1. Cultural Ways of Teaching and Learning STARTALK Chicago Meeting October 16, 2009

2. Where Persian/Farsi is Spoken? Persian/Farsi is spoken mainly in: Iran Afghanistan Tajikistan It is spoken by smaller number of people in: Persian Gulf area India, Iraq, Pakistan, Uzbekistan,and Diaspora

3. Educational system Iran: Basic facts: controlled by the central government and religious institutions compulsory in grades 1-12 (not reinforced) segregated in grades 1-12 (boys schools and girls schools) centrally developed curriculum

4. Educational System Afghanistan: Controlled by local governments and religious entities Tajikistan: Controlled by central government Secular Compulsory in grades 1-12

5. Importance of Education Iran: Literacy rate in 2000: 76% (Source: figures estimated by UNESCO) Education highly valued by the society as a whole Education equally available to men & women National Literacy Goals: Year200520102015 Total adult literacy rate (%)85.289.192.1 Female adult literacy rate (%)82.687.791.7 Male adult literacy rate (%)87.790.592.5

6. Importance of Education: Literacy Rate Tajikistan: Adult literacy rate: 99.5% Afghanistan: Adult literacy rate: 38% Considerable discrepancies between rural & urban areas, between men and women, & between different ethnic groups 2000-2007MaleFemale Urban areas-(ages 5-24)48%18%

7. Teachers: Place and Role Iran: Teachers: highly respected by parents and students regarded as mentors and authority figures rarely challenged expected to teach the prescribed curricula

8. Teaching Methods Iran: Despite some changes in pedagogy, instruction is still teacher-centered and relies heavily on rote memorization, factual knowledge acquisition, and testing

9. Subjects Taught at School Iran: Main disciplines: Persian/Farsi language: literature and grammar History and geography: Target country and the world Mathematics Science Religion English and Arabic languages (in high school) Physical education Arts (in elementary school)

10. Classroom Instruction: Boundaries Iran: Sensitive subjects Sex Religion Relationships between boys and girls Politics