فصلنامه راهبرد فرهنگ
پیاپی 17-18 (بهار و تابستان 1391)

The present research is aimed at presenting mechanisms to reform the curriculum of teachers training in universities of Iran. Typically, university teachers specialize in a certain discipline. They are mostly hired and promoted thanks to their research-related achievements, but their teaching capability does not draw much attention. When this important question is ignored in the higher education curriculum, university professors develop a cultural experience that somehow teaches them how to teach. So a comparative study which focuses on mathematics has been conducted into the cultural experience of teacher training in higher education of Iran and Germany, as a developed country. Shahid Beheshti University and Kharazmi University served as the site of the research in Iran, while in Germany the study was conducted at Hamburg University. In the study which employed qualitative method, data has been collected through interviews and observations involving professors teaching Ph.D. courses as well as doctoral candidates in the two countries. The data has been analyzed through coding and categorization. Finally, the study reports the cultural experience differences in four major categories, namely: the professional outlook of students, the role of Ph.D. curriculum in preparing future higher education teachers, promoting Ph.D. graduates into university professors, and expanding the teaching knowledge of higher education teachers. In light of the culture of training university teachers in Iran, strategies have also been presented to reform the curriculum of university teachers training centers.

The culture of learning is a new concept which has found its way into the education literature in recent decades. According to this concept all elements of curriculum, including the educational behavior of teachers and learners who interact in a learning environment, are affected by the cultural atmosphere of that environment. Through the development of information and communication technology and emergence of information society, skills such independent and lifetime learning, self-motivated and path-finding learning, and acquisition of troubleshooting, planning and decision-making skills in complicated situations have taken on more importance and are viewed as important education objectives on various levels. On the other hand, the culture of learning in Iran, which features inaction on the part of learners, weak interactions among learners, teacher-centeredness, lack of self-motivation among learners and their acceptance of data without analysis, is in contrast with education goals of information society. So the main goal of this paper is to present an operational plan to help teachers gradually push the culture of learning in the direction of factors important to information society by virtual learning environment. This article has four parts and seeks to provide an answer to the main question. The first two sections focus on the culture of learning and characteristics of a virtual learning environment respectively. The third section focuses on gradual reformation of the culture of learning through virtual environment, and the fourth part builds on what is discussed in the first three sections to lay out the operational steps needed by teachers to gradually reform the culture of learning in the virtual environment.

Expansion of modern education in the modern age has complicated the correlation between process of education and the elements of native culture. In other words, this correlation brings into sharper focus the challenge involving incompatibility between modern education systems and the native culture of societies. One factor contributing to the challenge in question is the absence of compatibility between modern education philosophy and the native culture. To deal with this challenge, development of a “community education philosophy” based on Islamic and Iranian principles within the framework of the native culture seems necessary. Commitment to such philosophy on the part of modern education institutions such as schools and universities helps them become more compatible with the native culture of an Islamic society. Of course, development of this theoretical framework to take on the challenge in question would prove effective only if 1. It relies on intellectual principles and the value system acceptable to Islamic society. 2. It is formulated through the intellectual contribution of the elite and education philosophers. 3. It is flexible in dealing with the individual education philosophy of instructors. 4. It takes account of cultural requirements and education challenges in an Islamic society. 5. Policymakers and senior managers of education institutions are committed to its provisions. 6. Agents involved in education are practically committed to it. 7. It serves as a basis for revising of the education philosophy of modern education institutions. After explaining the necessity of developing this macro theoretical framework, the present paper sets out to pinpoint the characteristics of an “education philosophy in the Islamic Republic of Iran”. Commitment to this framework is a prerequisite for fundamental change in modern education institutions in our Islamic society.

The present paper is aimed at developing a framework for a curriculum compatible with cultural diversity in Iran. A curriculum is basically a politicalcultural document and a contextualized, culture-sensitive topic which would prove effective only if its building blocks are compatible with the cultural characteristics of society and those of the learner. The present paper tries to build on descriptive-analytical method to initially examine Iran’s cultural and ethnic diversity and then argue in favor of the necessity to develop multicultural curricula from a “national” and “transnational” perspective. “Multicultural curriculum” approach and “requirements of the times” can be listed as transnational and global necessities of such curricula. As for domestic necessities, the current paper will focus on “upstream rules” and “Iran’s special geopolitical conditions”. This paper will then explain the goals of a multicultural curriculum before turning its focus to challenges associated with development of such curricula. At the end, practical strategies to introduce a multicultural curriculum, based on challenges that lie ahead and in line with upstream rules of the country, are presented for Iranian education policymakers and planners.

The present research is aimed at painting an overall picture of intellectual development in which the concept, nature, characteristics and elements of intellect as well as its role in human life take center stage. This study is also meant to focus on development of intellect based on some prominent viewpoints and on theory of “human agency”. This research assumes that intellectual development of learners is instrumental in transformation of the country’s education system and to that end, the theory of human agency prepares the cultural groundwork for such overhaul. To secure the goals of the research, comparative analysis and practical comparison have been used. Along the way some theoretical and fundamental principles including the meaning and nature of intellect, particularly as far as ontology and teleology are concerned, have been reviewed. Then the components and elements of intellect as defined by the theory of human agency and their correlation with pragmatism have been explained. Finally, based on the findings of the research, the following have been proposed for the development of intellect among learners: developing a holistic approach to learners, testing the explanations and understandings based on evidence and experience, multifaceted handling of issues from different angles, developing the creativity of learners, and setting the stage for the analysis, arbitration and ethical behavior.

As a goal, cultural development depends on the consistency and synergy of the elements such as policies of the education system that affect it. The main goal of this paper is to identify and determine the consistency and synergy of the policies of the education system of the Islamic Republic of Iran in keeping with cultural development indices laid out by the 2025 Perspective Document and the Fifth Development Plan Law. This library study is based on the analysis of available documents and resources. Intellectual, aesthetic, political and social indices as well as creativity and public cultural dialogue are among cultural development indices. The 2025 Perspective Document duly envisions these indices in a very general way and lays emphasis on social education as an important part of cultural development indices. The Fifth Development Plan, however, deals with these components in more detail, but different indices do not draw equal amount of attention. An analysis of the document shows that the intellectual and aesthetic index draws more attention than others. That is followed by creativity and political, social and cultural dialogue indices. This analysis also reveals that the cultural dialogue index and consistency and synergy among its related education levels do not draw as much attention as other macro policies. The consistency and synergy between the 2025 Perspective Document and the Fifth Development Plan is noticeable, but the inner consistency of the Fifth Development Plan is not as strong as the consistency between the Perspective Document and the Development Plan.

The present research is designed to examine multiculturalism in school education and its impact on higher education. It is based on the assumption that what is learned in school as far as multiculturalism is concerned does play a role in higher education and that the type of student learning is effective in promoting cultural compatibility or in throwing up obstacles in the way of higher education. The present research, which employed ethnography, involved 40 senior high school students who contributed to the study during the course of one school year. The sampling was purposive and the results of the study suggest that family and social background plays a role in students mocking other cultures, in their development of a sense of superiority and in cultural bigotry. It also indicates that there is limited religious knowledge with regard to human parity and a similar lack of knowledge among students when it comes to prominent cultural works and figures of different ethnicities. These could complicate cultural compatibility. They can also cloud rational attitudes toward cultures and interfere with efforts to prevent cultural monopolism in higher education. These in turn could set the stage for the shrinkage of the national culture as a result of inattention to native cultures, and thus create an identity crisis among Iranians.

