And likes to keep secrets too!
Charter School Scandals website has graciously allowed us to borrow the following information regarding the Gulen movement, and in particular, how it affects what is going on in the "Gulen-inspired" charter schools that are spread throughout the United States (150 and counting).
Charter School Scandals has a plethora of information regarding Gulen's schools and other United States' charter schools, and we encourage our readers to visit the website.
Below is the transcript from Charter School Scandals:
"The Gulen Movement is a secretive, transnational religious-based movement being conducted by the devoted followers of Fetullah Gulen, a charismatic and controversial Turkish imam of the Nur sect. The Gulen Movement has been found to be affiliated with a large and well-rooted charter school network in the United States.
About Fethullah Gulen
Gulen was born in 1944 in Turkey and, from a young age, began to follow the career path of his father. Gulen's beliefs are connected to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam. For a number of years, Gulen delivered sermons at mosques throughout Turkey. As he matured, Gulen developed his own personal themes and amassed a large set of followers. Recordings and written materials have been widely produced and distributed by the publishing companies started by Gulen's devotees.
Gulen left Turkey in 1999. He claimed his departure was for medical reasons (like many, many millions of people, Gulen has diabetes), but at the time he was being investigated for plotting to overthrow the secular republic to replace it with an Islamic state (he had been imprisoned for six months in 1971 under a similar charge). Gulen was tried in absentia and eventually acquitted in 2006. Although he was cleared in his homeland, Gulen immediately applied for a visa so he could remain in the U.S. His request was denied, but his appeal was heard in federal court and, in 2008, his petition was granted. In their written denial, U.S. Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security stated a suspicion about CIA involvement in funding the Gulen movement’s global projects (see section 12). In his appeal, Gulen obtained letters of support from two former CIA officials (one of whom is Graham Fuller, who, in 2010, was provided with an opportunity to promote his new book at the Rumi Forum, a Gulenist organization in D.C.). One theory which has been proposed is that the Gulen movement receives U.S. support for its expansion because it is considered to be a moderate form of Islam.
Gulen now lives reclusively at a compound in rural northeastern Pennsylvania. Gulen's followers Gulen does not approve of the title "Gulen Movement." Instead he refers to it as a ‘volunteers' (hizmet) movement." Hizmet is one of the highest duties in Islam, implying both a religious and national service. Gulen's community of followers is known as the cemaat. He is referred to as their hocaefendi (esteemed teacher).
The central activities of Gulen's followers have been the establishment of schools, businesses, and communication/media companies (publishers such as Today’s Zaman, The Fountain Magazine, etc.; TV stations such as the English language Ebru TV and the Turkish language Samanyolu; and other companies as well as Gulen-promotional web sites, etc.). The Gulen Movement also establishes regional organizations which either promote Turkish culture or “interfaith dialog.” In the U.S., these organizations (remaining undeclared as belonging to the Gulen Movement and only self-identifying as "Turkish") court local public officials, religious leaders, journalists, and other community leaders by giving them awards, dinners, and free, guided trips to Turkey.
Gulen's educational philosophy and Gulen schools
A religious-based educational philosophy is one of Gulen’s primary themes; he has very specific notions about the way in which children should be instructed in schools, some of which are described in “The Educational Philosophy of Fethullah Gülen and Its Application in South Africa."
In 1982, Gulen's devotees started the first Gulen schools in Turkey. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, members of the movement were then able to migrate to the countries in Central Asia (Turkic regions which were once ruled by the Ottoman Empire) and start more schools. These schools have since come under increased scrutiny for their spread of pan-Turkic ideas. The movement continued to expand and, at this point, hundreds of private schools in many countries on other continents have been opened. Local residents usually refer to them as the "Turkish schools."
About ten years ago, Turk-run charter schools started appearing in the U.S. and today are operating in 26 states. These schools are founded and operated by Turkish immigrants (male scientists and businessmen) who can often be tied to the American Gulenist organizations. An unusually strong pattern of similarities in their establishment and operation indicates that these schools are likely the U.S. members of the larger network of international Gulen schools, however the operators of the schools are extremely reluctant to discuss Gulen, the Gulen Movement, or Gulen's approach to education. Sometimes they will admit that the schools are "Gulen-inspired." Unlike the schools which follow the Waldorf education philosophy proudly do, these schools do not mention their connection to Gulen's educational philosophy. It is never volunteered to the public, or mentioned on the web sites or in the charter school petitions. Readers may wish to contemplate possible reasons for this.
