Dream Curriculum: an Inquiry into the Arena of Curriculum Development within the Matrix of Holistic Education in Iran

Abstract

Daring to dream is the key to revolutionary changes in Education of developing countries. It helps them get a more holistic picture of what they have previously been dealing with in separated and seemingly unrelated chunks in education. Curriculum development and curriculum dreaming, regarded as inseparable within the matrix of Holistic Education, are so pivotal in any educational reforms. Our main concern in this critique is delving into the arena of curriculum studies, focusing on holistic education, to re-conceptualize the meaning of curriculum, as a flexible, ongoing, learner focused, and lifelong process that involves teacher as facilitator and learner, the natural world as the school, and considering the future as well as present needs of students for a peaceful cooperative world , and propose a model for change for schools in developing countries like Iran. Acknowledging students’ and teachers’ indigenous Persian knowledge , this model invites them to know their body , mind and soul , “global self” , within the world in which they live , “global village” and take a journey from their inner world to outer world and from their birthplace to the whole globe.