O LEGADO DE PAULO FREIRE PARA AS POLÍTICAS DE CURRÍCULO E PARA O TRABALHO DOCENTE, NO BRASIL TO CITE THIS ARTICLE PLEASE INCLUDE ALL OF THE FOLLOWING DETAILS: Fathi Vajargah, Kourosh (2020). Beyond Reconceptualization: Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies in Iran (toward new curriculum ecosystems). Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) p.57-72 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Beyond Reconceptualization: Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies in Iran (Toward New Curriculum Ecosystems)1 Kourosh Fathi Vajargah2 Shahid Beheshti University, IRAN Introduction As a new but complicated area, which deals with difficult issues, the curriculum studies discipline involves several challenges and problems, so that resolving them not only provides the ground for growth and flourishing of this discipline, but also brings about unpleasant outcomes and consequences for the experts as well as those who deal with the issue of curriculum in their professional lives. For this reason, Schwab (1970) refers to curriculum as a "moribund field" and Miller (2014) considers it as "communities without consensus". In other words, curriculum is inherently a discipline in which constant disagreements are inevitable. Several thinkers throughout the world have tried to explore and investigate the curriculum studies field. Perhaps, one of the most documented studies is the discussion provided by Pinar et al. (1995) who have divided the evolution of the curriculum into different major periods or waves which can be summarized as: A) the first wave includes traditionalists who are divided into two groups: 1. Classical Traditionalists: This group includes the pioneers in the area of curriculum such as Franklin Bobbitt and Ralph Tyler who proposed this discipline as a technique (the same as the scientific curriculum development) for the first time, and considered the issue of curriculum as a technical trend and technology and attempted to predict all components and processes of curriculum linearly from the beginning to the end. 2. Conceptual Empiricists: These scholars mainly have adopted social sciences concepts and used them in curricula. The members of this group, including Bruner and Schwab, tend to study the curriculum phenomena empirically. B) The second wave includes re-conceptualists who have reviewed and criticized fundamental concepts of curriculum. They believe that curriculum discipline is not merely a scientific field, which could be designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated, but it is a complex phenomenon with political, feminist, artistic, historical, environmental, as well as racial aspects and identities (Pinar, 1978; Pinar et al., 1995). Reconceptualists believe that the major concern for field is not to develop or plan a curriculum but is to understand it. During the second wave, the curriculum has passed through a profound transformation as a cognitive realm and the title has been transformed from “curriculum development” to “curriculum studies” (Fathi Vajargah, 2007). https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 58 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Reconceptualization is mentioned as the era characterized by the prominent name and effects of Pinar, so that today-as the main wave- it dominates the curriculum departments in many countries. This is a period when the discipline achieved significant development and expansion; it distanced from domination of scientific and traditional management approach and discarded understanding curriculum development as a whole discipline. In addition, non-technical concerns and questions that were mainly based on more accurate discovery and understanding have been spread in this era. However, Iran has experienced a different situation. The curriculum field in Iran is an imported discipline, in which there are no traces of thinking, generating or theorizing for resolving problems and issues in the society. Instead it has been the translations of the mainly American and Western efforts and their dissemination at universities and academic and administrative communities. This paper seeks to explain the status quo of curriculum discipline in Iran, criticize obstacles that hinder the development of this discipline, and introduce alternative solutions to this situation in the form of recontextualization or multicontextualization movement of curriculum studies. ?curriculum studiesWhat is the subject of Perhaps, the first issue that comes to mind is related to what the subject of curriculum studies is. In fact, the subject of curriculum studies is students, schools, and school curricula. According to the traditional perspective, the subject of curriculum studies is to investigate different processes and aspects of curriculum development for schools (Bobbitt, 1918; Tyler, 1949; Taba, 1962; & Oliva, 1982), in which the main role of the discipline focuses on the process of designing or implementing school curricula. (It should be noted that regarding the question whether curriculum implementation is a subset of curriculum development process there is disagreement among the experts in the field. See: Fathi Vajargah & Mehrmohammadi, 1999). Based on a more profound and comprehensive point of view, the subject of curriculum studies is the overall school educational system and any experience that forms in that context (Jackson, 1992; Pinar, 1978; Pinar, 2015). According to the contemporary perspective we are faced with intricacies when studying the learners’ experiences as curriculum, so that the study of the quality and function of such an experience requires continuous interaction of the curriculum experts, theorists, and professionals in several organizational, researching and scholar roles in the educational environment and