From Theory to Praxis: Designing Education Alternatives within Farsi-speaking Communities experiencing Conflict and Political Instability

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The Alternatives Project (TAP) – a transnational collective of progressive academics, activists, and educators building a collective and critical voice toward education and social transformation – has developed theory and moved toward deepening praxis in recent years. Building from the book Education for Societal Transformation: Alternatives for a Just Future, we designed, with Farsi-speaking educators, a summer school to foster teachers’ design of education alternative projects in Iran and Afghanistan.

The course took place over three phases. First, we organized panels to introduce core concepts of education alternatives, drawing from the framing and examples of the book. Second, we surveyed participants about their primary interests and designed workshops based on the most requested content. The workshop curriculum featured environmental education, experiential and play-based learning, gender, peace education, and youth engagement, with a strong emphasis on learning from Global South examples of alternatives. In these workshops, facilitators encouraged participants to note ideas and concepts to put in their “baskets” of education alternatives, but emphasized that it was essential for them to adapt and design projects in their own contexts. In a third phase, we supported participants’ design of their own projects. Teacher participants worked to adapt and design projects in their contexts, with a range of ages (early childhood to youth), from formal to non-formal and informal settings, and with the students they serve. Given the dearth of documented education alternatives in conflict-affected contexts and in much of the Global South, we understood and encouraged the positioning of participants as “Designers of Education Alternatives” in the Farsi-speaking world. As educators, they embarked on experimenting with new, creative projects that combined their existing experience and skills with new elements that would extend and deepen learning in spaces they identified. The project design phase, therefore, resonates with the educational alternatives concept of “dreaming” where and how learning can take place – and engaging in a collaborative space to develop and bring to life those alternatives. The course demonstrated a professional development program for educators that is participatory, culturally responsive, and explicitly linked to social change. It fosters rethinking alternatives in education in settings shaped by conflict and government restrictions.

Through a distributed model of learning, participants increasingly supported one another in the course. Participants’ project scopes reflected their understanding of the broader systems in which education is embedded and their desire to transform those systems. Adaptable templates supported the design and co-creation of projects, encouraging a sequence that could be implemented in small steps and over the short to long term, given the uncertainties participants expressed about the political and security context. The panel will begin with a historical and cultural context of learning and collaborative culture in the region. It then highlights the course's innovative, project-based pedagogy and curriculum, designed for a Farsi-speaking audience, and features participant voices. The discussion reflects upon the summer school as a model for international educational programming that is participatory, culturally responsive, and explicitly linked to local action and social change. As such, it also suggests an alternative to traditional Comparative & International Education projects by highlighting Global South, and specifically Farsi-speaking educators', design of meaningful learning communities.

The summer course was built upon the core concepts of The Alternatives Project (TAP) book on education alternatives, expanding on its theoretical frameworks with real-world examples from non-Western and Global South contexts. The course was structured into three distinct phases:

1) Introduction to Alternatives: Participants explored key concepts, definitions, and principles of education through a series of panels and discussions. This phase established a common language and grounded the curriculum in a shared understanding of education for social justice.
2) Chapters/Examples/Topics through Workshops: Through a series of workshops, participants delved into specific examples of education alternatives in practice. Topics were informed by a pre-course survey of participant interests, including homeschooling for girls, environmental education, and education in conflict zones. This phase was crucial for demonstrating how alternative models function across diverse settings and for collecting a repository of examples.
3) Design & Application: The final phase focused on project design, where participants applied their learning to create their own education alternatives projects. Supported by one-on-one mentoring from TAP facilitators, they worked to develop their projects in their formal and non-formal settings. These projects will be a central part of the panel's presentation, demonstrating the course's impact and the participants' innovative work.

Sub Unit

• 21st Century Educational Alternatives: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Patriarchy, Militarism, and the Climate Crisis

Chairs

• Deepa Srikantaiah, American University - School of Education

• Alice Taylor, University of Denver

Individual Presentations

• Designing Alternatives in Education Among Farsi-Speakers – Reviving Historical Collaboration Through Emergent Pedagogies - Ahmad Medadi, IOE, UCL; Michael Gibbons, The Alternatives Project

• Participation and Pedagogical Approaches in Education Alternatives - Alice Taylor, University of Denver; Deepa Srikantaiah, American University - School of Education

Discussant

• Roozbeh Shirazi, University of Minnesota