Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, sa.7, ss.455-467, 2020 (Hakemli Dergi)
There was a successful and valuable experience that was implemented in Turkey between 1940 and
1954. It was called the Village Institutes which were established in different parts of the country that
greatly enlightened their environments. Unfortunately, because of a clash of political interests, the
institutes were closed in 1954. The Village Institutes have been under scrutiny in terms of different
courses and activities. However, there still seems to be a gap in the reviewed literature in terms of
foreign language teaching in the Village Institutes and its reflections to today’s English language
teacher training programmes. Although Turkey is not the same as the 1940s Turkey, this paper is an
attempt to show that with their certain features, they still stand as a model to look up to and we
should benefit from their outputs in teacher education practices in Turkey. They raised teachers
who were aware of themselves, the surrounding environment and their own transformative power
and were able to think critically. When we consider the limited practicum hours for pre-service
teachers and high ratio of theoretical lessons in the curriculum at the faculties of education, it seems
that we have a lot to learn from the Village Institutes experience.