forefront of the activities of education, namely, school. Both the traditional perception and experience-oriented contemporary perception of the discipline provide minimum opportunity of interaction with schools and curricula for professionals and educators in the field of curriculum studies in Iran. Students and graduates who spend a considerable part of their academic time on studying theories, models, and methods of curriculum development or studying the experiences of learners and teachers, are hardly allowed to engage in schools or curriculum development institutions during their education or even after graduation. Most studies conducted by these people emphasize “the study about curriculum” rather than "practical involvement in curriculum". As an interdisciplinary and professional field (Yadegarzadeh, Fathi Vajargah, Mehrmohammadi & Arefi, 2014; Walker, 2003), the discipline of curriculum studies requires the presence of students and graduates in practical situations, so that the graduates gain information and advantage of the curriculum theory and knowledge and achieve appropriate capabilities and competencies necessary for implementing the curriculum. This is observed in many professional fields, including medicine (which requires the exposure to and engagement in different therapeutic departments), technical and engineering fields https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 59 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index (which require the presence at workshops and implementation of various projects), and so forth. Although many disciplines have continuously had inadequate ties with practical and professional experinces of the field, the depth and outcome of such a deficiency and lack of curriculum studies is far more serious because: 1) the nature of curriculum studies discipline has a hand in this problem; 2) this problem may be significantly related to the lack of cooperation between organizations, institutions, and schools for engaging students of curriculum studies with curriculum development and/or schools contexts in observance of strict and restrictive rules; and 3) there is a lack of recruitment of graduates in the respective jobs and positions. The resistance of decision-making institutions to engage professionals and experts of curriculum discipline in such systems either in the form of recruiting graduates of the field or in the form of participation and acceptance of the views and roles of experts of the field, has seriously blocked curriculum studies in its traditional form especially in the past two decades, so that curriculum research in universities, higher education institutes, and decision-making institutions have functioned separately going without any interaction. Although there is a research gap regarding the reasons behind these disjunctions and inherent resistance, some hypotheses could be proposed regarding the causes of the mentioned situation as follows:  There exists a centralized decision-making system in which all curriculum decisions are made practically by a national powerful organization called the Organization for Research and Educational Planning (OREP). The decisions are communicated to schools for fidelity implementation; therefore, schools do not have the relevant authority to review and modify curricula. This situation has virtually blocked employing the curriculum graduates’ expertise and ideas at both central and school levels.  The imperative political and cultural climate of the education proves that it would be costly for experts to critically review curricula and the decision-making system in education. This means that critique of curriculum content or applying the new concepts and new achievements in schools of other countries requires an open political and cultural space; something that is less present in the current situation.  Due to the existing laws and regulations for the educational system, it is not easy for experts to examine theories and expert ideas in the real-life school contexts or to extract ideas from the everyday and lived experience of students at the schools. In other words, the presence of curriculum students and scholars in school environment and the educational system necessitates several considerations and in some cases will end up in restrictive bureaucracies.  The existence of some research institutes and centers in the educational system that employed some researchers has created a feeling of no need to use the views of experts or the use of curriculum graduates form outside of the Ministry of Education.  Using new ideas and theories in curriculum decisions and trying to make reforms and to maximize the participation of professionals and graduates requires that the educational system is held accountable and specific mechanisms are provided to critique the performance at the practical levels. However, the ignorance of such mechanism in Iran educational system could be mentioned as another significant reasons behind the current situation.  