Pre-S &InS InS Pre-S Pre-S * Pedagogic programmes were launched to overcome teacher shortage in 1980. * Teaching lost its attraction against the other professions which offer higher income. * Number of applicants to Educational Institutes significantly decreased. * Most of the problems could not be overcome due to political/ administrative inconsistency, and the military coup in the country (The Cabinet was changed five times in five years (Gönülaçar, 2014). Table 2. Teacher training and employment in NDPs in Turkey (1963-2013) (Cont’d) NDP& Period Identified Problems Decisions Scope of Decisions [Pre-service (Pre-S)/ InserviceInS)] Implementations & Outcomes 5 th NDP (1985- 1989) * Teacher shortage in primary, secondary and high schools * Imbalanced distribution of teachers in country * Teacher candidates should be offered practical knowledge rather than theoretical knowledge. * Technology should be involved in education (e.g. Technological devices such as television should be used in teaching). * Precautions should be taken to raise teachers of foreign language. * Special education is needed, and teachers should be raised to work with students with special needs. * Teachers should be considered as the corner stones of education; so, the relative precautions should be taken in order to overcome teacher shortage. Pre-S InS Pre-S Pre-S & InS Pre-S * Number of schools increased. * Ideal number of students per teacher was achieved (Mete, 2009). * No regulations or planning were made for teacher training. * Teacher shortage was slightly handled since the profession lost prestige against other professions with higher income * Substitute teachers and contractual teachers were appointed to work in suburban schools. * Educational quality decreased. 6 th NDP (1990- *Teacher shortage * Imbalanced *A comprehensive planning is needed for teacher training. Pre-S &InS * Regulations were released to overcome International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2018, 5(1), 132-148. 141 1994) distribution of teachers in country * Precautions should be taken to overcome teacher shortage. Pre-S the imbalanced distribution of teachers in urban and suburban areas. * Board of Education and Discipline in Turkey abolished the prerequisite of ‘graduation of the undergraduate programme of classroom teaching’ to meet the need for classroom teachers. Graduates from such faculties as arts and sciences, and agriculture were nominated as teachers to suburban areas. * Teacher Election Exam, held for assessing qualifications of teacher candidates, was abolished (Mete, 2009). * Number of teachers increased, but the quality in education decreased. 7 th NDP (1996- 2000) * Inequality of opportunity in education due to teacher shortage * Imbalanced distribution of teachers in country * Teacher training should be revised to make the profession attractive. * Qualifications of the profession should be improved. Pre-S & InS InS * Infrastructure of technological training for teachers was not prepared. * Due to administrative inconsistencies, 31.000 candidates not specialized in teaching were appointed as teachers to decrease the number of students per teacher. To overcome the critics on that, they were provided pedagogical programmes (Gönülaçar, 2014). *No strategy was developed/ adopted for teacher nomination (Mete, 2009). * No radical changes/ regulations were made for overcoming teacher shortage. * Duration of compulsory education was increased from 5 to 8 years –without Ünsal, Ağçam, & Korkmaz 142 planning, which triggers teacher shortage once again. * Shortage in teaching training institutions & increasing population 8 th NDP (2001- 2005) * Teacher shortage * Imbalanced distribution of teachers in country * Teaching should be made attractive as a profession. * Contractual teachers should be recruited. * Number of students per teacher should be balanced (25 in Aegean Region, and 42 in Eastern Anatolia). Pre-S & InS Pre-S & InS * Teacher shortage in primary education & teacher surplus in secondary education. * Number of students per teacher increased – due to political inconsistencies (30 to 32 students) * Number of graduates from faculties of education significantly increased whereas the number of academic staff working at these faculties slightly increased. Table 2 indicates that teacher and teacher training have remained significant concerns in Turkey from the initial NDP onwards. The NDPs investigated in this study have revealed that different methods and strategies have been employed by the governments to overcome the problems related to teacher training and employment; however, it could not be claimed that they were completely overcome. Namely, teacher shortage and imbalanced distribution of teachers in urban and suburban areas have been emphasized remarkably often in all NDPs prepared and implemented between the years 1963 and 2013. As suggested by Altundemir (2012), the articulation of the same or very similar educational concerns in each plan indicates that the problems could not be successfully handled during the identified periods, and that the related goals and objectives were continuously postponed since they could not be accomplished. As a consequence, most of the problems stated in the initial NDP have remained unsolved even today in spite of the efforts/ attempts to