developing a model for level one hawza illmiyya (islamic seminary schools) curriculum: ideal characteristics

the goal of the present research was to study the content organization of the textbooks taught in level one hawza illmiya curriculum and its ideal characteristics on the basis of the thematic integration approach. we first reviewed the relevant theoretical ideas and conducted a primary interview with some of professors teaching in seminaries, upon which we composed a list of characteristics of the content organization of the textbooks taught in the seminaries. for data collection, a questionnaire was composed that contains questions about the content organization of the customary vs. ideal textbooks taught in seminaries. next, 115 individuals (about half of the study sample), including the professors and students of grade six, level one judged the characteristics. findings showed that, the most evident characteristics of the content organization of the current textbooks were: arranging contents with independent topics, the order of titles and contents of the courses introduced by the seminary professors and students in the planning center, and the order resulted from the structure of the scientific fields. these are the characteristics of a knowledge-oriented model. moreover, it was expected that an ideal content organization should entail the following characteristics: organizing studies and discussions according to issues that are related to the real life conditions; various courses (e.g., literature, juridical principles) should be related to each other to and in conformity with each other in order for their maximize efficiency for solving real problems; core contents and subjects need to have priority over the marginal ones; and there has to be the capacity of linking the learners' experiences and learning in the past with the present and future ones. keywords hawza curriculum, thematic integration, organizing model