Finally, the unscholarly and poor quality academic nature of the universities programs in the field of curriculum studies and its incompatibility with the real-life needs of the educational system could be raised as the other factor exacerbating the problems. https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 60 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Universities accuse such organizations for monopolization and resistance to new academic ideas and approaches, and the experts and decision-makers of the country's curriculum system also emphasize the lack of information and inadequacy and contradictions of knowledge and procedural products in universities with real needs of education. At the school level, where the curriculum flows in its deep sense, the role of graduates of the field is far more insignificant and non-systematic; the role which could considerably contribute to address fundamental challenges at the schools or develop curriculum knowledge and theory. Such obstacles lead to high costs and consequences for both the country's educational system as well as the curriculum studies as a field. Curriculum researchers have the opportunity to attend the schools with a wide range of formal limitations and there are no organized and defined roles for graduates of the discipline in schools as curriculum consultants or curriculum coordinators as it is common in some other countries. Consequences of blocking curriculum studies in Iran 1. Weaknesses in theorizing and producing curriculum thoughts The lack of serious signs and suitable conditions for producing thoughts in the area of curriculum is one of the most important characteristics of curriculum studies in Iran. Some studies have cited such problems (Fathi Vajargah, 2018; Pakseresht, 2006) in which the causes of this condition have been attributed to various factors, including the existing situation. The present situation represents a kind of conflict between classic literature of curriculum development and reproduction of discourses inspired from the ideas of reconceptualism or Pinarian era. Optimistically, the literature of the curriculum discipline in Iran involves publication and dissemination of reconceptualist discourses in leading universities that possess characteristics such as a focus on specialists with a range of curriculum identities and forming some groups of certain interests related to those thinkers in the form of publications, meetings, reviews, and so forth. In other words, what lacks or is seen less frequently in the faculties of educational sciences is the production of curriculum thoughts which could serve as a foundation for theorizing. This backwardness of the production of curriculum knowledge and theories in comparison to many leading countries, and even recently to developing countries is largely caused by the negligence of the educational actions and the curriculum decision-making circles in the country. This is a process that even if it has no contribution to the theorization, it could contribute significantly to localizing the curriculum knowledge, views and debates in Iran. 2. The imitative approach This imitative approach and efforts to make followers, especially its American type, by the curriculum thinkers, directed this discipline towards unpleasant conditions which has clear conflicts with the discipline procedures at global level. These procedures seek to decentralize American theories and thoughts in curriculum studies. Pinar refers to this attitude as a "deviation from narcissism in curriculum studies in America" (Pinar et al., 1995), characterized with efforts to lead curriculum theorization beyond the boundaries of North America, giving an international character in the form of the establishment of international organizations including IAACS, and reliance on international studies in the form of curriculum internationalization movement. Unfortunately, the conditions of curriculum studies in Iran could be named the "Iranian Altruism" as a condition against the https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 61 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index American narcissism. Although, the internationalization of curriculum studies could contain a kind of domination of American curriculum studies worldwide and practically lead to the translation of many works and ideas of North American curriculum scholars to the educational contexts of other countries, its main purpose is to provoke the curriculum studies in other countries based on their own indigenous culture and traditions. Curriculum field is an area that suffers from imitation in the context of Iran. The famous thinker of curriculum, Jo Anne Pagano, uses the term "epistemological refuge" to explain women and their place in society (Pinar et al, 1995). The term refers to the use of insight and understanding of men by women in life. Similarly, the Iranian curriculum community also suffers from this situation, so that there is no option but to reach what is found in the works and thoughts of the imported curriculum knowledge. 3. Unpunctuality of curriculum practice in the Education Institution Another consequence of such obstructions/obstacles is several problems faced by schools. As a place to educate people and prepare them for life, schools have become a place to implement traditional practices and actions in education. In the new era, curriculum decision-making system in Iran predominantly acts as a centralized institution with the least opportunity for participation and intervention of families and local communities, and minimum attention to the real needs and problems of students. In such a system, which is excessively affected by competitive spaces, university entrance exam (konkour), and tests, the motivation for research and scientific work is declining, and few people pay attention to scientific achievements. 