İSTANBUL’DA BİR LEVANTEN OKULU: ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

The Pera neighborhood in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul has been home to many foreign educational institutions since the 19th century with the Ottoman opening up to the outside world. The Austrian Saint George School, the French Saint Benoît and Saint Pulchérie, the Italian School, the Pierre Loti High School, the German High School and the Pera English High School for Girls stand out among these schools. Founded in 1849 under the name English High School for Girls, this school was opened with the permission of Sultan Abdülmecid for the education of the daughters of British Levantines, whose number increased in Istanbul after the Crimean War. Opened during the Tanzimat Period, the school followed a curriculum based on the British education system and provided education to members of the British community on the one hand, and to students from Ottoman subjects regardless of religion, language and nationality on the other. The school had to suspend its activities from time to time due to wars and diplomatic crises but continued to provide education. In 1979, in line with Britain's decision to close all its schools abroad, the school's status as a foreign school was terminated and it was transferred to the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Turkey. In 1980, the high school department was opened and the school was renamed Beyoğlu Anatolian High School. In this study, the importance of Pera English Girls' School in terms of our educational history will be emphasized, and evaluations will be made about the educational practices and educational programs of the school, which has successfully carried out its educational mission for more than a century. The stages of foreign schools in the Turkish education system from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic will be evaluated through the history of the school. In this study, document analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. In addition to the literature in the field, archival sources, periodicals, research works and memoirs were consulted. In the light of the findings obtained, the educational activities of Pera English Girls' School from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic are discussed.