Methods for Improving Higher Education and Research in Iran An Analysis of Previous Studies

This paper focuses on the best ways of improving the Iranian higher education and research system. Common related problems are covered in discussion of methods and approaches. These methods are discussed in three parts. Firstly, common methods and mechanisms including attitudes and cultural approaches, policymaking, infrastructures, laws and trends, and manpower, in pre-university education are deliberated. The second part, dedicated to higher education, discusses educational policy making and planning. The third part of this paper explores the mechanisms of research. Here, issues relating to research policies and infrastructures, laws, and trends have been analyzed. Although the paper is not the result of a field study, every effort has been made to take advantage of field studies. The author has paid more attention to the field of humanities, though most discussions also apply to areas other than humanities. The conclusion lists major problems with the Iranian higher education and research system while proposing the best methods for improvement of the current situation from a viewpoint different to the viewpoint put forward in the body of the paper.