Curriculum governance and guided decentralization for adaptive capacity in Iran and selected G7 countries

Abstract

This study examines how curriculum governance structures shape educational innovation and structural alignment with economic responsiveness, comparing Iran’s centralized model with guided decentralization in Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was employed. Phase one applied Bereday’s four-stage comparative model to analyze national policy documents (2015–2023) using directed qualitative content analysis in MAXQDA. Phase two employed a modified three-round Delphi technique with 20 education policy experts (10 national, 10 international) to validate and contextualize findings. Document analysis revealed that Iran’s centralized governance ensures ideological consistency but restricts twenty-first-century skills integration. Conversely, the selected G7 nations employ hybrid models balancing national frameworks with local autonomy, supported by accountability mechanisms such as standardized assessments and inspection regimes. Delphi findings converged on four prerequisites for effective reform: guided decentralization as a viable model, accountability as an enabler of autonomy, systematic stakeholder participation, and local capacity building. For Iran, gradual, phased implementation with trust-building was identified as essential. The study advances the Accountability–Autonomy–Responsiveness (AAR) framework as an analytical heuristic, conceptualizing economic responsiveness as structural potential facilitated by governance coherence rather than a directly measured labor-market outcome. Transitioning toward guided decentralization could enhance structural alignment in Iran, though such reform requires calibrated realignment rather than abrupt devolution. These findings contribute to comparative education governance theory by shifting analytical focus from authority location to the patterned interaction of autonomy, accountability, and institutional capacity.