4. Unemployed graduates of the discipline of curriculum studies The lack of a systematic and practical relationship between universities and higher education institutes responsible for educating professional human resources in the area of curriculum and education institution as well as the lack of admission of human resources, specifically trained for the educational system practices, seriously resulted in the phenomenon of graduates’ unemployment in this field. This phenomenon itself causes depression and disappointment of a majority of graduates and scholars in the field. Optimistically, these graduates who have passed high levels of education mainly look for a career as a faculty member. According to the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology (MSRT), the total number of the students graduated in the educational sciences in the academic year of 2016-2017 is as follows: Table 1. Total number of the students graduated in the educational science in the academic year of 2016-2017 (MSRT, 2017) Female Male Total Associate's degree 3042 1283 4325 Bachelor's degree 20368 12888 33256 MA 3786 3128 6914 Professional Doctorate 0 0 0 Ph.D 69 121 190 Total 27265 17420 44495 As seen, near 7000 MA and 190 Ph.D. students are graduated each year. These figures have been reported for curriculum and educational planning as follows: https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 62 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Table 2. The number of graduates of curriculum development and educational planning disciplines (MSRT, 2017). Discipline MA Ph.D Total Curriculum development 1043 36 1079 Educational planning 557 2 559 Educational planning and curriculum development 1600 38 1638 The number of students studying in these disciplines has been reported as follows: Table 3. The number of students by department and grade in the academic year 2016-2017 (MSRT, 2017) Discipline MA Ph.D Total Curriculum development 3046 839 3885 Educational planning 2069 17 2086 Educational planning and curriculum development 5115 856 5971 According to Table 2, 1600 MA and 38 Ph. D students are annually graduated in disciplines related to curriculum. About 5115 graduate students and 856 Ph.D students have been studying during the 2016-2017 academic year. Generalizing this procedure to the past and future decades further reveals the main nature of the crisis of unemployed graduates, who are educated at universities to be hired in schools and educational system, but do not have a place for their future career in this system. 5. Training generalists in the area of curriculum and lack of serious professional education Another consequence of such obstruction is the training of generalists in the area of curriculum and lack of professional and specialized training of the students in curriculum studies. As a professional field of study, curriculum development requires that the corresponding graduates continuously attend the context for which they are trained. The lack of practical communication between universities and Ministry of Education in the training of human resources in the area of curriculum leads to inadequate opportunity for students to attend the educational system. On the other hand, the limited opportunities designed for internship courses, seminars, and implementation of research projects in the form of theses and dissertations will not have acceptable effectiveness and efficiency due to the lack of cooperation between the educational system and universities. What actually occurs in the training of curriculum professionals and experts in Iran is the focus of universities on the teaching of principles and concepts of curriculum development rather than practical involvement in the process of curriculum development or "work experiences". This situation leads to the training of generalists who are not specialized in specific fields such as science education, preschool or secondary education. 6. Questioning the position of curriculum studies at universities and society Another consequence of such obstruction is to question the status of curriculum studies in the academic decision-making circles and society. When unemployed graduates cannot involve in the context and practices that they are trained for (i.e., the educational https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 63 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index system), and when extensive resources are used to train this workforce without a tangible achievement for individuals and families, serious questions will be gradually raised for continuing the presence and surviving this discipline in universities and higher education institutes. In other words, unavailability of job opportunities for the graduates will cause disappointment and frustration and reduce students’ motivation in this discipline at the postgraduate courses. This, in turn, will also have unfavorable effects on the quality of the graduates. The most important point in this regard is the effect of this process on the future entrance demands and the quality of students who choose this area for their study. 7. Dissatisfaction of the needs of families and schools and the emergence of opportunist organizations Informal education organizations play important roles in the growth and education of students and development of capabilities of a society. The main focus of the disciplines related to education and governmental institutions is on the formal education. In such a situation, informal education is provided by educational centers and families. In general, the main objective of informal education is to provide training and learning opportunities using the capacities and capabilities of organizations and institutions for meeting the dissatisfied needs of students, parents and social groups. Although supervisory agencies, such as the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, could generally intervene in achieving this main objective by formulating some policies, it could be said that inattention of curriculum field to these capacities and needs led to inadequacy of disciplines to meet the society needs as well as the emergence of the profiteering institutes who merchandise education and fate of children and teenagers of this country. Needs of families in terms of curriculum and academic counseling, especially at the level of University Entrance Exam (konkour), and the lack of appropriate response of curriculum field to this requirement, have led to the formation of "curriculum trade". This has emerged in the form of uncontrolled growth of