Iran’s implicit philosophy of education*

Abstract

This paper aims to extract Iran’s philosophy of education from two sources of the constitution and the course of practice in educational institutions. Regarding the first source, it is argued that parallel to the two main threads of the constitution, Iran’s main elements of philosophy of education are expected to be derived from; (1) Islam and (2) democracy. The challenge in front of this feature of Iran’s implicit philosophy of education refers to the seemingly contradictory relation between the two components of Islam and democracy. It is argued that the hard contrast being held between religion and liberal democracy is not defensible and that there could be compatibilities between the two. As for the second source, it is shown that there are concerns about the main trends that underpin Iranian educational institutions. One trend is that the religious education in Iran is at the threat of becoming dogmatic and being overwhelmed by indoctrination. The second trend, referring to the minorities’ education, shows a further challenge regarding recognition of minorities’ right to education. Finally, the third trend is related to the embrace of neoliberalism in Iranian educational endeavors. It is argued that this trend provides a tension in the overall corpus of the country’s philosophy of education.     

Analysing the accreditation of engineering education in South Africa through Foucault’s panopticon and governmentality lenses

Using Foucault’s power concepts of the panopticon and governmentality as analytic and heuristic tools, this study reveals insights into how accreditation creates power networks in the quality assurance of higher education graduates in South Africa. The study draws on 11 in-depth interviews with academics from the Faculty of Engineering at a university of technology, and comprehensive documentary analysis, as the main sources of data to demonstrate that quality assurance is not neutral or apolitical, but legitimises the positions of those with power through accreditation. This study establishes that the Engineering Council of South Africa epitomises the centred power of a panopticon surveillance system through its various supervisory mechanisms, such as site visits. On the other hand, there is clear evidence of governmentality notions in which the locus of power has been decentralised and internalised in the governed by giving them autonomy and responsibilities in certain aspects of the engineering curriculum. This study has important theoretical and practical implications for the field of higher education and the circulation of professional qualifications. Caution must be taken to ensure that the curriculum is not narrowly centred on the interests of the powerful labour market but responsive to other societal and student needs.     

从scientific philosophy到philosophy of science

由孔德所倡导的ｓｃｉｅｎｔｉｆｉｃｐｈｉｌｏｓｏｐｈｙ,在逻辑经验主义的维也纳学派那里得到彻底的实施。但由于其“可证实性”原则对科学命题本身的证实都是成问题的,使问题的中心转向科学命题本身,导致ｐｈｉｌｏｓｏｐｈｙｏｆｓｃｉｅｎｃｅ的真正形成。亨普尔是关键人物,他在与波普证伪主义和库恩的历史主义学派的争论中,共同走进ｐｈｉｌｏｓｏｐｈｙｏｆｓｃｉｅｎｃｅ之中。从ｓｃｉｅｎｔｉｆｉｃｐｈｉｌｏｓｏｐｈｙ到ｐｈｉｌｏｓｏｐｈｙｏｆｓｃｉｅｎｃｅ的转向,展现出现代哲学思想研究的心路：先是借助于实证的科学方法来解决哲学问题;这一努力的失败,导致对科学本身的哲学研究,从而使哲学自身的研究得以深化     

A system of education,not just a university: Thomas Jefferson’s philosophy of education

Because of the political reforms demanded by his political philosophy, Jefferson was always focused on instantiating a system of education to edify all persons according to their needs and to prevent those governing at every level from lusting after power and fame instead of governing in pursuance of the interests of the general citizenry. That notion of a system of education—offering a basic education for all citizens and high-lever education and access to it for the intellectually and morally elite—at the time would have been unique to Virginia and it showed the extent to which Jefferson recognized both the political ills of his day and that those political ills could only be remedied through educational reform. This paper is a critical analysis of that system of education, from ward schools to the University of Virginia.     