make regulations and reforms on teacher training since 1960s. This might be attributed to administrative instability during certain periods, military coups, insufficient number of academic staff in faculties of education, and decisions taken without preparation such as increasing the duration of compulsory education without taking precautions related to number of teachers to be employed in primary schools. Likewise, as noted by the Council of Higher Education, temporary recruitment strategies were adopted in overcoming teacher shortage in the country. Cram training, temporary recruitment of substitute teachers, and teacher training with letters could be listed among the most common of these strategies. Due to the politics and ideology driven violence at educational institutes after 1975, thousands of students could not continue their education; therefore, cram training which offered 25%-50% of the mainstream education was launched as a solution (Akyüz, 1993, p. 337). The researcher underlined the fact that the trainees were not provided such educational activities as seminars and teaching practice. It is known as the poorest strategy in the history of teacher training. In 1974, teacher training with letters, in International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2018, 5(1), 132-148. 143 which high school graduates were offered training which lasted five weeks in summer (a total of 15 weeks in 3 years) was introduced (Akyüz, 1993, p. 337). It is reported that 46.000 students were enrolled in this programme. Temporary recruitment of substitute teachers, on the other hand, was launched based on the Civil Servants Law (Act N. 657). According to the law in concern, substitute teachers are assigned with courses in case of the shortage of full- time teachers, and paid additional course fee. All in all, it is seen that such teacher employment strategies proved unsuccessful since they mostly decreased the status and quality of teaching profession. Last but not least, the result of a small-scale research conducted by the researchers on area of specialization of former and current ministers of education in Turkey has shown that, at the time of the study, 53 out of 64 ministers (including the current minister) have not had specialist knowledge in education. Figure 3 illustrates the related results. Figure 3. Area of specialization of ministers of education in Turkey (1923- ) Hence, as for implications of this study, the ministers and other decision makers should be selected among individuals who are specialized in education, and/ or those with experience in teaching at state institutions –if possible. Alternatively, academicians with an in-depth knowledge in teaching and teacher training should be invited to be actively involved in the preparation of NDPs, and their recommendations on teacher training and employment should be taken into consideration while identifying educational policies as well as related long- and short-term goals and objectives. Concerning NDPs, it is also considered more convenient and functional to track developments in the country during a school year, and to evaluate to what extent the identified decisions have been accomplished at the end of each year rather than at the end of the implementation of each five-year NDP. Another implication might be that the teacher training process should be viewed as a state policy rather than programmes offered/ launched by the governments. In a similar vein, it is believed beneficial to aim not only to overcome teacher shortage and the imbalanced distribution of teachers in urban and suburban areas but to improve the quality of the process of teacher training and employment. In order to balance the distribution of teachers nationwide, it might be suggested that teachers working in schools in suburban areas should be financially, personally and socially supported. Additionally, the reasons why teachers are unwilling to work in schools located in suburban areas might be explored, and essential precautions might be taken to eliminate them. Furthermore, it could not be claimed that much progress has been made in making teaching as an attractive profession by improving personal 0 5 10 15 20 Bureaucracy Economics Education Engineering History Law Literature Medicine Military Politics 5 4 11 4 2 20 3 4 3 8 Ünsal, Ağçam, & Korkmaz 144 benefits of teachers which was stated in the first NDP. This sort of efforts should not only be perceived as financial; instead, the attempts in concern should include aims of improving the social status, respect and image of the profession. As suggested in the Report on Education and Training by EU (2013: 17), teaching profession might be motivated by providing the opportunity for career progression, promoting the teachers’ lifelong learning and engagement in continuing professional development, clarifying the teachers’ roles; demand for the professionalization of teaching; a desire to clarify teachers’ roles; the growing importance of the role of school leadership; and the need to assess the quality of teaching. Hence, teacher training degree programmes should be organised taking these facts into account. Namely, they should be arranged to include courses and activities that facilitate raising qualified and motivated teachers equipped with active teaching skills. Another