Iranian Journal of Comparative Education
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Winter 2021

Although identifying the constraints of cooperative learning can play an important role in improving the quality of its implementation, few studies have been conducted in this field, especially among different cultures. The present study is a small step towards bridging this research gap. Ten classes in the field of Educational Sciences at University of Tehran in Iran and the University of Queensland in Australia were observed. The classes were purposefully selected. Thematic analysis was selected as the method of analysing data. The results show that there are similarities in Iran and Australia such as unfamiliarity of students and faculty members with cooperative learning, insufficient time, grading, competitive culture and previous education. The present study showed that some constraints are specific to Iran. These constraints include gender, low motivation of students, unequal opportunity, discussing non-subject matter in groups, abuse of class freedom, irregularities and noise in the class, inflexibility of syllabus, non-circular chairs, inadequate educational space and unfamiliarity of university managers with cooperative learning. In addition, the present study identified three major constraints in Australia: cultural differences of international students, language problem for non-Australian students and high emphasis of faculty members on content. We think that constraints in both countries are related to the quality of implementing cooperative learning. This could identify a new vision for future research. Findings of this study have implications for faculty professional development. The results of the study motivate faculty members to turn the constraints into an opportunity for better implementation in the classroom through familiarity with cooperative learning.

The realization of citizenship rights is inextricably linked to the functioning of both political and educational systems. The size of State has a direct effect and the function of education system has an indirect effect on realization of citizenship rights. The purpose of this study is to investigate the downsizing of State in education and its impact on development of citizenship education with emphasis on Iran’s experience. Methods of research, data collection and data analysis were qualitative (textual analysis), documentary and qualitatively oriented respectively. Findings show that the role of State in the education sector with regard to citizenship rights can be adjusted based on two approaches of maximum and minimum intervention. Research findings also indicated the adoption of conflicting but supportive laws by legislatures for both approaches. Thus, on the one hand, the State does not want to reduce its involvement in education sector and on the other hand, wants to reduce its control in accordance with Article 44 of the Iran’s Constitution. The consequence of this situation is the dominance of the maximum presence of the State in the education sector in favor of the “Right to Education” and the failure to minimize to the detriment of citizenship rights and diversity in its methods.

While for decades learning English has mostly been accompanied by learning its culture, in recent two decades due to the presence of some critical trends in the field of applied linguistics, the mere integration of target culture in English textbooks has been challenged. Not surprisingly, following this shift, the idea of integrating source culture in English textbooks has caught the researchers' attention. Since the cultural content of English textbooks used in schools and language institutes in Post-revolutionary Iran has always been a controversial issue, in this paper, through a qualitative study, it was attempted to comparatively study the attitudes of Iranian language teachers at schools and language institutes as two contrasting contexts about the issue. In doing so, the attitudes of twenty five teachers in these two sectors, including thirteen school teachers and twelve language institute teachers, selected through convenience sampling, surveyed through semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that while there were some partial differences in the attitudes of these two groups toward the concept of culture and its representation in textbooks, due to the dominance of the mainstream ELT, known as the liberalist approach, that publicizes the inclusion of target culture and rejects the integration of local culture in English textbooks as well as the failure of English education in schools, the participants were mostly in favor of integrating target culture as an indispensable part of English textbooks. These findings may have pedagogical implications for language policy makers, syllabus designers and textbook developers.

The changes of the last half century in the world, influenced by new technologies, have posed new issues and challenges to religious and educational systems. In this situation, in Iran “educational jurisprudence” emphasizes the theory of "comprehensiveness of Islamic education" through extending the theory of "comprehensiveness of Islam" to the field of education. The purpose of this study is to critique the “comprehensiveness of Islamic education theory” with regard to the concept of silence in jurisprudential and legal sources. While the method of study is comparative, library method and conceptual-religious method were used to collect and analyze data respectively. The research findings showed that although there are differences between jurists regarding the theory of the Shari'a silence in jurisprudence, but the proposition of "accepting the silence of Shari'a relatively" by some jurists - which is an intermediate view - can indicate the rejection of comprehensiveness of Islamic education theory. Also, the findings indicate that the main discussion of the jurists is about possibility of stabilizing or changing the decrees that already existed, and there has been less discussion about new issues of contemporary world - for which there is no previous Islamic rules. In a general conclusion, it can be said that acceptance of comprehensiveness of Islam does not necessarily mean the comprehensiveness of "Islamic education" and denying this comprehensiveness can reduce the heavy responsibility of those who believe in this theory.

