Enderun School

Enderun School (Turkish: Enderun, Ottoman Turkish: اندرون مکتب, Enderûn) which meant "inner most" was a free-boarding school for the Christian Millet of the Ottoman Empire, which recruited students via Devshirme (Ottoman Turkish:Devşirme) - an enculturation system of the Christian youngsters for learning the characteristics of the Islamic society and the unique culture of the Ottoman palace. Enderun was fairly successful in creating the multicultural bureaucracy, which is reflected in multicultural Ottoman statesmen. Enderun School functioned for academic and military purposes, as well. Ideally the graduates were permanently devoted to government service and had no interest in forming relations with lower social groups. The Enderun School was not merely a building or a school but a system of education that became the pioneer educational institution in gifted education and was the first of its kind. The Enderun system was also significant as an early model of multiculturalism because students from different ethnic backgrounds were brought together and learned to live together under a common ideal. The multicultural environment of Enderun had a positive influence on the peace and harmony created in Ottoman States until the decline of the Empire. Enderun’s gifted education program is defined as the world’s first institutionalized education for the gifted