important point about teacher training is the training of teachers such as characteristics of individual innovativeness, openness to experience and opinion-leading, being in search of innovations and the willingness to different experiences (Parlar & Cansoy, 2017). For this, the institutions that educate teachers need to be restructured with an innovative and creative approach, there cycling of training processes and the development of human resources. Because educating students for the future together with the new trends in education and ‘improving the quality of education process’, with a focus on innovation concepts in education is very important, the teacher training process and curriculum so critical (Parlar, 2017). Equally important, the study has indicated that the failure in the preparation and implementation of NDPs has caused the Ministry of National Education to have to deal with the problems related to teacher shortage and teacher surplus even today. For instance, the statistical data announced by the Council of Higher Education in Turkey has recently revealed that there are currently a million teacher candidates in the country whereas the Ministry of National Education has announced that only one in ten of them will be nominated as teachers in the following academic year. So, it might be suggested that teacher qualifications should be increased, and high-level admission requirements should be established for teacher training programmes in order to improve the quality of education and teacher training programmes, and to balance the supply and demand equilibrium in terms of teacher employment. With the aim of introducing effective mechanisms to evaluate success and quality of teaching and learning in Kosovo, it is acknowledged in the National Development Strategy 2016 – 2021 (NDS) (2010) that a teacher performance assessment system and a teacher grading system will be developed, that qualification, good performance and experience of the teachers will be taken into consideration in the grading system, and that students’ aptitude and inspection reports will be an essential part of evaluation criteria. For justification of the related decisions, it is underlined that enhanced quality of teaching will improve students’ school success and in the standardized tests (e.g. PISA) and strengthen the abilities and skills of the labour force, and that this is expected to generate long-term impact on the economic growth and development. As a result, adoption of a similar strategy in Turkey might also serve as a solution to the existing problems of teacher training and education in general. Finally, the study has implied that unsystematic and unrealistic applications of the governments such as employment of non-specialist teachers tend to cause a substantial decline in the professional status of teaching and the quality of education, and to lead teachers away from professionalism. In this regard, it is considered beneficial to remember the fact that teachers commonly constitute the dominant group in the civil servants in most of the countries. Namely, the statistical data released by the State Personnel Department in Turkey (2016) show that approximately 36% of the state personnel are comprised of teachers, International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2018, 5(1), 132-148. 145 followed by general administrative personnel (21.9%), health personnel (17%), and police officers (10.6%). Likewise, the counterpart statistics released by the State Secretariat for the Public Service Directorate (2010) indicate that they are among the five most significant professions in the Austrian Federal Civil Service comprising 11% of the public employment in the country. More recently, the data published by Statistics Denmark (2017) reveal that teaching has been the fourth most-employed profession in the country for the last decade comprising an average of 10% of the public employment. In the meanwhile, it is significant to note that teachers have the right to unionization in most of the developed and developing countries. Accordingly, they might be recommended to use this particular right to influence the upper-level decision makers prompting them to consider regulations to improve educational quality and teacher qualifications as well as working conditions, and to get involved in the implementation process of the related decisions. In brief, it is strongly believed that the upcoming NDPs are likely to discuss these problems much less frequently when more feasible strategies are adopted to overcome them particularly taking the afore-mentioned recommendations into account. 4. Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Further Directions The present study limited to the content analysis of 9 national development plans launched in Turkey between 1963-2013 in terms of teacher training and employment. It might be furthered to investigate the 10 th NDP which is being currently implemented in order to see whether the decisions on teacher training and employment have been successfully implemented. Likewise, findings elicited from this study could be compared with those to be obtained from such sort of study that will be conducted in 2018 at the earliest, when the latest NDP has been fully implemented. 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