Jurisprudential Foundations and Requirements of the Teaching–Learning Process within the Framework of Transcendent Governance

Abstract

The educational system, as one of the most fundamental social institutions, plays a decisive role in individual guidance, social cohesion, and the realization of civilizational objectives. Therefore, its administration and direction are not merely managerial or operational issues; rather, they require a normative, accountable, and purpose-oriented framework. The concept of “educational governance” has emerged in response to this necessity; however, a significant portion of existing models, influenced by secular and functionalist approaches, lack a deep connection with indigenous and religious normative foundations. This deficiency becomes particularly critical in societies where the educational system is grounded in religious values, thereby intensifying the need to reconsider the foundations of educational governance. The present study aims to design an “integrated model of transcendent educational governance based on the jurisprudential principles of Imami jurisprudence.” The central problem of the research is to elucidate how jurisprudential rules can be applied within the macro-level processes of educational governance, including policymaking, regulation, and implementation. In this regard, principles such as the prohibition of harm (La Darar), the negation of hardship (La Haraj), liability for destruction (Itlaf), deception (Ghurur), benevolence (Ihsan), guidance (Hedayat), instruction of the ignorant (Irshad al-Jahil), and the duty to enjoin good and forbid wrongdoing (Amr bi al-Ma‘ruf wa Nahy ‘an al-Munkar) are analyzed as a coherent network of supportive, obligatory, and liability-based requirements. The findings indicate that Imami jurisprudence possesses the capacity to evolve from the level of individual rulings to that of institutional governance. By integrating jurisprudential principles with governance processes, a model is proposed in which the individual duties of teachers and learners are transformed into desirable governance outputs and are ensured through binding mechanisms, guarantees, and oversight. The final model is based on four pillars: safeguarding well-being, obligation and direction-setting, accountability, and justice, thereby enabling the objective evaluation of transcendent educational governance. This model can provide both a theoretical and practical foundation for reforming policies and structures of the educational system within the framework of Imami jurisprudence.