opportunist organizations and establishment of impure and immoral business through targeting hopes and desires of families and children which have ultimately caused deterioration of the culture of education and deviation of the educational system. There is no doubt that the discipline of curriculum studies is not only responsible for the losing of the survival opportunity in the area of informal education, but also is blamable for deviating the educational system and unresponsiveness to the needs of the society. In general, the discipline of curriculum studies has been obstructed by the lack of interaction with the main context for which it has been defined; that is, the education system suffers from obstruction. Education for curriculum has been like water for living; however, due to the lack of access, the discipline has been gradually declining in Iran. . What is the alternative approach to the current obstruction? In order to face with the current conditions, three different scenarios or approaches could be followed: 1. To neglect the current realities and conditions of curriculum studies and continue the process that we have passed through especially over the past two decades. That is, regardless of the context, on which we are going to be the focus of scientific and academic circles, we should show that curriculum studies as a discipline has not been blocked in any area, and if there are any problems – which are obvious- it is the responsibility of the educational system officials to solve them. It seems that if we adopt this approach, it would https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 64 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index not result in problem-solving and even will lead to a kind of backwardness in the developments in curriculum studies discipline in Iran. 2. To adopt a more critical and more aggressive position on curriculum-related events and publish reports, critiques, and pressure decision-making circles to initiate negotiations and further interaction between academic circles and education in order to eliminate obstructions. 3. To move beyond the educational system as the only context and field of curriculum studies and try to achieve and identify new areas and contexts for conducting curriculum studies. This does not imply passing over the education or forgetting the concerns and problems of curriculum in the schools, because this is not feasible (due to the origin of the discipline and interconnectedness of the discipline with the schools and institutes) and not ethical, since studying curricula for professionals in the discipline affects professional and occupational aspects and is also a moral mission affecting the future of the country. It seems that adopting the third approach as a kind of movement for expanding curriculum studies in other fields and areas, while adopting a critical attitude towards the events of curriculum in the educational system, could motivate to exit the dead-end, remove the monotonous situation, improve the discipline, solve some of the problems, and even develop theoretical and practical aspects of the discipline. This approach can be mentioned as recontextualization or multicontextualization of the curriculum studies. The concept of recontextualization or multicontextualization Recontextualization is the process of extracting text, signs, and meanings from their original context in order to use or propagate them in other context(s). Since the meanings of texts and signs depend on their own conditions and contexts, this process leads to change and innovation (Oddo, 2013). This term has a prospective semantic burden, because it refers to future opportunities that have not yet been created and they should have been done. The best way to create a new market is to find the problem. Some problems have no straightforward solution, hence finding the solution could lead to the development of a new market. In the current state, the curriculum knowledge and techniques are produced and provided for known audiences, while the solution can be hidden in the creation of curriculum knowledge and products for new groups of audiences. Searching secondary markets for a discipline is a good and secure way to strengthen the position of the discipline. For this reason, most of the major companies throughout the world either seek to create an innovation or minor changes in current products and define a new life cycle for their product or even supply and introduction of their product. The recontextualization or multicontextualization of curriculum This concept means to introduce, apply and engage the curriculum studies in new fields, areas, and ecosystems with suitable theoretical and practical capacity in addition to the main or primary context (i.e. educational system). In this sense, the discipline of curriculum studies finds this opportunity to be re-arranged in new areas. Due to this presence and the relationship between curriculum studies in new realms and ecosystems, deep and diverse understandings, as well as other applications of what has existed in the initial ecosystem, can be achieved. These understandings and applications are the outcome of interaction between information from curriculum studies and requirements and conditions in the new ecosystems. https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 65 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index For example, when the discipline of curriculum studies moves beyond its original context that is public education, and is institutionalized and used in issues and concerns of other areas with different audiences, such as higher educational system or adult education, the result could be the creation and achievement of new understandings different from the initial understandings of the fundamental concepts of the curriculum