VIEW THE LIST OF U.S. GULEN CHARTER SCHOOLS HERE. The current count is 150 operating, imminent, or attempted charter schools. In other countries, the Gulen schools are private and charge tuition. In the U.S. the Gulen schools receive public state and federal funds.
American news organizations have done little to inform the public about the Gulen Movement and its schools, and of any deeper significance and associated controversies. To date, only one news story has been produced by the mainstream press, USA Today's "Objectives of charter schools with Turkish connections questioned" by Greg Toppo (August 17, 2010). Broad public awareness about the Gulen charter schools has not yet occurred.
In addition to the Gulen Movement's strategy of secrecy and "strategic ambiguity" (discussed in Joshua Henrick's thesis, see below), another reason this national phenomenon has gone unnoticed for so long is because charter school authorization is fragmented and oversight is local and inadequate. It has taken a while for anyone to become aware that that there is a multi-district, multi-state charter school pattern in operation.
Each year that goes by, more and more U.S. tax dollars have become involved with the establishment and support of these Gulen charter schools without any honest public discussion or bureaucratic evaluation about if it is right or wrong for American taxpayers to be funding them.
Gulen school characteristics
Taken individually, the Gulenist schools seem quite promising and their oddities are not noticeable. However, despite the schools and school clusters claiming to have no, or minimal, affiliation with one another, they have extremely unusual similarities, which they even share with the international Gulen schools such as PakTurk (check the Web site's News & Events). The characteristics of these schools will include most of the following:
Revised and updated on 10/4/2010"
Charter School Scandals has a plethora of information regarding Gulen's schools and other United States' charter schools, and we encourage our readers to visit the website.
Below is the transcript from Charter School Scandals:
"The Gulen Movement is a secretive, transnational religious-based movement being conducted by the devoted followers of Fetullah Gulen, a charismatic and controversial Turkish imam of the Nur sect. The Gulen Movement has been found to be affiliated with a large and well-rooted charter school network in the United States.
About Fethullah Gulen
Gulen was born in 1944 in Turkey and, from a young age, began to follow the career path of his father. Gulen's beliefs are connected to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam. For a number of years, Gulen delivered sermons at mosques throughout Turkey. As he matured, Gulen developed his own personal themes and amassed a large set of followers. Recordings and written materials have been widely produced and distributed by the publishing companies started by Gulen's devotees.
Gulen left Turkey in 1999. He claimed his departure was for medical reasons (like many, many millions of people, Gulen has diabetes), but at the time he was being investigated for plotting to overthrow the secular republic to replace it with an Islamic state (he had been imprisoned for six months in 1971 under a similar charge). Gulen was tried in absentia and eventually acquitted in 2006. Although he was cleared in his homeland, Gulen immediately applied for a visa so he could remain in the U.S. His request was denied, but his appeal was heard in federal court and, in 2008, his petition was granted. In their written denial, U.S. Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security stated a suspicion about CIA involvement in funding the Gulen movement’s global projects (see section 12). In his appeal, Gulen obtained letters of support from two former CIA officials (one of whom is Graham Fuller, who, in 2010, was provided with an opportunity to promote his new book at the Rumi Forum, a Gulenist organization in D.C.). One theory which has been proposed is that the Gulen movement receives U.S. support for its expansion because it is considered to be a moderate form of Islam.
Gulen now lives reclusively at a compound in rural northeastern Pennsylvania. Gulen's followers Gulen does not approve of the title "Gulen Movement." Instead he refers to it as a ‘volunteers' (hizmet) movement." Hizmet is one of the highest duties in Islam, implying both a religious and national service. Gulen's community of followers is known as the cemaat. He is referred to as their hocaefendi (esteemed teacher).
The central activities of Gulen's followers have been the establishment of schools, businesses, and communication/media companies (publishers such as Today’s Zaman, The Fountain Magazine, etc.; TV stations such as the English language Ebru TV and the Turkish language Samanyolu; and other companies as well as Gulen-promotional web sites, etc.). The Gulen Movement also establishes regional organizations which either promote Turkish culture or “interfaith dialog.” In the U.S., these organizations (remaining undeclared as belonging to the Gulen Movement and only self-identifying as "Turkish") court local public officials, religious leaders, journalists, and other community leaders by giving them awards, dinners, and free, guided trips to Turkey.
