The Reflection of Conceptual Debates in Ottoman Naval History on High School Curriculum and Teacher Education: A Pedagogical Analysis

Abstract

This study aims to examine the conceptual debates in academic Ottoman maritime historiography and their instructional reflections in the 2025 secondary school (10th and 11th grade) History textbooks approved by the Ministry of National Education, alongside History Education undergraduate curricula. Utilizing qualitative document analysis, the study comparatively evaluated the national textbooks, undergraduate curricula across state universities, and the National Defence University Naval Academy catalog against primary sources (Tursun Bey, Kritovulos, Pîrî Reis, Kâtib Çelebi) and modern historiographical literature. The findings indicate that maritime history in secondary textbooks is frequently constrained to isolated military chronologies and static narrative templates, leaving institutional evolution, supply networks, and engineering dimensions undertheorized. Furthermore, due to the elective status of the “Turkish Naval History” course, prospective teachers graduate without standardized competency in maritime historiography. In conclusion, maritime history should be analyzed as an integrated institutional, economic, and technological system, replacing superficial narratives with analytical case studies and spatial-logistical frameworks in both secondary curricula and teacher education programs.