State Studies

Education and Modernization of Iran in the First Pahlavi Government

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Majid Ostovar

Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/tssq.2023.71214.1359
Abstract
Although Iran's contact with developments in the Western world can be found in the European travelogues of Iranians during the “Safavid” and “Qajar” periods, But Iranians' dealings with the West go back to the Iran-Russia War.When Iran's military forces were defeated by Russia, “Abbas Mirza”, the war commander and Qajar crown prince, decided to increase Iran's military power by hiring military, medical and technical experts from Europe and sending a number of Iranian students to the West. As a result, from the beginning of the 19th century, reforming the educational system and importing technology and hiring military experts from Europe were the first actions of the crown prince to modernize Iran. So, from the beginning of the 19th century, reforming the educational system and importing technology and hiring military experts were among the first actions of the Crown Prince for modernization in Iran. The link between Iran's modernization and westernization created consequences and opposition in the country, and the traditional and religious system of education in Iran did not reflect it, and Iran's modernization faced complex obstacles. After “Abbas Mirza”, the other efforts of Iranian reformers in modernizing and reforming education in Iran continued with the establishment of “Daral-Funu”, School of Political Sciences, Missionary and “Rushdieh” schools until the formation of the constitution in 1906. But Iran could not benefit from a modern government and a coherent education system. This goal was postponed until the establishment of an absolute government during Reza Shah's period, and it was with the emergence of his government that the modernization of Iran in various dimensions with a focus on modern education became the fundamental goal of the new government.
So far, many Researches have examined the performance of the first Pahlavi government and his modernization policies in Iran, but the studies have mainly focused on the government's identity building policy and less attention has been paid to the mutual effects of modernization and modern education in Iranian society. By examining the studies, the distinction and innovation of the current research is the explanation of modernization and education in the first Pahlavi government by relying on the theory of elitism. Based on this, the current research has tried to discuss and investigate the educational policies and measures of the first Pahlavi government, considering the cultural trends of modernization, such as the expansion of educational institutions and bureaucracy, nationalism and secularism. Therefore, the aim of the current research is to analyze the modernization and education in the first Pahlavi period and the fundamental change of Iranian society. The main question of the current research is; what changes did the performance of Reza Shah's government in the field of modernizing the educational system bring about in Iran? In order to investigate this issue, the current research has been investigated through descriptive and historical analysis. Historical analysis is a method that examines past records and documents to understand the past. In this research, by examining the actions and historical documents of the first Pahlavi government, an attempt has been made to analyze the modernization and educational policies of this period.
As the findings of the research show, the constitutional failure in the formation of the centralized government of Iran was the basis for the emergence of the Pahlavi I absolute government and Reza Shah's authoritarian modernization in the country. Focusing on the political and military forces and the structure of the army, court and bureaucracy under modernization from above, his government started measures to transition Iran from traditional to capitalist and modern. One of the most important actions of this authoritarian modernization was the expansion of education in Iran. Accordingly, education in Iran during the first Pahlavi period was not only based on learning science, but had a dual function. On the one hand, the formation of citizens interested in the land of Iran in the direction of serving the country and loyalty to the king and the political system was considered, and on the other hand, the educational structure of the country in the service of modernizing the administrative apparatus in order to supply the strength of the newly established bureaucracy, nationalism, secularism and Westernization was placed. Although this view strengthened the central and inclusive government in Iran, the country's education system faced many challenges that continued for decades. The modern educational system, like the traditional educational system, relied on maintaining a large amount of information and strengthening memory and theoretical sciences that prepared citizens for administrative and managerial positions. As a result, since the beginning of the establishment of this educational system, we have witnessed quantity instead of quality and the efforts of graduates to gain status and prestige in the government and society.
In such an arrangement, the cultivation of people with critical rationality and demanding citizenship is not considered, and the school, as a man-making factory, finds the task of making people in line with the ideological beliefs of the ruling regime. Emphasizing this demand, Reza Shah asked students and graduates to be obedient and patriotic people who serve the ideals of the political system. Because the first Pahlavi modernization lacked flexibility and acceptance of reforms from below, and with modernization from above, he followed educational policies in Iran and spread Pahlavi ideology in the society in this way. This ideological construction was indifferent to religious and local traditions and focused on the combination of Iranism and secularism in order to build a new Iran. On this basis, the new educational system was also used to build the ideology of modernization from above and did not pay attention to the educational functions and its compatibility with the local conditions of the Iranian society.

Keywords

Modernization
First Pahlavi Government
Education
Bureaucracy
Nationalism
Subjects
 
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State Studies
Volume 9, Issue 34
Summer 2023
Pages 59-97

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