Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Associate Professor, Political Science Dept., University of Isfahan
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The political education system in every country is considered a part of its cultural and civilizational heritage. Research in this case can create a correct understanding of this heritage. One way to understand the political education of a country is to study the history of the evolution of its political education system. Knowing the structure of the political education system, its foundations, educational courses, resources, and human and scientific forces in this field is one of the most important steps to study and understand it. Studying the development and evolution of these three areas over time will help to understand this educational system. Although the political education system in Iran started several centuries ago in an inconsistent manner, its initial steps were taken during the Qajar period. During the Pahlavi period, formal education was established in a university form. During the period of the Islamic Republic, more fundamental steps have been taken in the evolution of the political education system, leading to extensive qualitative and quantitative changes in the three areas of educational structures, theoretical and philosophical foundations, and trained forces in this area. Based on this, the main question of this article is: What has been the history of political education system evolution in Iran? The main assumption of this article is that along with the social, political, and economic developments of Iran in the past centuries, the political education system has also changed, leading to a more scientific, popular, and practical system.
Methodology
The conceptual framework of the article is a realistic approach with an analysis of the historical developments of Iran's political education system. This article is descriptive-analytic using the method of qualitative data analysis of the historical developments of Iran's political education system. Qualitative data is collected using library findings.
Findings
The findings of the research show that:
The political education system in the Qajar period was based on transferring the basic theoretical foundations of this modern science to Iran, with a limited educational structure where professors imparted only basic knowledge of this science to students in this field. Graduates were only employed in diplomatic, political, and executive affairs in a limited capacity.
In the Pahlavi era, a complementary step was taken in the three areas of the educational system, teaching materials, and training of its graduates.
During the period of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the developments of the cultural revolution, Iran has seen a more complete development in the qualitative and quantitative aspects of this educational system, its theoretical foundations, and its graduate force.
Analysis
In the Qajar period, the initial and limited theoretical foundations of this field were transferred to Iran, and in the Pahlavi period, with the translation movement, a wider and expanded volume of these scientific topics was introduced to Iran. During the period of the Islamic Republic, efforts were made to propose Iranian-Islamic philosophical foundations for political science, alongside the theoretical foundations of Western political science, with a more positivist approach. Steps were also taken to localize this science and train its students accordingly. In all three periods, the foundations and philosophical-epistemological roots of political science were not fundamentally transferred to Iran, despite lessons being taught in this field.
Conclusions
The results showed that this fundamental flaw has hindered the localization of political science in Iran, preventing the study of local issues and problems in both the internal and external spheres of Iran. Although progress has been made in making the field more scientific, popular, and practical, it has not yet reached the desired point. This article discusses proposed solutions to address these basic problems in these areas.
Keywords
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