A Comparative Study of Context-based Curriculum of Experimental Sciences in Junior Secondary School in Iran and Selected Countries

The purpose of the current research is to compare Context-based Curriculum of Sciences in Junior Secondary Schools of Iran and selected countries. The countries of the England , Netherlands, and United States of America were chosen based on their pioneers in the field of science education and according to the strategy of "different social systems, different educational outputs". Also, the four-stage Bereday’s model was used to analyze and compare the data. In order to increase the validity and reliability of the data, the original documents and self-assessment were used respectively. The findings of research indicated that the most important similarities between four selected countries are strengthening scientific literacy, acquiring process skills and understanding science concepts. The most important difference between the selected countries is use of different contexts and approaches in implementing the curriculum. Also, the comparison between Iran and the selected countries reveal that the similarities are more in the intended curriculum and differences in the implemented curriculum. In fact, in Iran's educational system, the appropriate framework and necessary arrangements for the implementation of the curriculum have not been prepared. Weakness in implementation has been effected Iran's acquired curriculum. Another finding of the research highlighted that there is no consistency between the three planned, implemented and acquired curricula in Iran. It is suggested to the curriculum planners of Iran to pay more attention to the role of teacher in designing the curriculum, role of the student in the learning process, and also the evaluation process of the curriculum