What Is the Türkiye Century Education Model (TYMM)? A Comprehensive Guide for Teachers

In September 2024, teachers woke up to an email. The curriculum was changing. Then, in October 2025, a document published by the Board of Education and Discipline clarified the real framework behind this change: the Türkiye Century Education Model Common Text of Curricula.

In this post, we will answer the questions teachers ask most often: what is TYMM, how does it differ from the old curriculum, what exactly does the “competent and virtuous person” mean, and how does the learning outcomes framework work?

What does TYMM stand for? Its full name and definition

TYMM is the abbreviation of the Türkiye Century Education Model (Türkiye Yüzyılı Maarif Modeli). It is the umbrella name for the new curricula put into practice by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) in the 2024-2025 school year. All the new curricula, across every subject, sit under this model.

The word “Maarif” was not chosen by accident. In Ottoman Turkish it means “knowing, knowledge, skilful mastery”. MoNE defines the term as “an educational approach aimed at the competent and virtuous person, equipped with knowledge, skills, dispositions and values”. In other words, this is not merely a curriculum change but a redefinition of how education itself is viewed.

The core approach of the Maarif Model: Why this kind of model?

The old curriculum system (2017-2018 and earlier) was predominantly objective-driven. Dozens of learning objectives were listed under each subject, and teachers worked through them in order. TYMM has changed that structure.

The core philosophy of the Maarif Model is summed up in a single sentence: “To raise generations of sound mind, sound heart and sound taste.” These three concepts stand at the centre of the model. The aim is for reason, conscience and aesthetic sensibility to develop together.

The concrete reflections of the model’s core approach:

A holistic view. The human being is treated as a whole made up of soul and body. The concepts of “ontological integrity, epistemological integrity, temporal integrity and axiological maturity” form the foundation of the pupil profile.

Interdisciplinary connections. The question of how a topic covered in a maths lesson connects with science or social studies is now a building block of the curriculum. Transdisciplinary and beyond-disciplinary approaches also come into play where needed.

The centrality of Turkish. Language is positioned as “the fundamental means by which a person accesses the world of existence and forms thought”. The correct use of Turkish is emphasised at every stage of education.

Flexibility. The curricula were designed as structures that are “technically renewed, updated and simplified when necessary”. This opens up room for teachers to do school-based planning.

The competent and virtuous person: TYMM’s pupil profile

The ultimate goal of the Türkiye Century Education Model is summed up in a single sentence: to raise competent and virtuous people.

The two concepts complement each other:

Competence means possessing the knowledge and skills required in a given field.
Virtue encompasses spiritual maturity and morally admirable qualities.

Four fundamental forms of integrity shape the pupil profile:

Integrity	What it describes
Ontological integrity	Balance of soul and body, a healthy and balanced person
Epistemological integrity	Knowledge and wisdom, critical thinking and problem solving
Temporal integrity	Continuous learning stretching from past to future, a shared sense of history
Axiological maturity	Development of values, the capacity for moral decision making

This framework shapes every stage of teaching, from lesson planning to assessment. A teacher is expected to ask not only “has the pupil achieved this objective” but also “what has this topic contributed to the pupil’s epistemological development”.

The Learning Outcomes Framework: TYMM’s building block

In place of the old curriculum’s “learning objective”, TYMM uses the concept of learning outcomes. But learning outcomes are not enough on their own. They are part of a broader framework.

The Learning Outcomes Framework is structured under four main headings:

1. Conceptual Skills

Higher-order cognitive skills such as thinking, problem solving, decision making, and critical and creative thinking. These form the common ground of all subjects.

2. Physical Skills

Areas of physical development such as hand-eye coordination, motor skills and body awareness. These are not confined to PE lessons but spread across the whole curriculum.

3. Dispositions

Attitudes towards learning such as curiosity, responsibility, perseverance and open-mindedness. It is not enough for a pupil to “know maths”; the disposition they develop towards maths is tracked too.

4. Field Skills

Subject-specific skills. Turkish has its own field skills, as do maths and science. Separate field skills are also defined for social sciences, art, physical education, information technology, design, religious education and foreign languages.

Cross-Curricular Components: The three pillars of holistic development

The most innovative aspect of the Maarif Model is the concept of “cross-curricular components” that sit above individual subjects. There are three main headings:

Social-Emotional Learning Skills. Areas such as self-awareness, building relationships and responsible decision making. These are woven implicitly into every lesson.

The Virtue-Value-Action Framework. Values such as justice, wisdom, compassion and diligence. These are not taught as a separate subject; they live “naturally in the spirit” of the curriculum.

Systems Thinking and Literacy Skills. Twenty-first century literacies such as digital literacy, financial literacy and environmental literacy.

These components are not covered in isolation within a lesson. When a story is read in a Turkish lesson, field skills, social-emotional skills and the virtue-value-action dimension are all at work at the same time.

The clearest differences between TYMM and the old curriculum

To sharpen the comparison, let us put the two systems side by side:

Dimension	Old Curriculum (pre-2017)	Türkiye Century Education Model
Core unit	Learning objective	Learning outcome
Approach	Topic/objective-driven	Skill- and value-driven
Interdisciplinary work	Limited	A building block
Values education	Separate headings	Implicit in the spirit of the curriculum
Pupil profile	Not explicitly defined	The competent and virtuous person
Differentiation	Optional	Systematic (enrichment + support)
Assessment and evaluation	Exam-heavy	A variety of evidence of learning

This difference is not just a change on paper. It directly affects how teachers behave in the classroom, how they construct their lesson plans, and how they assess pupils.

Sources:

Ministry of National Education (2025). Türkiye Yüzyılı Maarif Modeli Öğretim Programları Ortak Metni. Talim ve Terbiye Kurulu Başkanlığı, Ankara.
Basic Law of National Education, No. 1739.