Critical literacies in Iran: A tour d'horizon

Abstract

In this chapter, we present a brief overview of the sociopolitical and educational context of Iran, followed by a review of the critical scholarship in the field of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). We briefly highlight the lack of a critical literacy approach in Farsi education where critical practice mainly manifests itself in a rather exclusive focus on critical thinking as a cognitive skill. We argue that a combination of Persian cultural tradition and Islamic perspectives can shape the foundations of an alternative local approach to criticality in EFL and Farsi education and enable us to problematize current, Western conceptualizations of critical literacy. Such foundations, we contend, serve as a prerequisite for moving toward transnational critical literacy work.