Abstract:

This article provides a short historical background of curriculum development and textbook preparation for primary and secondary schools in Iran. It further describes the concept and components of Curriculum Theory and reviews the view points of the contemporary western theorists who have discussed and categorized curriculum theories. It also points out that these curriculum theories have their origins in the western philosophical, psychological and sociological doctrines and they provide guidelines for curriculum planners of those societies.
The article then highlights some educational problems in Iran that have emerged over the past years due to the lack of a home-grown curriculum theory. Therefore, the article emphasizes the necessity of formulating an indigenous curriculum theory to serve as a guide for curriculum planners and textbook compilers of the country.

By presenting some evidence and examples the article argues that the indigenous Curriculum Theory and its components can be drawn up from the Islamic world view as well as from Moslem educational literature.

Keywords:

Theory for curriculum planning, education, curriculum planning approaches, Islamic World-View.