Always Learn!

One of the sources of the electronic media, on internet we can see a wide range of leadership journals, which illustrate the important role of leadership in various sectors of the society. Also by such leadership journals, we can get acquainted with contribution of various renowned personalities in different fields. By reading such journals, we can understand the importance of leadership quality for running any organization. By these leadership journals, we can really know about the theory, roles and techniques for improving the leadership qualities inculcated in us.

By reading the leadership journals, we get familiar with the leading personalities of various fields like business, politics, sports, education, science, technology, and music along with space. So these leadership journals really facilitate us with extra-ordinary qualities, character, lifestyle, personality of uncommon persons who are renowned in the world only because of their leadership in a particular field. So such leadership journals are the ideal platform for the readers who like to lead from front in adverse and critical conditions. So really columns, editorial pages, autobiographies, true stories focusing the leadership qualities are utilized by the readers to fix their ideal personality. So that gives them idea about how to lead and tackle the critical situation.

A wide range of leadership journals on various fields are available on internet and bookstalls. Both the publication authority and editorial body do not interfere in their work. Also the releasing schedule of the edition of such leadership journals varies relies on the printing process. Some of the leadership journals release weekly or monthly or annually. So that covers all the incredible news about the leadership exponent personality of that particular week or month or year. In some of the journals of educational leadership the more emphasis on the publishing of hypothetical, experimental, realistic or academic documents in education.

In the leadership journals which are specially written for the field like strategic and organizational field, the more emphasis on the publication of the documents like theoretical and empirical of the strategic and organizational leadership. Some of the leadership journals are mainly written for the analysis of the R& D departments of various fields.

Some of the leadership journal gives more emphasis on the actual research on the particular subject, which are dealing with national interest. Therefore, they assist the original research of senior military and governmental leadership by supporting and accomplishing innovative research on the topic by keeping up experimental statistics and knowledge. Therefore, such leadership journals turn into the superlative organization for the study of the senior leadership from military and government institutions. Therefore, these leadership journals serve as a standard for the study and broadcasting of critical frame of the research.

Apart from the national and domestic reviews, columns about leadership, some of the leadership journals provide manuscripts on international politics, international society and behavioral science. The main concern behind such dedication of the leadership journals is to write about advanced theory, research, and applications pertaining to leadership. Some of the online leadership journals are tied up with reputed universities, which facilitate the readers to read and view more about the role of leadership in education field.

Iran, as a historically, culturally, and scientifically ancient country has had a prosperous status in the human life and worlds education. To give an example, Iranian cosmopolitan scientists and educators such as Bozorgmehr, Ferdowsi, Birooni, Razi, Avicenna, Sadie, Khayyam, Nasir-oddin-Toosi, and many others are among the great educators and scientists who have played an important role in human life. When we compare this with other main ancient countries of China, India, Egypt, and Greek, it becomes clear that only Greek scientists and educators are comparable to Iranians in the amount of influence of their science and education on international and historical basis.

But, nowadays, in terms of innovations in culture, education, and other sciences, both philosophically and methodologically, Iranian scientists and educators research products are not remarkable. Todays Iranian human sciences are academically and socially struggling with some essential problems and challenges that block the process of qualitative growth and development of sciences and education in this ancient land which was once one of the most valuable cradles of knowledge and wisdom.

Research indicates that the qualitative development of higher education in our country is much lower than its quantitative growth. During the past 25 years (1981-2005), the Iranian academic community and its institutions have expanded dramatically (Yalpani, et. al, 2006). Currently, there are more than 50 state universities, and nearly 150 non-private technical undergraduate schools, which enroll about 750,000 students. There are also about 60 official research institutions throughout the country. In addition, since 1984, an extensive country wide private university system (mostly undergraduates) was started which enrolls another 750,000 full time students.

We may ask why the qualitative development and scientific products, especially in social sciences and humanities, are not worthy to mention. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology for the academic year 2003, the total numbers of master and doctoral students and available faculty were 68287, 12189, and 25723, respectively. Subtracting from the latter the 50 percent of instructors/tutors, who are not directly involved in any meaningful research activity, there still remain 12861 potentially researching faculty members.

The same source gives the total numbers of national scientific output for 2003 as 3326 counts. This means that each faculty member has produced in that year 0.23 indexed scientific publications. Should we include all those who with their daily work collect the needed scientific data, i.e., the graduate students, each year we end up with a publication per scientific worker ratio of only 0.034. This number is the resultant when we include all academic disciplines. When we now focus our attention to the Social Sciences and Humanities group, the situation seems to be significantly worse (op. cited). In a research conducted by the present author himself, it has been found out that there are only seven research-based scientific journals of education. in our country with maximum publication volume of 10 thousands for about one million teachers and about one hundred thousand educational experts. All these mean that we are confronting huge problems and challenges with regard to the educational research products and publications.

The question is why there is such a shortage in scientific review articles, especially in education, in our country. Our understanding is that there are different problems confronting scientists in Iran. These problems are tremendously larger and much more complicated for researches in social sciences and humanities than natural and pure experimental sciences. Ideological problems are the most difficult ones in human sciences and education as well. The more brilliant the scientists of human sciences, the more frustrated they are from scientific institutions. Medium-range researchers seem to be much happier with the scientific institution to which they belong compared to the brighter scholars. These institutions seem not to play a positive role in the case of the best scientists. Shortage of facilities provided by institutions are one other major problem for research. Another is the tenuous cooperation among scientists.

In such a situation, the Quarterly Journal of Educational Innovations aims to focus on most significant preoccupations and questions concerning educational issues and then to answer them. The articles of this journal explain some problems and challenges of education and try to show the main roots and factors of the problems that the education system is encountered with. As well, it seeks to reach an understanding and offering of the specific and applied ways through which the educational sciences can be grown and developed. In this special issue of the Quarterly Journal of Educational Innovations, nineteen articles are presented in English language to follow its six years of publication in Persian language. We welcome the researchers and scientists of education and psychology to send their articles in English language to be considered and reviewed for publication. As a prospective aim, we are looking forward to publishing the journal in both English and Persian in parallel form to reach the international scientific society as well as the one inside Iran as we have done in the past time.