Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement

Gulen’s Philosophy of Gradualism in Child Education

In his book, “Cekirdekten Cinara (From Seed to Plane-Tree), Fethullah Gulen emphasizes the importance of introducing age-appropriate materials in schooling to maximize learning and behavioral change. According to Gulen, there is a “gradualism” in God’s creation, so the nature of a human being develops both biologically and intellectually by gradually travelling through different stages of life, each with its own requirements for optimal growth. Human beings cannot be programmed to act in certain ways, but can be educated gradually and incrementally to become better a human being. Likewise, the leaders in these private schools inspired by Gulen's philosophy understand that helping children to develop a good character is not a quick fix. Rather it is a product of a continuous process of intentional teaching, being a role model, learning and practices in everyday discourse.

We are born helpless as well as ignorant of the laws of life and must cry out to get the help we need. After a year or so, we can stand on our feet and walk a little. When we are about 15 we are expected to have understood the difference between good and evil, the beneficial and the harmful. However, it will take us our whole lives to acquire intellectual and spiritual perfection. Our principle duty in life is to acquire perfection and purity in our thinking, conceptions and belief. By fulfilling our duty of servanthood to the Creator, Nourisher and Protector, and by penetrating the mystery of creation through our potentials and faculties, we seek to attain to the rank of true humanity, and become worthy of a blissful, eternal life in another, exalted world (http://www.fethullahgulen.org/conference-papers/contributions-of-the-gulen-movement/2522-the-educational-philosophy-of-fethullah-gulen-and-its-application-in-south-africa.html)

Home Visits to Foster Character Formation

The fundamental guiding principle of the leaders of these Gulen-inspired schools is that the raw materials as well as the final product of the education process is a human being. As Rick Weissbourd said, “The moral development of a student does not depend primarily on explicit character education efforts but on the maturity and ethical capacities of adults with whom they interact” (2006, pp. 6-11). Gulen-inspired schools such as the one we mentioned above in Virginia, organize periodic family visits to ensure that the “parent-teacher relationship is improved” by exchanging feedback about “student’s academic and social growth and performance” for better schooling.

Students, parents, teachers and staff are part of a school culture that fosters strong communication between school and families. Everyone is asked to uphold a commitment to the school and to each other to put in the time and effort required to achieve success. The schools host community breakfasts and student-centered exhibits to create a sense of community and build community support. Families and educators share responsibility for student learning and they rely on each other to contribute to the learning process.

Therefore, children as they interact with their parents, relatives, adults in their neighborhood, school administrators, teachers, and older friends whether consciously or unconsciously they shape their own character formation. Thus, for a permanent positive change, in addition to the formal education in schools, parents must also be vigilant about whom their children are coming into close contact with on a daily basis, and as the main role models, they must be careful as to how they talk, act, and express their expectation in their social life.

Character Formation and Discipline

Discipline and dedication of the school staff have been among the main reasons behind the pervasive success stories of all Gulen-inspired schools. Growing discipline problems and the lack of respect students have towards their teachers are widely known by virtually everybody. School violence, bullying, substance abuse, and other illicit problems are not new. Such discipline problems are real threats, and should be addressed professionally with clear objectives. Psychologist and educators are still debating how to better plan, implement and evaluate a traditional character education, and specifically, are trying to address the question of how to best contribute to educational practice and societal changes that will address the problems mentioned above (Nucci, 1997).

Therefore, the purpose of schooling in Gulen-inspired schools requires that schools seek to improve both academic and character formation of children. As Ryan and Bohlin (1999, pp. 93-94) write:

Where does character education fit into the curriculum? The simple answer is this:
everywhere. Since education seeks to help students develop as persons, character
development is part and parcel of the whole enterprise. Teaching, as Alan Tom reminds
us, is a moral act. We believe that learning is a moral act as well . . . Character education, then, with its twin goals of intellectual and moral development, should be implicit in all of the school’s undertakings.

In the Gulen-inspired schools, character education is more than just a stand-alone program, instead, it is integrated into the fabric of school-wide curriculum.

Due to growing concerns about the increasing discipline problems in public schools, policy-makers and administrators not only in Gulen-inspired schools but also across the country started to mandate the inclusion of character education in the fabric of the standard curricula of their school systems. Schools that are committed to moral education have enjoyed the outcomes of their efforts in creating safe, warm and predictable yet purposeful engaging atmosphere conducive to maximum learning. Nothing makes administrators and parents more happy than seeing their children enjoying school time with enthusiastic teachers proud of teaching civilized children.