studies. Specifically, this claim is supported by the introduction of the view and approach governing curriculum models to the higher education studies, which, in addition to creating a new area called curriculum studies in higher education, creates new models (Wolf, 2007; Diamond, 1998; Toohey, 1999; Barnett & Coate, 2005; Fathi Vajargah, 2006; Vaziri,1999; Momeni Mahmoie, 2005; Fathi Vagargah & Norouzzadeh, 2008; Mohsenpoor et. al, 2018). Although this new area has structurally conventional categories of technical, non-technical, and eclectic, their stages, components and morphology are different from the models of curriculum studies. The concept of disciplinary immigration A metaphor that can help us in this area is the concept of disciplinary immigration from so called motherland that is education, as a native land to new ecosystems, where there are both new opportunities for progressing the discipline and questions and concerns about curriculum but with different terms and literature that require focal attention and investigation. Undoubtedly, there would be several obstacles to the development and expansion of the discipline and theorization in the motherland. In addition, there are minor practical involvement opportunities accompanied by significant historical failures in the motherland. Hence, opportunities available in other potential areas cannot be neglected. Immigration does not mean leaving the motherland and forgetting it. It also does not imply removing all the capacities and facilities of the discipline from the area of education and depart to other areas, but to establish a kind of balanced attention to the opportunities for growth in curriculum studies in new ecosystems in addition to the original and initial intended habitat. On the other hand, this migration has positive consequences and achievements for the mainland. As the immigrants always contribute to the country economy and dynamism by sending their material achievements to their home country or encouraging investment in the motherland and supporting it, and even some countries guarantee their survival by sending immigrants to other places, departing and entering the new curriculum areas can promote the main discipline and its primary context, that is, education by proposing new ideas and views, and contribute to its flourishing promotion. Yet, such a migration will be accompanied by some challenges and difficulties for experts and graduates of curriculum. The most important obstacles in this area are as follows: Obstacles to disciplinary culture Different disciplines have different cultures and are derived from different experimental and theoretical backgrounds. Hence, although curriculum problems have the same nature in different disciplines, such fields of study are actually different in terms of the amount of familiarity with education and curriculum practices. Moreover, different disciplines have distinctive features as a result of belonging to different epistemological paradigms, which affect the introduction process of curriculum discipline into new realms. https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 66 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Obstacles to technical language Each discipline has a different technical and, to a large extent, unique language that makes it difficult for newcomers to understand occasions and interpretations. For example, it is necessary to deal with the tools for quality control of curriculum and education in organizational training and workplace learning. The best known standards include ISO 29990, ISO 21001, ISO 10015, and HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment). It has been observed in practice that learning and mastering these standards are very difficult and time -consuming. 1. Background obstacles Contingencies and conditions in new areas could be very different from the initial conditions. For example, there are fundamental differences in the context of higher education and universities in comparison to the schools and educational system, which makes it difficult for newcomers to work and think. 2. Barriers to acceptance Another problem in this area is the resistance of new grounds to accept the entry of individuals from new disciplines and recognize their interferences in study, research, education, and provision of services in these fields. For example, introduction of curriculum discipline into organizational areas and workplaces has been faced with relatively significant resistances from the side of management and human resources departments for accepting the position of the discipline of education and human resources development as a sub-discipline of educational sciences, in which concerns and questions of curriculum are raised. 3. Concentration on schools Although multicontextualization of curriculum studies refers to the re-arrangement process of curriculum discipline in emerging areas and fields, this does not imply disregarding curriculum issues in educational system and schools. But it means that curriculum should decentralize its efforts from mere focus on schools and use other opportunities and capacities to grow, progress, and flourish curriculum studies. In other words, although efforts related to schools and theorizing and helping to solve the school problems continue to be the major concerns of the discipline, this implies that the discipline should not be fully occupied by school affairs, interests and concerns. On the other hand, multicontextualization also means changing the procedure in the form of rethinking the discipline performance in its main or primary field, that is educational system, and searching opportunities and using them for more effective participation in schools. This can be done using a critical approach to the curriculum- related events at schools