The aim of present study was a comparative study of internship curriculum in teacher education of Iran, Australia and Singapore. For this purpose, the Bereday’s approach was used. The statistical population included universities offer internship courses in Australia, Singapore and Iran using purposive sampling method. data collection method was content analysis and its validity and reliability were indicated through perspectives of internship mentors, curriculum instructors and researchers’ colleagues respectively. Then, curricula of the selected countries were extracted using tables and checklists. The research findings reveal that there are some similarities among three countries regarding full-time internships. The number of internship courses in Singapore and Iran is similar and different from Australia. There are also differences between teacher education of Singapore and Australia with Iran in cases such as amount of internship units and performance. Singapore has a postgraduate teacher education program, offers an international internship program, and extensive cooperation among schools and the National Institute of Education. According to the research findings, it is recommended that Iran’s teacher education policy makers have a review of new internship program, special attention to role of tutors, more flexibility in internship programs, increasing share of dissertations and seminars, and strengthening supervision on internship programs

Although Iran is a religiously pluralistic society, but given the sovereignty of the political system of the Islamic Republic, it seems there is a need to know principles of Islamic education. One of the important issues that has a long history among the philosophers of the Islamic world is the concept and role of reason in jurisprudential sources and its impact on education of young generation. The purpose of this research was to explain the role and position of reason in Islamic education with emphasis on comparing Imami and Sunni jurisprudence. In terms of method, the present study is a hermeneutical research using author-centered type. Researchers have used the documentary and sequential analysis methods for collection and analysis of data respectively. Findings show that Imami and Sunni jurisprudence are similar in accepting reason as one of the most important means for understanding religious subjects, while there is disagreement between these two schools of thought about the scope and position of reason. Also, the findings of research indicated that in Sunni jurisprudence, there were jurists who believed in the role of reason, although Imami jurists mainly reject both extremist and extremist rationalism. In addition, the research findings showed that while Imami jurisprudence places special emphasis on the role of reason, the prevailing atmosphere in the Iran’s educational system and the current interpretation of Islamic education is mainly based on the following principles such as ignoring individual differences of learners, emphasizing imitation, denial of questioning and lack of a creative and rational role in the process of teaching and learning. Given these findings, the need for educational policymakers to coordinate the process of Islamic education with Imami jurisprudence - with a focus on the role of reason - seems necessary.

The aim of present study is a comparative investigation of two famous philosophers, Henry Giroux and Robert Floden, to develop a model for the philosophy of teacher education. The research method is qualitative with inferential-analytical approach. As a supporter of change, interaction, democracy, and transformation, Giroux emphasizes on training of teachers who are familiar with reflective interaction and its use. Floden also emphasizes the cultivation of a pragmatic teacher who is familiar with theoretical foundations and is an interactive, creative expert, and non-dominant person. From the perspective of the two philosophers, it can be inferred that the ideal teacher is one who believes in reflective interactions and avoidance in the field of education and emphasizes reform in the shadow of accepting "other". Based on the intellectual foundations of these two thinkers, a model has been designed to show the process of training an ideal teacher

The realization of citizenship rights requires training of citizens to be aware of their rights and responsibilities. The proper implementation of judicial law is an essential step in protecting rights of citizens, which requires trained people who can help balance between these two rights. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to compare principles of civil law with criminal law in Iran and international conventions. The research method is comparative-analytical and method of data collection is documentary. The present article has four sections: The first section contains an introduction and necessity of research. The second part describes research method. In third section, the research results are presented. The article ends with a conclusion. Findings show that there are similarities between many principles of civil law and criminal law in Iran and international conventions. Also, many of the principles contained in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasize the observance of citizenship rights. Of course, the ambiguity in some principles of criminal law or the lack of practical guarantees for their strict implementation can be considered as one of the major differences between the Iranian legal system and international conventions. Based on these findings, it is suggested that educational policy makers and curriculum planners of Iran devote part of secondary education curricula to civil rights and its relationship with criminal law.

In Iran, the commercialization of university research is still in its infancy stage. The purpose of present study was to identify and prioritize the effective barriers to the commercialization of research in the Islamic Azad University. This study was a qualitative research using grounded theory approach, the statistical population includes academic experts and a purposeful sampling was applied based on theoretical saturation. To collect data, two methods of study and analysis of research background and semi-structured interviews were used. Research findings showed that during the last two decades, there was a high potential for intellectual production in this university. However, the findings indicated that there are five major obstacles to increasing the commercialization of academic research. Also, the division of barriers into two groups within and outside the organization highlights the wide range of these challenges and the unwillingness of university administrators to commercialize research in the short and medium perspectives. The research findings are in line with findings in other countries regarding major barriers to the commercialization of academic research