Opportunities and Threats in the Realm of Religious and Moral Education in the Philosophical Curriculum for Children

The present article aims at identifying the opportunities and threats of religious and moral education in the philosophical curriculum for children based on the goals of Islamic education and training. To do so, we used descriptive-analytical method with the approach of text analysis. The research domain includes the scientific sources related to the subject and the high documents in the realm of education and training, especially the National Document of Education as well as the opinions of the experts and authorities in the field of research; we used purposeful sampling method for the research. To evaluate the findings, we prepared a questionnaire based on the text analysis and handed it out among the authorities and experts specialized in the sphere of research.
The findings show that the opportunities in philosophical curriculum for children in the realm of religious and moral education including reinforcement of willingness to seek truth and liberality, preparing the ground for knowing, developing individual abilities, reinforcing individual dynamism and nurturing moral perception. The threats in that curriculum in the abovementioned spheres include diffusion of skepticism, leaning towards dominance of thinking and weakness in commitment to morality in all affairs. Considering these opportunities and threats assists the policy-makers and programmers of the educational system of our country to take an intelligent approach to properly exert the philosophical curriculum for children.