Urgent Changes to Be Made in Iran’s Primary Education - Voices From Teachers

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk

Urgent curriculum and pedagogy reforms are required in Iran’s primary education, where high-stakes testing and memorization dominate learning. Based on focus group interviews with 84 primary school teachers from Tehran, Shiraz, and Yazd, the study captures teachers’ perspectives on needed changes. Findings indicate strong agreement on revising the curriculum to include areas such as English, Law, and Entrepreneurship, and broadening educational focus beyond early assessment toward learning dialogue, collaboration, tolerance, and students’ identity development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Highlights

Keywords and Publication Details

Introduction: Iranian Primary Education and KONKOUR Success

Critical Language Testing and Exam Context

Collecting Teachers’ Voices

Study Cities

Urgent Changes to Be Made in Iran’s Primary Education: Voices From Teachers Iman Tohidian , Ali Khorsandi Taskohand Abbas Abbaspour Allameh Tabataba'i University ECNU Review of Education 2023, Vol. 6(3) 485–497 © The Author(s) 2022 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/20965311221085980](DOI: 10.1177/20965311221085980)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/20965311221085980)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Highlights • One of the main shortcomings of the Iranian educational system is its focus on training students to succeed in different testing/assessment practices. In this regard, primary emphasis is still placed on memorization rather than learning dialogue, collaboration, tolerance, and life expectation for today’s globalized communities. • Few voices from Iranian teachers have been heard in international publications. This study collected focus group interviews from 84 Iranian primary school teachers in Tehran, Shiraz, and Yazd. • Findings show that the interviewed teachers agreed on the urgent curriculum changes, including English, Law, and Entrepreneurship in the primary teaching. Additionally, the educational focus should be broadened from the current emphasis on assessment from the early years of schooling. Keywords Curriculum change, education in Iran, voices of teachers Date received: 13 April 2021; revised: 26 July 2021; accepted: 14 September 2021 Corresponding author: Iman Tohidian, Department of Educational Administration & Planning, Faculty of Psychology & Education, Allameh Tabataba'i University (ATU), Tehran, Iran. Email: [tohidian.i@gmail.com](tohidian.i@gmail.com) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as speciﬁed on the SAGE and Open Access page ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Introduction: The Iranian primary education system and its emphasis on KONKOUR success Public education in Iran comprises a total of twelve years of training (6-3-3) . Public education is provided free to all people regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity, language, or disability. Nonetheless, an increasing number of private and semi-private schools at all levels have appeared in the country. In Iran, student access to higher education is granted through participation in a nationwide high-stakes test known as KONKOUR (ﮐﻨﮑﻮﺭ), that is, the National University Entrance Exam (NUEE) . Some believe that such a process corresponds to the term “conquer,”with students expected to compete in a marathon-like competition to achieve a high rank and win the prize of acceptance to the most prestigious universities in Iran. Adopting Critical Language Testing (CLT) principles and practices to examine the two main exams in the Iranian educational context, namely, the Sampad Entrance Exam (SEE) and NUEE, Safari (2016, p. 267) identiﬁed “the oppressive nature of tests, the marginalization of powerless testing parties, the asymmetrical power relationships, and the broader detrimental consequences and impacts of tests.” Signiﬁcantly, such emphasis on success in the NUEE to enter universities and higher education institutes is shaping Iranian educational practice, with this focus increasingly evident in primary schooling. An alarming number of educational institutes and organizations have been established outside the formal educational system of Iran to provide students with complementary textbooks and videotaped teaching practices, simultaneously reinforcing the notion that su

FAQs

What shortcomings in Iran’s primary education does the study highlight?

The study points to an education system that prioritizes succeeding in testing and assessment practices, with primary emphasis on memorization rather than learning dialogue, collaboration, tolerance, and students’ life expectations.

How did the researchers collect teachers’ voices?

They conducted qualitative focus group interviews with 84 Iranian primary school teachers from Tehran, Shiraz, and Yazd.

What curriculum changes do teachers urgently call for?

Teachers agree on urgent curriculum changes, including adding English, Law, and Entrepreneurship in primary teaching, and shifting the educational focus away from early assessment toward broader learning goals.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk