A Comparative Study of Arts Education Curriculum of Primary Schools in Iran and Canada

The rationale for conducting this study was based on an interdisciplinary approach between art and curriculum. The main purpose was to examine Iranian and Canadian primary arts education curricula based on these four components: goals, content, teaching methods and evaluation methods. The research method was comparative, using Bereday’s four-step approach. The sample selection method was based on the strategy of “different systems, different results”. Data were collected using documents, available information in official government databases, books, and publications, that were analyzed based on John Stuart Mill’s agreement/difference method. The findings revealed significant similarities and differences between the primary schools’ arts education curricula in Iran and Canada. The similarities were found to be based on the goals and the differences mainly in the content of curriculum. Regarding the goals, although both countries have used their national cultural backgrounds in formulating the goals, Canada also has considered the native and folk culture in development of the curriculum. Furthermore, in Canada, the emphasis is on awareness of inner emotions as a prerequisite for the production of art. In the element of content, dance and music education is not included in the Iranian arts education curriculum, and in Canada, the storytelling falls under the category of drama. As to the teaching methods, getting artists to teach art is not conventional in Iran’s education, but in Canada, artists teach art alongside teachers.Moreover, the purpose of arts education evaluation in Canada is to "improve learning", while in Iran, the measure of "learning ability" is generally considered.