The Village Institutes created a remarkable impact not only on Türkiye’s education system but also on the global educational landscape. At a time when concepts such as experiential and authentic learnıng had not yet even been named, they implemented these innovative approaches in practice. They strengthened teacher training and professional development, addressed structural challenges in rural education, contributed to the preservation of cultural heritage, supported the idea of social justice through education, and fostered international cooperation in reform efforts. Considering these multi-layered contributions, it is inevitable that they have left a lasting legacy in the history of global education. Professor Dr. Hilmi Uysal from Antalya, together with Mualla Aksu and Pakize Türkoğlu , authored an important research study in July 2023 examining the health dimension of the Village Institutes. The study, titled Village Institutes Through the Lens of Health – Revitalizing the Village Through Health Education , was also published as a book by the New Generation Village Institute Members Association . As a physician, Hilmi explains that viewing and examining the contributions of the Village Institutes to our country’s health system from a researcher’s perspective affected him profoundly and transformed into an unbreakable bond with the philosophy of the Institutes. Today, Hilmi is involved in a learning initiative aimed at sustaining the legacy of İsmail Hakkı Tonguç —who was not merely a practitioner but the intellectual architect of the Village Institutes—and at drawing lessons from his educational philosophy for our present day. In short, Hilmi has brought Tonguç to Antalya. During his tenure as Director General of Primary Education, Tonguç transformed the idea of achieving rural development through education into a systematic model and institutionalized the principle of “learning through work, for work.” His approach positioned the teacher not merely as a transmitter of knowledge but as a leading actor in the social and economic transformation of the village. His vision rested on a holistic understanding that united education with production, culture, and social responsibility. For this reason, the Village Institutes were not ordinary teacher-training schools but were shaped as a comprehensive project of social transformation. Tonguç ’s role was decisive both in terms of pedagogical innovation and public courage. Harun Karadeniz , one of the leading figures of the youth movements of the 1960s, was arrested following March 12 coup in the Dev-Genç case and died on August 15, 1975, from cancer he contracted in prison. Although he was not an education specialist, in his book Education Is for Production he analyzed the shortcomings of the education system and proposed solutions. In that work, he wrote the following about the Village Institutes: “Because with the establishment of the village institute, production methods in the village improved, the tools used in production moved toward refinement, changes in the infrastructure began to affect power structures, and the village was moving toward an entirely new economic structure. The institutes were not merely producing; they were cultivating people capable of creating the new, and then the next new. They were training students who developed all their human capacities in the face of nature in order to create something new. However, this movement toward creation could take place only in a few villages. It was not enough.” I asked Hilmi what gap the idea of the Village Institutes fills in today’s educational debates and why it is important to rethink this legacy in our contemporary world. He explains that the reason the idea of the Village Institutes continues to generate strong interest is precisely because of what we are currently experiencing. “The practices of those who determine education policy today inevitably lead people to question what had once been done, drawing on our collective memory. For example, the Vocational Education Center system (MESEM). Within an educational mechanism where child labor is exploited, dozens of children lose their lives in workplace accidents. In the Village Institutes, students aged 13 to 18, together with institute directors, teachers, and master instructors, built their own buildings with their own labor, cultivated their fields and gardens, and created a miracle of self-sufficiency. Yet those who opposed the Village Institutes led destructive campaigns, distorting the reality by accusing them of exploiting child labor. In fact, what was done was part of an education that taught prospective teachers—who had already performed much heavier labor in their villages—modern skills useful to their communities, such as construction, agriculture, animal husbandry, and sewing, through work and within work. Moreover, the products of their labor belonged to them; they were the owners of what they created, and it would serve their younger siblings and the village children who came after them. Today, however, children of the same age are being brutally exploited, and the educational system itself is turned into an instrument of this merciless order. The understanding embodied in the Village Institutes makes clear what this approach in MESEM truly means and helps the truth be better understood.” Hilmi explains that the fundamental reason for initiating this educational program was his recognition of our ignorance. In friendly gatherings and meetings where the Village Institutes are discussed, he observed that much of what is said consists of formulaic expressions, and he frequently encountered misinformation and distortions, which he finds deeply saddening. He emphasizes that there is a rich body of knowledge about the Village Institutes, including works such as Tonguç ’s The Village to Be Revitalized , yet very few people have actually read them. The educational program organized by the Antalya Branch of the New Generation Village Institute Members Association is structured around participants studying the sources in advance and arriving prepared with research and reflection. At times, direct readings from texts are conducted, much like Fakir Baykurt practiced all the time. Participants consist of association members and others interested in the subject. Although teacher candidates are not yet involved, the participation of retired teachers carries a distinct significance. Hilmi states that his intention is precisely to confront these challenges and approach the subject with a genuine desire to understand. “ Pakize Türkoğlu had already done the hard part by writing Tonguç and the Institutes . That book addresses the subject in exactly the content and sequence I was seeking, explaining it meticulously.” Building on that work, Hilmi developed a program designed to provoke reflection. “Teachers need to free their minds from rote learning and classroom-bound education and transform them in line with the contemporary spirit of the Village Institutes.” Professor Dr. Hilmi Uysal and Pakize Türkoğlu’s book Tonguç and the Institutes , which forms the backbone of the educational program. While working at the World Health Organization, I implemented experiential and authentic learning within the framework of Tonguç ’s educational principles through the Global Learning Opportunities network I established. My greatest hope is that Hilmi ’s efforts will resonate, expand, and touch the lives of those who participate in this learning programme. “The central element of the Village Institutes’ legacy is their philosophy of education. Through the principle of ‘education through work, within work, for work,’ they demonstrate that a new human being can emerge only through an approach that is not based on rote memorization, not confined within classroom walls, but embedded in life itself—an education that nourishes democratic and free creative thought, inspires and encourages, fosters self-creation and self-discovery, and strengthens the joy and enthusiasm for living and learning within each person. In short, we must show that such a contemporary educational philosophy—one that truly makes a human being human—has existed, was achieved in the past, and can be achieved again today.”