Introduction

The idea for this book, titled 'The School Curriculum: Its Philosophy, Construction, and Evaluation,' emerged from my personal experience in the field of education, both as a student and as an educator. I have journeyed through the educational ladder from elementary, secondary, to university levels, and through academic ranks from a diploma, master's, to a doctorate. My experience includes supervising and discussing master's theses and doctoral dissertations, and holding leadership positions such as Deputy Minister of Education for Scientific and Educational Affairs (Secretary-General), Chairman of the Higher Committee for Curriculum Development, and Head of the Educational Department in the Presidential Office, which directly oversees the Ministries of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and Education, in addition to aspects of the programs of the Ministries of Culture and Social Affairs.

Through my examination of the philosophy, policies, and goals of Arab educational systems, and by reading the works of our predecessors and contemporaries in Arab educational thought, I concluded that the modern and contemporary educational journey in the Arab world has suffered from serious intellectual, cultural, and procedural deviations. These have fragmented the personality of the Arab individual, undermined the entity of the Arab nation, and led to a shallowness in understanding the requirements of the educational process. There has been an absence of a genuine Arab philosophy of education in Arab educational systems, which have instead chased after foreign thought that established principles of dependency, sectarianism, chauvinism, racism, and regionalism. The Arab people, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Gulf, have become fragmented, succumbing to poverty, disease, ignorance, and division, accepting the reality of the Zionist occupation and even cooperating with its founders, submitting to the will of external powers represented by direct and indirect colonialism since national independence to this day.

Looking back at my general and university studies, I found a deliberate and programmed effort to distort Arab-Islamic history, erase the features of our national identity, and corrupt our culture and civilization, which are attested to by our enemies before our friends. The children of the Arab nation and Islamic peoples have been subjected to fragmented experiences in all sciences, a distortion of Islamic education, and a misrepresentation of Arab-Islamic history, with some of the first generation of thinkers and leaders contributing to this alongside forces of evil, leading educational institutions according to the dictates of Western thought and its educational philosophies, which have no connection to our reality.

The oppressive terrorist campaign against the Arab nation in particular, and Muslims in general, and indeed against the peoples of the Third World, is as clear as day. This is evident in the statements of Western philosophers and thinkers who oppose imperialism and globalization, and from the forces of evil themselves, with their slogans of the 'end of history' and the 'clash of civilizations.' This campaign was exemplified by Francis Fukuyama's 1992 thesis 'The End of History,' and Samuel Huntington's 'Clash of Civilizations' (1996), which targeted the 'declining' and 'aspiring' Islamic civilization. These ideas were echoed by others like Leon Hadar and Benjamin Barber in his 1995 book 'Jihad vs. McWorld,' all expressing a pessimistic and biased view of the relationship between civilizations, religions, and cultures.

The occupation of Iraq in 2003 is a living witness to the dominance of foreign Zionist and chauvinistic influences over institutions of science and education, after hundreds of scientists, academics, and professionals were killed, and hundreds of thousands were displaced. The educational landscape became receptive to the programs of the occupation and its collaborators, who determined the quantity and quality of education and imposed curricula that affirmed the new reality, focusing on racism, sectarianism, and fragmentation. Private education was promoted after education had been compulsory and free for all levels and for all Arabs and Muslims.

In the name of 'university freedom' imported from the USA, the minds of the youth are being corrupted, their consciences disabled, ensnaring them in alienation and submission to the new reality. This targets their national identity, distances them from their faith, and aims to dismantle the established Islamic value system, promoting new, imported values from the societies of the occupying powers.

Since the events of September 11, 2001, the forces of evil in the United States and their collaborators have been preparing to invade the centers of scientific and civilizational progress in Iraq, uprooting institutions of knowledge and culture, stealing the treasures of our civilizations, and targeting the Arab Muslim individual by destroying educational institutions, especially the curricula that had succeeded in building knowledgeable, thinking, literary, and artistic individuals.

A quick review of what the educational system in Iraq accomplished from 1968 to 2003 reveals a scientific and educational revolution. It hosted Arab and foreign experts, held workshops to reconsider the philosophy of the educational system, and formulated educational policies and strategies to build the human being, exceeding all limits in achieving both quantity and quality. Laws were passed for literacy, free education, and compulsory education, opening doors for higher studies both inside and outside Iraq.

Conferences and seminars were held, focusing on human development and investment. A 1981 working paper on 'Education and Higher Education' led to further development of curricula and textbooks, with a commitment to comprehensive review every five years.

Based on these directives, the overarching goal of the educational system in Iraq was formulated: 'To raise a conscious generation that believes in God, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and in the final Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). A generation that loves its homeland, believes in its Arab nation and its mission of unity, freedom, and socialism, adopts scientific thinking, is armed with knowledge and morals, relies on work and self-learning, possesses the will to struggle, is capable of facing challenges such as imperialism, Zionism, and chauvinism, is receptive to civilizational progress, and is open to human thought within the framework of authenticity and modernity.'

From this general goal, twelve specific educational objectives emerged:

• The Humanistic Goal
• The Scientific Goal
• The Religious (Faith) Goal
• The Goal of Work
• The National Goal
• The Goal of Strength and Construction
• The Pan-Arab Goal
• The Goal of Authenticity and Renewal
• The Democratic Goal
• The Humanitarian Goal
• The Socialist Goal
• Continuing Education

In light of these general educational goals, objectives for each educational stage were formulated. For curricula to be built and developed soundly, they must be based on solid scientific foundations and objective tools. Evaluation is the appropriate tool for this, aiming to provide the necessary information to make decisions for curriculum development and quality improvement.

It is worth noting that curriculum evaluation in Arab countries has often been limited to textbook assessment, using limited methods like questionnaires. This underscores the urgent need to develop the evaluation process in all its aspects, from its concept to its implementation methods, by adopting integrated evaluation models capable of assessing curricula in their broader sense to provide a clear and comprehensive picture of the educational process.

In 1995, leadership directed a reconsideration of the educational system's philosophy in Iraq. A committee was formed to study the educational journey and produced a paper outlining the components of the educational philosophy for higher education, scientific research, and the Ministry of Education. It reformulated the general educational goal from which all other objectives for general and university education were derived, as well as the objectives and content for individual subjects.

Book Details:

• Weight: 0.72 kg
• Dimensions: 17 × 24 cm
• ISBN: 978-9957-12-302-4