by professional institutions, such as curriculum associations. Observation and systematic review and criticism of curriculum-related decisions and actions as periodic critical reports can strengthen the status of curriculum studies in educational system. Which contexts? Which areas? In the recent years, significant efforts have been made to initiate or develop the use of curriculum studies in areas other than education, which promises the discipline growth and development in new areas. The most important of these new areas and efforts are: https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 67 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index 1. Higher education curriculum As a new and evolving area, curriculum discipline has experienced widespread transformations in higher education, especially in the last decade. Curriculum is one of the new areas of curriculum discipline in higher education, as well as a missing element of higher education studies, as it has not been seriously addressed by higher education and policy-making efforts. (Barnett & Coate, 2005). The designing process of curriculum is still not quite logical and thoughtful. A review over the limited published works in this area suggests that the introduction of curriculum into the higher education is relatively new and, of course, necessary. Barnett and Coate (2005) titled their great book on curriculum of higher education as Engaging Curriculum in Higher Education, and Owen Hicks (2007), as one of the curriculum thinkers of higher education, labeled his famous paper as "Higher education curriculum in Australia; Hello?" In general, curriculum in higher education should be considered in both areas of higher education and curriculum studies (Fathi Vajargah, 2011). The situation of curriculum in higher education is very different from that of general education. In practice, curricula have been significantly considered as an essential element of higher education but there are a few studies on curriculum theorizing and how to develop a curriculum in higher education. (See: Conrad & Pratt , 1986; Dressel, 1971; Diamond, 2000; Stark & Luttuca, 1997; Toohey, 1999; Barnett & Coate, 2005; Wolf & Houghes, 2007). In the same vein, several studies and works have been published in this area in Iran during the past decade (Saketi, 2000; Vaziri, 1999; Arefi, 2005; Momeni & Fathi Vajargah, 2004; Fathi Vajargah, & Norouzzadeh, 2007; Fathi Vajargah, 2009). 2. Workplace Curriculum Another new area where the discipline of curriculum studies can attend and respond to the respective concerns is organizational training. Human resources training and development system as any other educational sub-system deals with the subject of development of employees and managers, and a large volume of resources are spent on such training every year (ATD, 2016). The main objective of the workplace curriculum is the development of technical and non-technical competencies required by the employees to become skillful in their jobs and manage to achieve satisfactory outcomes. In fact, workplace curriculum requires re-thinking and reviewing how to understand and conceptualize how to learn and organize teaching and learning programs based on the experiences and scientific principles. Addressing curriculum-related issues in this area, which is referred to and known by different terms, such as training course, learning plan, curriculum in educational standards and procedures, and employees’ development, is a new ground and context that has been considered nationally (Fathi Vajargah, 2016; Fathi Vajargah et al., 2017) and internationally (Billett, 2006; Boud, & Solomon, 2001; Moore, 2004). 3. Curriculum counseling As mentioned earlier, another area with great potentiality for attending curriculum specialists is the needs of informal education, especially the learning needs of students and families. Many students and learners generally face challenges regarding the study and learning methods, time management, curriculum adaptation, and determination of their learning pathways (Renzulli, 2013). In order to receive specialized counseling on curriculum, they turn to centers and institutions that often lack sufficient expertise and competence, and largely seek their material goals. https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 68 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index On the other hand, education managers and trainers in educational centers often need specialized counseling on curriculum in many situations, and this defect sometimes causes harms to the education process. Lee and Dimmock (2010) stated that actions, such as advice on facilitating the implementation of curriculum and counseling on curriculum elements to the managers and educational leaders have been neglected, and they should be taken into account (Roudi et. al, 2018). In order to solve these problems and respond to the demands in the educational community of the country, a communication bridge between curriculum and academic counseling, which seems to be one of the tasks and responsibilities of the educational system, should be established between curriculum and academic counseling. It seems that this is one of the duties of curriculum area that has been neglected and needs to be renewed and represented (Roudi et. al, 2018). Curriculum counseling can play the role of this bridge and contribute as an interface to curriculum, counseling and even learning psychology to improve the level of learning and achieve curriculum objectives. At present, curriculum counseling does not exist as a systematic and organized process, and only some non-specialized institutions and centers do this, whereas it should be seriously and systematically discussed and considered in the area of curriculum. Therefore, establishment of a "curriculum system organization" which is responsible for professional training of curriculum graduates and preparing them for establishing curriculum counseling centers, is an activity could contribute to the improvement of the discipline’s status in society. There have been very few studies conducted on this new discipline in Iran (Roudi et. al, 2018), which can be the starting point for engaging more professionals and experts in curriculum in this new field. 