The Lifestyle Informed by Teachings of Imam Reza (PBUH) and its Implications for the Iranian National Curricula in the Primary and Secondary Education

The present study sought to investigate the lifestyle informed by teachings of Imam Reza (PBUH) and extract its implications for the Iranian national curricula in the primary and secondary education. The research method was qualitative and analytical-inferential. The statistical population of the study comprised all sayings of Imam Reza (PBUH) which are available as primary sources. These sayings were selected through purposive sampling and were deeply examined. Data analysis was simultaneously carried out with data collection and the data were continuously classified, coded, and interpreted. Results indicated that the lifestyle informed by teachings of Imam Reza (PBUH) has four divine, personal, social and environmental domains and each of these domains comprise different components. Components of the divine domain are: knowing God, faith, virtue, trust and reliance on God, submission, satisfaction and obedience. Components of the personal domain consist of self-knowledge, seeking knowledge, intellectual training, development of ethical values, and seeking perfection. The social domain components comprise friendship, affection, justice, cooperation and dignity and the environmental domain components include knowing nature, purposefulness of universe, optimal use of nature and accountability. The implications of the lifestyle informed by teachings of Imam Reza (PBUH) for the Iranian national curricula in the primary and secondary education are: the ultimate goal (approaching God) and intermediate goals, integrated content (centered on the teaching of theology, Islamic anthropology, religious-ethical socialization, and preparation of learners for a rational encounter with nature), teaching-learning methods (avoiding simplistic approaches, inquiry, dialogue, role modeling, investigating, exploring, role play, observation, field trips, showing films) and evaluation (procedural and qualitative methods such as observation, interviews, reporting, research, self-assessment and narrative evaluation).