Iranian Journal of Comparative Education
Volume:8 Issue: 1, Winter 2025

Over the past three decades, the discourse surrounding transformative initiatives within Iran's educational framework has engendered significant scholarly interest, leading to the endorsement of numerous governmental decrees. Concurrently, the perceived inadequacies inherent in conventional educational systems have prompted an uptick in familial adoption of “Alternative Education” programs, mainly of Western origin. Despite their associated fiscal burdens, these alternatives' global proliferation and underlying ethos have appealed to certain Iranian families. However, exploring the philosophical elements, specific educational methods, societal contexts, and cultural nuances underpinning each approach and their implications for children residing in the distinct milieu of Islamic Iran remains paramount. This study delves into the philosophical foundations of three prominent Early Childhood Education Programs (ECEP) - Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia - juxtaposed against the Iran Education Reform Documents (IERD) and their underpinning Islamic philosophy. Of particular concern is the discordance between these alternative educational paradigms and the imperative for modern children to integrate into formal institutions, highlighting potential educational challenges. Through qualitative inquiry and comparative analysis, the paper endeavors to elucidate the extent of alignment between these diverse educational approaches and Iran's indigenously claimed Islamic philosophy, offering insights vital for informed educational policy-making and practice, with implications for the holistic development of children navigating the intersection of varied educational ideologies within the Islamic Republic's educational landscape.

The purpose of study was to compare the characteristics of written textbooks with electronic textbooks in the field of curriculum. The data collection method was documentary includes primary and secondary sources that have been collected by referring to foreign and Iranian databases. Data analysis and presentation of the results were done by using George Bereday comparative method. The findings showed that in terms of similarities, it can be inferred that both types of books pay attention to ease of transmission while integrating the contents, ease of reading, simple and convenient use for all people, coherence of the contents, and diversity of use. In terms of the differences, e-books specific features such as diversity in subject, diversity of authors, more attention to the social and individual needs of the audience, attention to modern theories of the curriculum. E-books have general features such as remote access, support for multimedia facilities, no need for physical space, ability to zoom in on the screen, adjust page and font to the desired size, search and print, easy and cost-free shipping, reduce the price, and no storage space. The specific features of the written books in the field of curriculum include similarity and repetition of the topic and dominance of famous authors in the field of publication. The general features of written books are repetition of printing, increased concentration while reading, no need to communicate with the Internet, no need for computer and other tools for reading, reduction of damage to the eyes, less use of fatigue and physical damage, the ability to touch and communicate more with the book, and an increase in desire and the passion for reading comes from looking at books in one's own library. According to the findings, it seems that the field of curriculum is going through a gradual evolutionary process in terms of the way the audience has access to resources affected by technological developments in Iran.

This study conducted a comparative analysis of extracurricular activities within the educational systems of Iran, Finland, and Malaysia, using George Bereday's model. The selection of these countries was based on the idea that “different social systems lead to different educational outcomes.” To gather primary and secondary data, data was sourced from reputable international database, including UNESCO and the Ministries of Education of the selected countries. Face validity was employed to ensure data accuracy, while intra-subject agreement was used to assess reliability. The findings revealed significant similarities among Finland, Malaysia, and Iran in their objectives, comprehensive student development focus, and diversity of activities offered. However, notable differences were observed regarding the defined roles and training for teachers, the voluntary nature of participation in activities, and the involvement of other organizations and clubs. Malaysia and Finland prioritize educational equity and provide a wide range of free in-school programs. In contrast, various sports, clubs, and artistic programs in those nations are typically available at specific times or in specialized centers outside of school hours. On the other hand, Iran mainly implements its programs during school hours and places less emphasis on program evaluation compared to Malaysia and Finland, where rigorous evaluations are standard practice. Based on these findings, it is recommended that education policymakers focus on enhancing the role of coaches, increasing the flexibility and diversity of programs, providing support for program implementation, and strengthening oversight in the evaluation of extracurricular activities.

The aim of study was a comparative research of teacher performance evaluation in educational system of England, Iran, Japan and USA. In this qualitatively comparative study, the selection of countries was carried out through the strategy of "different social systems, different educational outputs". The data collection method was documentary using George Bereday and John Stuart Mill methods for data analysis. The findings reveal that the common goal among selected countries in evaluating teacher performance is to improve their level of performance with this difference that the performance evaluation process in the educational systems of England , Japan and USA is supportive & facilitative and in Iran mainly supervisory. The findings also revealed that teacher's professional attention to the students’ needs are among the important standards among four countries. Of course, in Iran, the standard of students' growth & excellence in recognizing religious issues is also important in evaluating teacher performance. Another finding indicated that the selected countries differed from each other in using performance evaluation methods such as teaching experience and certificates of evaluated training courses (England), observing teacher's work attitude (Japan), and informal observations & documented reports (USA); although all three countries are similar to Iran in terms of surveying educational staff. According to the findings, it is suggested that planners and evaluators of the Iran educational system should first change their purely supervisory perspective to performance evaluation and consider it as an instrument to support & improve teachers' performance. Also, by using the experiences of England, Japan and USA in various methods of evaluating teacher performance, they should prevent evaluators from exercising their personal preferences.

This study explored and compared intercultural components in the reading passages of Chinese and Iranian secondary high school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks through cultural content analysis. To this end, the study utilized Chen's (2004), Lee's (2009), and Cortazzi and Jin's (1999) frameworks to systematically analyze the representations of the Capital 'C' (macro-cultural) and small 'c' (micro-cultural) elements across source (China & Iran), target (English-speaking countries), international (global perspective), and culture-neutral (cultural contexts with no specific source) contexts. The findings revealed both Chinese and Iranian textbooks shared a focus on presenting source culture content; however, there were significant differences in the range and diversity of intercultural elements represented, with the Chinese textbooks representing a much higher frequency of diverse cultural elements compared to Iranian counterparts. The Chinese textbooks consistently depicted a comprehensive range of cultural elements, from micro-cultural details like Daily Life and Customs to macro-cultural insights such as History and Economy, across the four specified contexts. In contrast, the Iranian textbooks not only failed to illuminate any discernible intercultural elements but neglected to provide acceptable macro- and micro-cultural knowledge of their cultural context. The findings suggest that while both sets of textbooks attempt to engage with cultural representations, the Iranian textbooks, in particular, require further development to offer a more inclusive and global perspective. This would guide future curriculum development endeavors to nurture a more globally aware generation of learners.

The aim of study was to identify the obstacles to the internationalization of Iran higher education system using a qualitatively meta-synthesis method. For collection of data the documentary method and systematic analysis based on the Strauss & Corbin approach were used. To ensure the validity and reliability of the data, the researchers used Glynn tool and consulted experts. In total, fourteen components and two dimensions were identified through one hundred and eighty-four codes. The findings reveal that the obstacles to the internationalization of Iran higher education system include the internal dimension and its related components such as politics, English language, resources (financial, human and equipment), management, curriculum, technology, and law obstacles. The external dimension includes obstacles such as the macro-management system, cultural, legal, economic, political and international. Based on the findings, it is recommended that planners of higher education systems in developing countries initially concentrate on necessary measures and strategies to overcome internal barriers to the internationalization of higher education; otherwise, achieving this goal will likely fail if efforts focus solely on addressing external barriers.