Atatürk, who is a great soldier, statesman and diplomat, is also a leader who made our nation improved in the field of education. Atatürk had an extreme interest and thoughts about education. He evaluated the issue as if he is an education expert. He did not miss any chance to talk and tell about the importance of education to the others. He demystified the purpose and principals, which must be considered primarily.

Education is a must for a nation to live independently and develop itself. According to Atatürk “The most important and vital point is education itself.”  The alphabet revolution made by Atatürk is one of the most important steps in modern education of Turkey. Because of the difficulty of reading and writing in the Ottoman language, most of the population was not able to read and/or write. The alphabet revolution made it easier and the population who are able to read and write was increased. Therefore, the intellectuality of the society was also increased.

In spite of Sakarya War, National Education Congress was not cancelled and held in 16 July 1921. Atatürk did not accept the postponement of the congress and he even made the opening speech. Approximately, 250 man and woman teachers attended to the congress. The main two topics were the syllabus and the periods of the primary and secondary schools. In the opening speech, Atatürk advised the teachers, if they want to progress in education field, to read about the articles of John Dewey, Alfred Binet, William Stern and Maria Montessori. Actually, Atatürk defined Maria Montessori as the most successful one among the others. According to him, Maria Montessori was so successful that no one would continue to follow Fröbel principals in nurseries anymore.

Atatürk’s recommendation about Maria Montessori is not a simple or random thing. Instead, he was a perfect analyzer of his age. First of all, the other Western scientists also used the words he uttered for Maria Montessori. Also, the days when Atatürk said those words were the first days of Montessori method, which now has been used over a century.

Dr. Heike Beuschlein, who made amazing researches about education systems, said that, “None of the reform pedagogy in the World outspreaded like Maria Montessori’s pedagogy. Most of the families adapted their children’s education according to this system. There is no doubt that she is the most important figure of the modern education system and her services to education could be considered as a renaissance in this area.” Not only Dr. Beuschlein but also Rita Kramer, who is one of the most important person of education pedagogy, praised for Maria Montessori with these words, “…the woman who made a revolution in the World’s education system…” ; “Her success is such a wonderful that her education system outspreaded all over the World, from China to Korea in the east, from Honolulu to Argentina in the south.”

Sihirli Bahçe Montessori School keeps the education advisory of Atatürk today with honor and pride.