A Comparative Study of Environmental Education in Iran’s Primary Schools Curriculum and Selected Countries

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 M.A. in Curriculum, Department of Education, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman

2 Associate Professor of Curriculum, Department of Education, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman

3 Assistant Professor of Curriculum, Department of Education, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to a comparison of environmental education in the elementary schools curriculum of Iran and the selected countries based on the four elements of objectives, contents, teaching methods, and evaluation methods of curriculum. This study is qualitative research and comparative one, which has used Bereday model to compare the research data. Population includes countries all over the world, and the sample was comprised of United States of America, Britain, Canada, Australia and Iran that were selected through a purposeful sampling method. The most important environmental education documents were collected through websites of the selected countries and library resources and then analyzed using the four-stages method of Bereday. The findings showed that the objectives and contents of the Iranian curriculum are well explained and do not differ significantly from the objectives and content of the environmental education curriculum of the selected countries. Also, the use of simulation teaching methods, brainstorming and multimedia resources and ICT in environmental education has been neglected. Furthermore, the use of evaluation methods such as diagnostic evaluation and standardized tests have been ignored in the elementary schools of Iran.

Keywords


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