This article pursues two goals. 1. Explain how the status of intellect has declined and its role has changed. 2. Explain the necessity to redefine intellect and its role in shaping the developments of the education system. To that end, the relations between scientific developments and the changes in the realm and status of intellect have been explained. Considering intellect a self-governing reality along with the metaphysical understanding of it as a current intelligence in the whole world gives intellect a determining role in assessment, in setting criteria for prioritization, and eventually in steering. This definition of intellect requires an understanding of the intellectual structure of the world. But, models defining movement, developed by physics and biology, are not compatible with such understanding of intellect. Observation of intellect as a human or personal issue and an internal thing that depends on brain – viewed as subject as opposed to object – came along with the development of science and technology and interlinked instruction of science with a materialistic view. It helped promote an understanding that looked at universe as a nonintellectual, fatalistic, neutral, norm-less and goalless structure. Removal of intellect from the world and its personalization makes theoretical and practical requirements necessary to teach science. It also links education strategies with the economic policies of dominant groups. Theoretically, in order to maintain the independence of the education system and transform it in a targeted way, intellect should be redefined. On the practical front though, these two objectives depend on the role of intellect in setting goals and determining criteria to prioritize.

Change is inseparable from human life. The education system and curriculum are no exception. Planning and implementation are essential to the pursuit of change. Measures taken in this regard constitute experience for educationsystems. The experience in question can be classified under “cultural” and “engineering” approaches. Under the cultural approach, change is initiated at the request of the audience and is gradually ushered in through participation and planning. In the engineering approach though, changes, which is ordered to achieve an ideal, is planned by experts and implemented according to a specific timeline. The main focus of the cultural approach is to make things look desirable, while the focus of the engineering approach is to render things desirable. That is why the pivotal principle of the cultural approach is freedom, and the mainstay of the engineering approach is justice. Both approaches have strong points to defend. When it comes to “helping achieve” the engineering approach has more to offer. But when it comes to “achieving” the cultural approach is more capable. From a timing and achievement perspective, the two approaches are different too. The engineering approach is fast-yielding but transitional. The cultural approach is slow-yielding but lasting. Evidence shows that over the past century, in order to launch a new education and curriculum system and make up for previous failure to keep up with the progress of the modern civilization, Iranians have resorted to the engineering approach to initiate change in education. They have had some achievements as far as development of the education system on the surface is concerned. But there is doubt the real achievements have been desirable. The time spent on realization of these surface achievements has been acceptable, though.

Unlike in the past, the role of families in the upbringing of children should not be thought of as a marginal one. On the one hand, social developments have dented the authority and credibility of schools as modern and specialized institutions. On the other hand, the same social developments have given families a more prominent role to play. This new balance has necessitated a revision of the quality of education-related interaction between home and school. The assumption of this paper is that neither school nor family is to be eliminated during the course of this decline and rise in roles and that the present school-centeredness of education will not be replaced by home-centeredness. Establishment of constructive interaction between these institutions, in order to improve the education-related performance of students, calls for speculative efforts. Assumptions that the existing pattern is sufficient are troublesome. The author of this paper has built on the topic of “family culture” to explore and speculate in this field. Variety and incompatibility of cultures within families, also known as variety of family curriculum, makes it necessary to recognize pluralism which gives top priority to planning and adoption of measures on a local scale or with interference of school. However, this perspective does not deny systematic interactions at levels higher than school.

After initial ratification of a document to bring about fundamental change in the education system and its subsequent approval by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, the transformational document was communicated to the Education Ministry for implementation. Without a doubt, introduction of transformational mechanisms in a huge organization such as the Education Ministry requires efficient and effective management so that it could make maximal use of resources and create an effective interaction among the elements of the process of change to set the stage for realization of the objectives of transformation. The present paper seeks to examine the managerial requirements of fundamental change in order to explore and measure a set of dos and don’ts governing planning, arrangement, direction and leadership, as well as supervision and control involving the transformation of the education system. Commitment to this set of dos and don’ts facilitates the realization of the objectives, minimizes costs and maximizes productivity in order to help promote the effectiveness and efficiency of the transformation.