Teachers’ Professional Competencies: Past, Present, and Future

The purpose of this paper is to review the expected professional competencies throughout the history of teacher training in Iran. As such it covers both the past, covering the period from teacher training inception in 1918 to the Islamic revolution in 1979; and the present, since the revolution. Of course the future is covered as well, since in the light of the accelerated developments in all aspects of life, most certainly, the future teachers are influenced by such developments as well. According to the available documents, from the early years of teacher training programs, mastery of the subject matter and the methods of teaching it are the most outstanding competencies emphasized. In post-revolutionary teacher training further emphasis is put on moral competency and the role modeling of a teacher. As for the future teachers, not only the current competencies ought to be emphasized, but humanistic and meta-cognitive competencies become necessary.