Journal of Iranian Public Administration Studies

Journal of Iranian Public Administration Studies

Problem Construction Through Policy: A Problematization Approach in the Policies of New Iranian Schools(Case Study: Dar Al-Fonun)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Reza Abiri 1
Hoseini Seyed Kazem 2
1 Master student in public policy & public administration, Faculty of Islamic Studies & Management, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Management Department, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
10.22034/jipas.2026.506011.1774
Abstract
Purpose: This study seeks to understand how the establishment of new public schools in Iran during the Qajar era came to be problematized, using Carol Bacchi's "What's the Problem Represented to Be?" (WPR) approach.
Methodology: This study employed Carol Bacchi's What's the Problem Represented to Be? (WPR) approach to analyze the policy of establishing new public schools in Iran. All six questions of the WPR framework were addressed sequentially through a text-oriented policy analysis. To initiate the analytical process, five policy texts were selected. In addition, the policy context and policy network were examined through primary historical documents and the analyses of historians.
Different analytical techniques were adopted to address each of the six WPR questions. The first question was analyzed through causal coding, drawing upon the researchers' analytical memos and organizing the initial codes into overarching thematic categories. For the second question, the data were analyzed using a three-stage process consisting of oppositional coding, summarization, and iterative comparison and contextualization of the codes. A descriptive-analytical approach was employed to analyze the data relevant to the third and fourth questions. Theory-driven coding was used to address the fifth question, while the sixth question was analyzed using process coding. The trustworthiness and confirmability of the findings were ensured through seven strategies: methodological transparency, reflexivity, conceptual coherence, direct quotation and precise referencing, analysis of discrepant cases, evaluation of rival explanations, and data triangulation.
Findings: Analysis of the policy texts revealed that the problem was represented as the absence of modern educational institutions capable of disseminating new sciences and technologies (Q1). This representation was grounded in a strong emphasis on the structural dimension within the agency–structure dichotomy (Q2). The establishment of new schools became a policy priority when the central government sought to build a modern standing army in order to reduce its dependence on tribal forces and strengthen its position in competition with other social and political actors. Moreover, the aspiration to emulate European states constituted another important condition shaping this problem representation (Q3).
The represented problem overlooked the pivotal role of a strong central state in advancing the broader project of national development. It also ignored the institutional asynchrony between the newly established educational system and other societal institutions, thereby positioning modern education as detached from—or even in tension with—the broader process of development. Furthermore, factors such as existing educational traditions and the country's socio-cultural context were largely neglected (Q4).
The establishment of new schools facilitated social mobility by enabling individuals to move beyond the social class into which they had been born, thereby creating multiple new subject positions. Graduates of the modern schools emerged as newly constituted subjects who, through greater familiarity with European culture and proficiency in modern languages, developed novel perspectives on society, politics, and human beings. These perspectives created a significant gap between them and the dominant values and beliefs of Iranian society. At the same time, the marginalization of the traditional educational system reduced the influence of certain social groups in public affairs and contributed to the further centralization of governance within the Iranian state (Q5).
As Iran's political, economic, social, and cultural interactions with Europe expanded, and following events such as the Russo-Persian Wars, increasing admiration emerged for the role of modern science and technology in the advancement of Western states. At the same time, the intensification of external threats discouraged those social groups that might otherwise have opposed the new schools from resisting their expansion. Furthermore, in order to manage opposition and reduce resistance to the new schools and their curricula, teachers whose views were compatible with prevailing social norms were deliberately recruited (Q6).
Conclusion: Among the modern institutions established in Iran, the modern educational system possessed a distinctly political character. Its establishment resembled a political act more than an educational reform. In other words, the modern educational institution served less as a vehicle for the advancement and dissemination of knowledge than as an institution closely intertwined with the distribution and exercise of political power. By disrupting the prevailing social order and transforming the political and social roles of different classes and groups within Iranian society, the establishment of the modern educational system contributed to subsequent political instability and profound social transformations in Iran.
Keywords
Dar Al-Fonun
Modern Education
Policy Problem
Policy Analysis
Problematization
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  • Receive Date 14 September 2025
  • Revise Date 28 December 2025
  • Accept Date 05 January 2026