Challenges faced by Farhangian University in education of social reformer teachers from student teachers’ perspective

One of the main missions of teacher training centers and Farhangian University is to train teachers and educators who are engaged in culturally and socially benevolent activities. Such teachers can engage in humanitarian work beyond their teaching practice, ideas, and character and transcend the boundaries of their classroom to influence the local and national community throughout history. The history of the educational system in each country is replete with practical and theoretical influences of such teachers. After many ups and downs, the Iranian teacher training system was finally handed over to Farhangian University in 2012, and all teacher training centers and educational campuses were integrated into Farhangian University. According to the Articles of Association of Farhangian University, it can be argued that Farhangian University seeks to train a generation of future teachers and educators in Iran whose mission is beyond mere daily teaching to include transformation, philanthropic activities, and social activism in the classroom, school, and local community at both national and international domains. In other words, teachers with their unique characteristics (knowledge, attitudes, and skills) are the most important factor for conducting reforms in the education system, which act as the heart of the system and specify and guarantee the movement and direction of other components. Thus, the realization of any cultural and social reforms and, consequently, educational reforms depends on the engagement of teachers in implementing the reforms. It should be noted that teachers' reaction to any change to make reforms can be twofold; The teacher can be the “source of inspiration and influence” or merely a "tool" for the performance of others' plans and ideas. Thus, the main mission of Farhangian University is to train a new generation of teachers and educators who are thoughtful, active, and social reformists. To this end, following theoretical frameworks such as social reconstruction theory and critical theory about the mission of teachers and educators, the present study seeks to explore the main challenges faced by Farhangian University in training benevolent and philanthropist teachers based on the lived experience of student-teachers at Farhangian University. The insights from this study can induce collective reflection on identifying and solving these challenges. Using a phenomenological approach, the present study tried to explore and elucidate the lived experiences of student-teachers about the challenges facing Farhangian University in training socially active teachers. The participants in this qualitative study were 70 male student-teachers of Farhangian University, Khajeh Nasir al-Din Tusi Campus in Kerman. The participants were selected using purposive sampling from students in different fields including mathematics education, biology education, and primary education, who had completed at least three to four semesters of their academic program. The collected data were analyzed according to Colaizzi’s (1978) method as follows: (1) Reading all the descriptions and research data to get a general understanding of them, (2) Returning to each of the narratives and specifying significant statements in line with the objectives of the study, (3) Formulating the themes underlying the significant statements identified in the previous stage, (4) Condensing and merging the meaning units and organizing them into main categories and subcategories. The findings of the study were reviewed and confirmed through peer checking (by the members of the research teams) and member checking (by the participants). Analysis of lived experiences of the student-teachers revealed 9 main challenges and 37 sub[1]challenges facing Farhangian University. The results of the phenomenological analysis of the lived experience of student-teachers during their academic studies at Farhangian University indicated that the university has not been able to have a lasting impact on students in line with this basic mission. Problems in the recruitment system, training and employment of student-teachers in Farhangian University, the failure to role model benevolent and philanthropist teachers in formal and informal education, the lack of a social and cultural critique atmosphere, the lack of authentic training in most educational programs, the dominance of trial issues over important matters during academic studies, underestimation of teaching specialized knowledge in different teacher training fields, the gap between theory and practice in the teaching-learning process, individual ontological and psychological factors, lack of facilities and the decline of students’ dreams and motivations in the dormitory and university were found as the most important challenges faced by Farhangian University in training benevolent and philanthropist teachers from the perspective of student-teachers. Following the findings of the study, the challenges highlighted in student-teachers’ narratives can be summarized in 9 main (organizing) themes and 37 (basic) subthemes. Alternatively, these challenges can be addressed based on the grounded-theory framework. Analysis of the challenges based on the second approach shows that these challenges do not have the same position, weight, and significance in creating problems in training benevolent and philanthropist teachers at Farhangian University. Accordingly, 226 ? the challenges in the recruitment system, problems related to the training and employment of student-teachers, and lack of facilities are among the underlying and fundamental challenges lowering the quality of teacher training courses in this university. Thus, these challenges must be addressed fundamentally and review and overcome the problems faced by Farhangian University in training benevolent and philanthropist teachers. Moreover, the lack of authentic training in most cultural and educational programs and the failure to role model benevolent and philanthropist teachers in formal and informal education are regarded as contextual and intervening issues in training philanthropist teachers. In other words, these challenges are related to the contextual and educational conditions of students in Farhangian University, which indirectly and negatively affect their capacities to develop as social activities and reformists. The quality of teachers’ teaching practices, underestimation of teaching specialized knowledge in different teacher training fields, and the gap between theory and practice in the teaching-learning process are challenges related to procedures and mechanisms involved in the transformational development of student[1]teachers at Farhangian University. Finally, the decline of students’ dreams and motivations in the dormitory and university and individual ontological and psychological factors are some of the challenges that affect the outcomes of teacher development in the philanthropic domain. Such a holistic and situation-oriented perspective in depicting the challenges facing Farhangian University in training philanthropist teachers who are transformative and active in the community can reflect a pathological approach to the university's shortcomings in this area and lead to effective policymaking measures to overcome them. Besides, this perspective can contribute to reviewing and improving the university's formal and informal curricula in some respects.