فصلنامه تعلیم و تربیت
سال بیست و نهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 113، بهار 1392)

Some experts believe that the low demand for education among low income families, compared to the low supply, has a greater impact on dropout rate and full educational coverage of the population. Despite efforts made, such as establishing boarding schools, providing free meals and school supplies for students in deprived areas, there is a huge gap between the levels of coverage and school age population. Policies such as those leading to price increase for education would result in further reduction in demand among certain groups, and neutralization of other policies aiming for the opposite. Appropriate policies can be made when there are valid data on the way that different income groups react to price increases. One way of collecting such data would be to estimate the price elasticities using the data on urban family income and the almost-ideal demand system (AIDS). Using the data available for the period of 2004-2007, the price elasticities for education was estimated to be different for low, middle, and high income families. Since education is considered a luxury good for lower middle and low income families, policies need to consider ways of compensating for the decrease in such families demand for education in order to prevent any damage to the human capital among the deprived.

Teaching history is one of the fundamental aspects of any educational system. The main reason for this is the educational impact of the history courses. However, this impact, and especially that of the recent Iranian history (Qajaar and early Pahlavee dynasties) is not adequately known. History is the extension of human experience across time and as such has had a great impact on human moral and intellectual development. Teaching history in Iran started during the Qajaar period when the foreign preachers opened up their schools. Currently, the status of the History Course is not that high in Iranian schools. Rewriting the content and rejuvenating the courses, along with the establishment of a university program for teaching of history, could help their quality.

To assess the extent of informal learning among school boys, a sample of 650 fifth grader boys was given two questionnaires on things that one might learn from peers and school personnel. The factor analysis of the collected data led to the identification of 7 factors that collectively account for more than half of the observed variance. Chief among these factors are friends, teachers, principals, and vice principals who seem to be models for both desirable and undesirable behaviors. Hence, school administrators need to pay more attention to their behaviors.

Considering the new method of evaluation recently adapted by the Iranian educational system, and the emphasis put on improving the quality of both teaching and learning, development of new evaluation models is of outmost importance. To this end, one such model was developed based on the new approaches to measurement, and with the help of all Iranian educational experts including science teachers who helped with the evaluation of model. The results show that all experts and teachers generally approved the model with minor alterations. The math achievement of those students cooperating with the evaluation of the model seemed to be significant.

To identify factors causing lack of discipline, a questionnaire was distributed among high school students in Araak's school district 2. Data analysis revealed that the overall lack of discipline among the respondents has the mean of 2.08 on the scale of 1-4, with disregard for health being the highest (2.97) and truancy the lowest (1.35). Not doing homework was about average, while bringing forbidden artifacts to school was second high (2.37). Furthermore, there was no difference between girls and boys, yet those who had experienced parental separation/divorce scored higher while those whose parents or school staff had attempted to teach them discipline, were more so than the others. Overall, it is the family and then the students who have the highest impact in reducing the extent to which students demonstrate lack of discipline.

Thinking skills are among most valued areas of research and educational development. Teaching philosophy to children could help them learn such skills. The Philosophy for Children Program (PCP) pursues this very goal. To assess the success of this program, a sample of 40 fourth graders was initially tested on intelligence and math achievement, and then divided into two groups of equal size, one of which went through 12 two hour sessions of PCP over a period of one month. Post tests were taken on the same two measures and the scores compared to those of the pretests. Results show that the program is effective when it comes to mathematics achievement. However, no significant impact on intelligence was detected.

To provide a framework for deciding on a set of guidelines on how to define a professional code of conduct for teachers, certain questions need to be addressed and answered. Chief among such questions are those on the very nature of professional and moral conduct which in a sense depend on theories of morality, and what constitutes moral or professional conduct for teachers. Professional conduct refers to personal responsibility in determining values related to the profession. As such, different orientations (theories) to morality such as profit-, duty-, justice-, freedom-, and absolute beauty orientation, lead to different set of values. Teacher's professional conduct involves values related to education in general, and teaching, students, social expectations, and policies in particular. Any code of conduct for teachers needs to consider such basic elements.