4. Adult education curriculum Adult education either in its traditional sense (i.e., adult education and education of the villagers and people living in productive and agricultural regions to improve livelihoods) or in its new sense, which involves in-service training of human resources employed in the organizations, is an area with very suitable capacity for the presence of curriculum specialists and experts. In this context, some actions have been taken to theorize and develop practical guidelines in the area of curriculum for adult education in the world (Langenbach, 1993; Usher, 1991) and Iran (Maleki, 2005). It is clear that what has been said about the new contexts of curriculum is an introduction, and further studies can introduce other areas and contexts. Misunderstandings about the rearrangement and recontextualization of curriculum in the new grounds In general, as with any new phenomenon, some serious misunderstandings about this new movement will be found in the area of curriculum studies. Some of the most important of these misunderstandings are:  Commercializing curriculum studies and merchandizing with it;  Neglecting curriculum in the area of public education or denying, rejecting and challenging it - the moral mission;  Lack of historical attitude as well as the claim which shows re-arrangement of a discipline is not a new concept;  Deconstructing and going beyond the well-defined and acceptable boundaries of curriculum;  Lack of curriculum concern in the new intended areas. https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 69 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Expected accomplishments of the new movement The rearrangement movement in new areas can bring about considerable accomplishments. The most important achievements are:  Applying the results and accomplishments of the discipline in new areas and emerging the relationship between theory and practice,  Innovations in theories, methods, models, and technologies of curriculum,  Responding to the increasingly dissatisfied needs in various areas of human life as well as various social groups and preventing the entry of opportunist organizations and institutions to the educational system and society,  Developing the knowledge boundaries and producing thoughts in the area of curriculum studies as an epistemic field,  Contextualizing for employment of graduates through their professional preparation for the areas required in the form of independent and professional occupations, including activities of licensed professional curriculum consultants,  Stimulating the society for claiming knowledge and findings of curriculum in new fields such as the needs of families.  Relying on interdisciplinary studies between curriculum studies and other epistemic areas in order to generate the required products and integrated knowledge.  Attending international scientific circles of curriculum using the Iranian perceptions and experiences of curriculum and helping to theorize and reflect on the discipline in new areas.  Making history for curriculum via publishing and expanding the discipline rearrangement movement in new areas.  Professionalism in curriculum studies and specialists-centeredness in dealing with concerns and issues. Yet, the following actions and mechanisms can facilitate the above-mentioned movement in Iran:  Holding periodical conferences as Bergamo conferences in the United States for discussion and development of the new movement.  Publishing specific books, papers, and journals in new areas and fields.  Developing and approving academic disciplines with the specialized nature of curriculum in new areas.  Establishing the organization of curriculum system or the institution of the experts in curriculum and legitimizing it, and providing practical and experimental training for graduates and granting licenses in specialized areas for professional and independent activities at society level.  Organizational and institutional encouragement of the respective institutions for defining and approving new occupations related to this discipline, such as curriculum consultants at universities and curriculum coordinator or counselor in schools and educational areas.  Holding specialized courses in new areas, such as post-doctoral courses in capable universities with appropriate conditions. Notes https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index Fathi Vajragah, Recontextualization/Multicontextualization of Curriculum Studies 70 Transnational Curriculum Inquiry 17 (2) 2020 https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/tci/index 1 This research was supported by a research grant at Shahid Beheshti University and is a further elaboration of Persian version paper “Toward third wave of curriculum studies in Iran: a recontextualisation movement”, Journal of Curriculum studies, 18(2)2019 2k-fathi@sbu.ac.ir References Arefi, M. (2005). Curriculum development in higher education strategy. Tehran: Shahid Beheshti University Publication. Association for Talent Development. (2016). State of the industry report. Retrieved from: https://www.td.org/insights/atd-releases-2016-state-of-the-industry-report Barnett R., & Coate K. (2005) Engaging the curriculum in higher education .Maidenhead: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press. Biggs, J. (2004). 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