A Comparative Study of Professional Competencies of HandiCrafts in a Few Countries and Explaining Its Neglected Aspects in the Iranian Undergraduate Curriculum

Problem statement: 

Considering the importance and necessity of developing Handicrafts as a cultural-economic component, studying all aspects affecting it and determining a solution in this regard is necessary. Higher education in this field is attracting students at the undergraduate level since 1983 and has followed a fixed curriculum with the same approach. Because competencies and the need to consider them as a developer of curriculum is essential, it must be reviewed and evaluated in every field continuously and according to the current situation. Accordingly, the present study seeks to answer the question of what are the professional competencies of Iranian undergraduate Handicrafts that have received less attention in its curriculum. This study can be considered as an introduction and a solution to the need to pay attention and review the curriculum in this field.

The main purpose of this study is to identify the Neglected aspects of professional competencies in the Iranian Handicrafts undergraduate curriculum.

The present research is of qualitative type and is done by documentary method and qualitative content analysis. The use of a comparative approach in this study is done with the objective of examining the professional competencies of Handicrafts in higher education in Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, India and England in the three dimensions of knowledge, skills and attitudes.

The results show that in order to promote the field of Handicrafts in Iran, in addition to the emphasis of the curriculum on technical skills and cultural and historical knowledge – which are themselves very important – other essential competencies are needed to be seriously considered with entrepreneurial, economic, and social approaches.