A Comparative Study of Intellectual training in the Views of Imam Ali (a) and John Dewey

Many studies indicate that the reasons for the failure of educational systems should be sought in the shortage of clear-cut models and programs dictating the duties of counselor-instructors, which is, by itself, rooted in the shortage of theoretical principles underlying educational activities. This is because any program, model, and job description is developed according to a theoretical basis or framework. In this paper, the writers have tried to compare the idea of intellectual training in the words of Imam Ali (a) and John Dewey. In doing so, they have conducted a library research following the method of one of the most prominent researchers in the field of education called George Z.F. Bereday. Given the words of the Commander of the Faithful (a), in this paper intellectual training can be defined as the cultivation of the intellect in terms of both theoretical and practical aspects in order to attain specific goals. These goals, according to Imam Ali (a), are as follows: gaining proximity to God, attaining knowledge, developing faith, and putting knowledge to good practice. We also infer from his words that the methods of intellectual training include: accumulating knowledge, thinking, profound deliberation, collecting experience, seeking the truth, and self-purification.John Dewey also considers intellectual training to be the transfer of relatively random curiosity and accidental thoughts to intelligent tendencies and cautious and meticulous research and proposes some goals and methods for it. He believes that the goal of education or training should be extracted from the educational trend. He disagrees with the imposition of goals on individuals from the outside and equates the means with the end. He also proposes a method of problem solving for intellectual training. As a result, the writers see just a few common points but several differences in the words of Imam Ali (a) and John Dewey concerning intellectual training.