A Comparative Study of the UNESCO 2030 agenda with the Fundamental Transformational Document of Iran’s Education

Establishment of Islamic Republic of Iran has affected the process of accepting international documents in the field of education. The aim of research was to make a comparative study of the UNESCO 2030 agenda with the “Fundamental Transformational Document of Iran’s Education” in terms of similarities and differences. Research method is comparatively qualitative and method of data collection and analysis is documentary and content analysis respectively. The first finding of the research reveals that the differences between the two documents are much greater than the similarities, so that out of 17 components, there is disagreement between the designers of the two documents in 14 components. Another finding indicates fundamental differences between the ideology and educational philosophy of two documents in areas such as the scope of education, values, and approach to achieving educational goals. Also in the 2030 document, gender equality is emphasized in all its quantitative and qualitative dimensions, while authors of the “F Fundamental Transformational Document of Iran’s Education” do not believe in the equality of men and women in the qualitative dimension of education. Another finding is that the “Fundamental Reform Document of Iran’s Education” promotes gender stereotypes that are not accepted in the 2030 Document by respecting roles such as spouse and mother and determining the type of Hijab for women. In addition, the 2030 document publicly opposes the ideological foundations of the Iran’s Document by recognizing the types of sex and acceptance of LGBT people. These findings show that differences between ideologies in the drafting and approval of national and international documents can pose practical challenges to policymakers and planners in the education system