Teacher Classroom Research: Reflections on a Nation-Wide Experience In Iran

In most of the education systems throughout the world, art is viewed as a subject of study with secondary importance. This is while art, understood in light of its profound impact on the development of human cultures, can perform unique educational functions that are out of the reach of other subjects. All-round education, therefore, is only obtained through an art-reach education program. Art education has been subject to a historical isolation and inattention in the education sys-tem of Iran. Recently, though, policy makers have initiated a comprehensive reform in this area. The initiative starts from the elementary school and will cover all the stages of school-ing in a piecemeal style. This article presents the reader with an account of the current situation and reviews the newly adopted art curricula for the elementary school. A critique of the new curricula in light of the author’s version of an ideal curriculum appears in the concluding section of the article.