Gulen's educational philosophy and Gulen schools
A religious-based educational philosophy is one of Gulen’s primary themes; he has very specific notions about the way in which children should be instructed in schools, some of which are described in “The Educational Philosophy of Fethullah Gülen and Its Application in South Africa."
In 1982, Gulen's devotees started the first Gulen schools in Turkey. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, members of the movement were then able to migrate to the countries in Central Asia (Turkic regions which were once ruled by the Ottoman Empire) and start more schools. These schools have since come under increased scrutiny for their spread of pan-Turkic ideas. The movement continued to expand and, at this point, hundreds of private schools in many countries on other continents have been opened. Local residents usually refer to them as the "Turkish schools."
About ten years ago, Turk-run charter schools started appearing in the U.S. and today are operating in 26 states. These schools are founded and operated by Turkish immigrants (male scientists and businessmen) who can often be tied to the American Gulenist organizations. An unusually strong pattern of similarities in their establishment and operation indicates that these schools are likely the U.S. members of the larger network of international Gulen schools, however the operators of the schools are extremely reluctant to discuss Gulen, the Gulen Movement, or Gulen's approach to education. Sometimes they will admit that the schools are "Gulen-inspired." Unlike the schools which follow the Waldorf education philosophy proudly do, these schools do not mention their connection to Gulen's educational philosophy. It is never volunteered to the public, or mentioned on the web sites or in the charter school petitions. Readers may wish to contemplate possible reasons for this.
VIEW THE LIST OF U.S. GULEN CHARTER SCHOOLS HERE. The current count is 150 operating, imminent, or attempted charter schools. In other countries, the Gulen schools are private and charge tuition. In the U.S. the Gulen schools receive public state and federal funds.
American news organizations have done little to inform the public about the Gulen Movement and its schools, and of any deeper significance and associated controversies. To date, only one news story has been produced by the mainstream press, USA Today's "Objectives of charter schools with Turkish connections questioned" by Greg Toppo (August 17, 2010). Broad public awareness about the Gulen charter schools has not yet occurred.
In addition to the Gulen Movement's strategy of secrecy and "strategic ambiguity" (discussed in Joshua Henrick's thesis, see below), another reason this national phenomenon has gone unnoticed for so long is because charter school authorization is fragmented and oversight is local and inadequate. It has taken a while for anyone to become aware that that there is a multi-district, multi-state charter school pattern in operation.
Each year that goes by, more and more U.S. tax dollars have become involved with the establishment and support of these Gulen charter schools without any honest public discussion or bureaucratic evaluation about if it is right or wrong for American taxpayers to be funding them.
Gulen school characteristics
Taken individually, the Gulenist schools seem quite promising and their oddities are not noticeable. However, despite the schools and school clusters claiming to have no, or minimal, affiliation with one another, they have extremely unusual similarities, which they even share with the international Gulen schools such as PakTurk (check the Web site's News & Events). The characteristics of these schools will include most of the following:
- Emphasis on math and science; yet little experimental science
- Science fairs; math competitions, robotics clubs (“modem” education)
- Major emphasis on awards, mostly won by a small fraction of the students; many of the competitions are sponsored by a set of affiliated organizations (I-SWEEP, Pacifica Institute, etc.)
- High scores on standardized tests, even in cases of very challenging demographics
- Chronic problems with special education compliance
- Excessive information requested upon application which can be used to screen students (test scores, home language, parental workplace, etc.)