The moral dimension in Chilean higher education’s expansion

Chilean higher education has expanded greatly in recent decades, primarily through drawing on the private contributions of students and families, and an increased number and variety of institutions. In the context of attempts to address criticism that the sector is not free, public or high-quality enough, this article examines the association between education and its moral and ethical dimensions, and their separate yet complementary consideration alongside economic development, through the two centuries of the Chilean state’s existence. Since the beginning of the current decade, discontent with the framing and performance of higher education as a whole has grown. The overview traces this process not as fresh crisis, but part of a social question pondered repeatedly in the past and supported with varying success through educational and political initiatives. This historical (and historiographic) approach illuminates the limits of conceiving of higher education as either an economic good or as a human right, and an overlooked need to support its benefits through policy. Not simply an interpenetration with economic thinking, but also a lack of sufficient appreciation of Chile’s fundamental and singular character, present as challenges in understanding expanded access’s function and its prospective contribution to growing debates around ethics and inequality.     

Bohr’s philosophy of wave-particle complementarity

In this article, after briefly providing the pertinent historical background, the underlying motivation and essence of Bohr’s idea of wave-particle complementarity are explained. To what extent the Bohrian notion of complementarity is relevant in the modern context is discussed. Bohr’s belief in the generality of the complementarity framework is also touched upon.     

Experimental science: Joseph Priestley’s influence in the infrastructure of the seventeenth-century science education

This paper discusses the emergence of science education in the seventeenth century with the influences of Joseph Priestley on the Dissenting Academies. Primarily, this paper analyses Priestley’s ideas from some of his letters to scientists during his time and his ideas from his books Miscellaneous Observations Relating to Education (1778) and the Essay on a Course of Liberal Education for Civil and Active Life (1765). As an expository essay, analysis shows that the inclusion of experimental science education dates back from the Dissenting Academies when they explicitly aligned science education for practical life. With Priestley’s advocacy on experimental learning in science, his idea of hands-on science education encouraged other dissenters to seek and understand the changing natural world. His advocacy states that knowledge and understanding of the natural world builds the foundation for rationally evaluating the developments derived from permissible scientific theories. Not setting aside religious studies, Priestley promoted a radical education which ended the restrictions to the privileged and powerful few so that it opened up the access of learning for everyone whose capacity may range from scientific, religious, political, or educational propensities.     

Analysing sexual experiences through ‘scenes’: a framework for the evaluation of sexuality education

This paper describes an alternative approach to undertaking and evaluating sexual health promotion, focusing on the notion of sexual scenes and scenarios and how these can provide a vantage point from which to examine sexual experience. The concept of sexual scenes provides a context within which to analyse many of the behavioural and epidemiological factors associated with sexual practice. In principle, such an approach provides a tool for conscientization, action and the invention of novel group and individual repertoires that may result in individual and social mobilization for health and/or sexual and reproductive rights. Scenes can be elicited through individual interviews, group interviews and discussions, or through staged and dramatized performance and students' writing. Analysing sexual scenes offers an entry point for dialogue in sexual health promotion programming. Evaluation of these programmes can be part of the process of changing sexual scenarios. Change is witnessed not only through individual changes but, especially in impoverished communities, through challenges to dominant local sexual scenarios and engagement with structural concerns.     

Childhood and education in Jean-François Lyotard’s philosophy

The theme of childhood and education in Lyotard’s philosophy provides an interesting field of reflection combining education studies and continental philosophy. Childhood in Lyotard’s thought is mostly understood as infantia, a concept that appears towards the end of his work. The claim of this article is that childhood in Lyotard’s philosophy cannot be reduced to the late concept of infantia; looking at the recurring nature of this theme in his writings that is present from the beginning, as well as various figures under which it appears, pushes Lyotard’s readers to reconsider his work from a pluralist and interdisciplinary perspective.     

