Threats and opportunities for internationalization and localization of the curricula in Iran's education system in the last two decades and proposing the solutions

This study aims at investigating the threats and opportunities of internationalization and localization of the curricula in the Iranian education system in the last two decades and proposing the solutions. It was a synthesis study according to Robertson's six steps. The research population included all the valid scientific papers on the internationalization and localization of the curricula in the Iranian education system in the last two decades and the research sample was selected through purposeful sampling method. The research tool was a researcher-made checklist. In this study, first, the need for studies on the threats and opportunities of internationalization and localization of curricula in the Iranian education system was identified. Then, the related resources were searched. The criteria for the relevance of the resources were their research and conduction in the period between 2001 to 2018. Data were analyzed through open and axial coding. Then, the findings were processed in the form of answers to the research questions and they were interpreted and summarized. Findings showed that the Iranian education system faces major threats such as the curriculum inflexibility, centralism, colonial science, and value conflict, as well as the opportunities such as recognizing the culture of nations, honoring the heritage of the Western civilization, attracting international professors, and paying attention to the Islamic philosophical foundations, when trying to become internationalized and localized. Also, to turn the threats into the opportunities, the solutions such as learning more English and incorporating human rights and democracy curriculum have been presented.