Abstract:
The aim of this study is to determine the logical structure and level of coherence of the
Iranian educational philosophy underlying its reform documents. The study uses a
mixed methods approach to address the two research questions: (1) What is the internal
logical structure of the philosophy of education underlying the reform documents? (2)
What is the state of coherence of this philosophy? Data was collected from the three
core reform documents - the “Theoretical Foundations” document, the “Fundamental
Reform Document of Education,” and the “National Curriculum - and was analyzed
using Frankena’s model for analyzing philosophies of education. Findings suggest that the educational philosophy within Iran’s educational reform documents holds a logical structure that is primarily theoretical, and its coherence level is assessed at a “medium.”
The results indicate a satiated foundational base and a lack of coherence in the First
Basic Competency where goal, foundational, and strategy statements are not connected
to each other enough, hence the mediocre level of coherence. The philosophy’s
incoherence was mostly characterized by high levels of implicit statements, improper
combinations of statements, vague language, and redundancy of statements. Aside from
issues related directly to the logical flow of statements, there were issues in consistency
of terms across documents and as well as organizational issues. Ultimately, the results
show that the statements of the philosophy, within the scope of the First Basic
Competency, are only partially coherent and lack their practical aspect.
Recommendations developed based on the study can guide practitioners that design,
implement and evaluate the reform programs in Iran’s reform endeavor. The case adds
to the growing body of literature on coherence in educational reform by providing an
analysis of educational philosophy underlying the reform process in Iran.