- Relentless self-promotion through press releases and the courting of local public officials
- Schools occasionally featured on known Gulist news outlets, such as Today’s Zaman, Ebru TV, or Samonyolu TV
- A number of the supposedly-unrelated schools have unusually similar websites and logo motifs
- High teacher turnover; teachers, administrators disappear and appear mysteriously
- Departed administrators will appear at other supposedly-unrelated schools in the network
- Large number of Turkish or Turkic teachers, many with poor English skills
- Excessive use of H1B Visas to fill staffing needs (See Gulen schools and their booming H1B visa applications)
- 99.9% of the founders, board members, and administrators are male and have Turkish or Turkic names
- Administrators and many teachers lack experience working in any schools outside the network
- Teachers socialize to an unusual degree with students; character education often taught by male Turkish or Turkic teachers
- Home visits offered to all families; school sleepovers
- Turkish language classes, during or after school (Turkish does not rank as a major language but it is stressed as being extremely important)
- Turkish cultural activities such as Turkish clubs, elaborately costumed student participation in regional "Turkish Olympiads" (see "Learning to love Turkey") and class trips to Anatolian/Turkish festivals
- School-sponsored trips to Turkey, usually disguised as “International” or “Europe” trips (scan the photo galleries on the school Web sites). Students can earn credit as they are immersed and indoctrinated in a Gulenist environment abroad.
- The dominant Turkish and Turkic presence in staff members, curriculum and student activities is never mentioned as a feature of the school in the original charter school application
- School leaders deny, deflect, or minimize their connections to the Gulen Movement.
- About the international aspect of this phenomenon: Gulen schools here and abroad
- A highly informative Web site: A guide to the Gulen Movement’s activities in the U.S.
- Web sites created by people with inside knowledge about the schools: Charter School Watchdog and Gulen Charter Schools
- A news story about these schools in Tucson (AZ): Foreigners fill ranks of local charter-school chain (April 25, 2010)
- A news story about the Salt Lake City (UT) school: Islamic links to Utah's Beehive Academy probed (June 1, 2010)
- Rising Islamist movements challenge secularism in Turkey (October 2009) by Worldfocus, an online news program produced by WNET, a public television station
- PowerPoint presentation about Texas' Harmony schools (the largest Gulen charter school network operated by the Cosmos Foundation) demonstrating the large discrepancy between the schools' state test (TAKS) and SAT scores.
- A Kurdish perspective on Gulen and his movement, "Does terrorism help Gulen's Muslim missionaries? A first class revolution from the bottom up"
- A paper posted on Fetullah Gülen’s website: “The Educational Philosophy of Fethullah Gülen and Its Application in South Africa." Excerpts are HERE.
- Examples of Gulen’s religious views about "spirits" can be found HERE and HERE.
- Sociologist Joshua Hendrick studied the Gulen Movement for several years. It was the topic of his 2009 PhD thesis: "Globalization and Marketed Islam: The Case of Fethullah Gulen." Twenty-four introductory pages are offered for free viewing HERE. Here Hendrick writes on hizmet and loyalty (pg. 181):
According to Ergene, the GM is a "community" of individuals who by their own free will agree with the "truth" that is explained by Fethullah Giilen. This "truth," in short, is that "service" (hizmet) to individuals, society, and humanity is the responsibility of all Muslims. According to Giilen, "people of service" (hizmet insanlan), "are so faithful to the cause to which they have devoted themselves that, deeply in love with it, the willingly sacrifice their lies and whatever they love for its sake." Devoted followers of Fethullah Giilen, therefore, refer to themselves as "hizmet insanlan," and to the larger GM as "Hizmet." In his study of the impact of GM businessmen in Central Asia, Mustafa Sen argues that what Giilen and his charismatic aristocrats contend to be "service to humanity" is actually blind obedience in the interests of power. Rather than acting in accordance with their own free will, Sen argues that followers of Fethullah Giilen are practitioners of a successful deployment of Foucaultian bio-power. After being recruited through an elaborate process of social conditioning, Sen contends that followers of Fethullah Giilen constitute a deeply loyal, militantly disciplined organization that achieves its goals in accordance with a very specific sense of purpose, and self-regulating sense of determination. Sen concludes that successfully socialized recruits in the GM, "have not only learned the inner language, symbolic universe, short and long-term goals and ideals of the community, but have also internalized perception, evaluation, and interpretation schemes dictated by the community through systemic mental, spiritual, and bodily practices." According to the first account, the GM is a project focused on cultivating love, devotion, and service to humanity. According to the other, it is a self-disciplined, militantly devoted fellowship of brainwashed followers. By both accounts, however, the GM is viewed as a specific community with a specific worldview that engages in specific methods to achieve specific goals. - From Fetullah Gulen’s directive about “Keeping Secrets”:
Revised and updated on 10/4/2010"