Feminist philosophy of science: ‘standpoint’ and knowledge

Feminist philosophy of science has been criticized on several counts. On the one hand, it is claimed that it results in relativism of the worst sort since the political commitment to feminism is prima facie incompatible with scientific objectivity. On the other hand, when critics acknowledge that there may be some value in work that feminists have done, they comment that there is nothing particularly feminist about their accounts. I argue that both criticisms can be addressed through a better understanding of the current work in feminist epistemology. I offer an examination of standpoint theory as an illustration. Harding and Wylie have suggested ways in which the objectivity question can be addressed. These two accounts together with a third approach, ‘model-based objectivity’, indicate there is a clear sense in which we can understand how a standpoint theory both contributes to a better understanding of scientific knowledge and can provide a feminist epistemology.

Integrating Vygotsky’s theory of relational ontology into early childhood science education

In Science Education during Early Childhood: A Cultural-Historical Perspective, Wolff-Michael Roth, Maria Inês Mafra Goulart and Katerina Plakitsi explore the practical application of Vygotsky’s relational ontological theory of human development to early childhood science teaching and teacher development. In this review, I interrogate how Roth et al. conceptualize “emergent curriculum” within the Eurocentric cultural-historical traditions of early childhood education that evolved primarily from the works of Vygotsky and Piaget and compare it to the conceptualizations from other prominent early childhood researchers and curriculum developers. I examine the implications of the authors’ interpretation of emergence for early childhood science education and teacher preparation.     

Thoreau’s philosophy of “simplify”

The essay expounds the philosophy of Thoreau’s "simplify" in aspect of meaning and reason.Closely connected with the relationship between human and nature,it enables us to see the point of a brooding,simple and sensible life of Thoreau.The end clarifies on a question:according to Thoreau,what is to have a simplify life? That’s to care for little,listen to one’s heart and do what one likes.The conclusion comes with an advocation that people keep a simple life with little greed,and take it as an ulti mate cure for the bothering life of today.     

In response to David Greenwood’s ‘Place mobility and faculty life: mindfulness through change’ through the lens of science teacher education programs

In writing this review, I draw on the experience of David Greenwood (Cult Stud Sci Educ 10:5–16, 2015) whose ethnographic study sheds light on his growth as a faculty member who has taught in various settings that are quite different from the culture that he grew up with. I extend his thoughts on ecological mindfulness to encompass a culturally aware method of teaching based on place sensitized more to the needs of science teacher preparation programs. The methods used in writing the review included literature searches for articles that incorporate ecological mindfulness and culturally responsive teaching in science teacher preparation programs and reflected ideas voiced in Greenwood’s article. Although he seems that he is primarily addressing other faculty members, his experiences can be used as lifelong lessons for preservice teachers entering a primarily homogeneous workforce expected to teach an increasingly diverse student population. His humor, use of Haiku, poetry and mindfulness as a way of becoming one with a culture that he is not accustomed has many lessons that prove useful in training more culturally responsive teachers. In light of an increasingly diverse US student population versus a stagnantly homogeneous teaching workforce, his reflective practice will prove useful to teachers who are expected to teach students with cultures different from their own.     

Kurt Hahn’s moral equivalent of war

Kurt Hahn’s educational thought is less well‐known than the educational institutions he established. This article analyses Hahn’s educational ideas through a reading of his speeches and limited writings, and sketches the historical context in which these ideas developed. Although his aristocratic background resulted in a thoroughly conservative worldview, he developed a largely progressive educational practice focusing on active ‘Samaritan service’ and experiential learning, enabling students to discover the Christian purpose of life. Hahn’s notion of Samaritan service has been adopted, in secularised form, by the International Baccalaureate, and it is here where his lasting contribution to primary and secondary education lies.     

Information processing: a review of implications of Johnstone’s model for science education

The current review is concerned with an information processing model used in science education. The purpose is to summarise the current theoretical understanding, in published research, of a number of factors that are known to influence learning and achievement. These include field independence, working memory, long‐term memory, and the use of long‐term memory strategies. The implications of research for educational practice are discussed. It is recommended that educators consider models of information processing and adjust teaching practices accordingly.