The foundation of the Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education dates back to the establishment of the Konya Education Institute, which began its educational activities in the 1962–1963 academic year. In 1963, the name of Konya Education Institute was changed to Selçuk Education Institute. Established with the aim of training teachers, the institute initially provided two-year education; however, in the 1966–1967 academic year, the duration of education was extended to three years. From its early years, Selçuk Education Institute trained teachers in the departments of Science and Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Turkish.

In the 1978–1979 academic year, the name of Selçuk Education Institute was changed to Selçuk Higher Teacher Training School. In accordance with the Higher Education Law No. 2547, with the Decree Law dated July 20, 1982, and numbered 41, Selçuk Higher Teacher Training School was transformed into a faculty and became the Faculty of Education at Selçuk University. From the 1982–1983 academic year onward, education continued under the names of the Department of Turkish Language and Literature and the Department of Social Studies Education (with the divisions of History Teaching and Geography Teaching). As of 1993, the divisions within the department were restructured into separate departments, forming the Department of Geography Education, the Department of History Education, and the Department of Turkish Language and Literature Education.

With the restructuring of Faculties of Education in 1997, the Departments of Geography Education, History Education, and Turkish Language and Literature Education were reorganized as divisions under the Department of Secondary Education Social Fields. These divisions continued their activities as the Division of Geography Education, Division of History Education, and Division of Turkish Language and Literature Education. In the same restructuring process, the Turkish Language Teaching program was established as a new department under the name Turkish Department, while the newly established Social Studies Teaching undergraduate program was included within the Department of Primary Education as the Division of Social Studies Teaching. Starting from the 1998–1999 academic year, the Divisions of Geography Education, History Education, and Turkish Language and Literature Education under the Department of Secondary Education Social Fields began offering non-thesis master’s programs, and the duration of education was extended to five years.

By the decision of the Council of Ministers, the name of Selçuk University Faculty of Education was changed to Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Education on June 24, 2008. With the Council of Ministers’ decision dated December 27, 2011, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Education, and the Faculty of Theology located on the Meram campuses of Selçuk University were affiliated with Konya University, which had been established as the second state university in Konya with Law No. 6005 dated July 21, 2010. The faculty was then named Konya University Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Education. With the amendment to the Law on the Organization of Higher Education Institutions, published in the Official Gazette dated April 11, 2012, and numbered 6287, the name “Konya University” was changed to “Necmettin Erbakan University.”

The Council of Higher Education decided that, starting from the 2014–2015 academic year, the duration of study in secondary education teaching programs (Geography, History, Turkish Language and Literature) would be reduced from five years to four years. With the same decision, the name of the department was changed to the Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education. In the new structure, the Divisions of Turkish Language Teaching and Social Studies Teaching, previously within the Turkish and Primary Education Departments, were incorporated into the newly established Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education. The divisions within the department also offer graduate education under the Institute of Educational Sciences at Necmettin Erbakan University.

Graduates of the divisions within the Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education are appointed as teachers in public and private educational institutions affiliated with the Ministry of National Education. Since the introduction of the KPSS examinations conducted by ÖSYM, the divisions have generally ranked highly in the fields of Subject Knowledge, General Culture, and Teaching Profession Knowledge.

As of the 2025–2026 academic year, a total of 742 students (474 female and 268 male) are enrolled in the Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education: 92 students (51 female, 41 male) in the Division of Geography Education, 92 students (34 female, 58 male) in the Division of History Education, 95 students (69 female, 26 male) in the Division of Turkish Language and Literature Education, 254 students (176 female, 78 male) in the Division of Social Studies Teaching, and 209 students (144 female, 65 male) in the Division of Turkish Language Teaching.

As of the 2025–2026 academic year, the academic staff of the Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education consists of 23 Professors, 8 Associate Professors, 6 Assistant Professors (Dr. Faculty Members), and 6 Research Assistants, who carry out educational and research activities.

Table 1: Number of Academic Staff and Students in the Divisions of the Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education