A reflection on the basic features of emancipatory classroom components in higher education

One of the most important goals of emancipatory education is to nurture responsible, critical and participatory people. The purpose of present study was to investigate the characteristics of the emancipatory classroom and its relationship with the classrooms of Iranian higher education. Therefore, by using descriptive-analytical method and referring to critical theories and research related to higher education in Iran, it seeks to answer the question of what are the characteristics of emancipatory classrooms and what is their relationship with higher education classes in Iran? The findings showed that the goal of emancipatory education is to develop democracy and create a new human being. Accordingly, the professor is a politician and a facilitator of learning and the student is also question-oriented and skeptical. In this regard, the educational content emphasizes searching and understanding the different aspects of the issue. The teaching and learning method will be based on partnership and dialogue. Accordingly, the emancipatory classroom atmosphere also provides opportunities for students to practice and develop democratic actions. But what obtained from the comparison of Iranian higher education classrooms with emancipatory characteristics indicated that there is no relation between these characteristics; Iranian higher education classrooms are non-participatory and authoritarian; professors are reluctant to interact with students; students have no experience of emancipatory education;  the syllabus is memory-oriented and quantitative;  and the atmosphere of the class is non-motivational and hierarchical with one-way teaching.