<![CDATA[Drawing on field‑based ethnographic research, this essay examines the public primary school system of the Islamic Republic of Iran under Āyatollāh Khāmeneī’s leadership, foregrounding the distinctive and pervasive role played by competitiveness. The analysis shows that, within the reward structures of these state‑run institutions, pedagogical practices are oriented towards forming educated citizens and morally upright Muslims, whose qualities of will and intention are cultivated primarily through extrinsic motivational devices. While examining the dynamics of competitiveness and success, the article argues that, in Iran, syncretic pedagogical approaches inspired by Montessori’s philosophy of education—which explicitly privilege intrinsic motivation—may create more favourable conditions for competitiveness to evolve beyond its traditionally antagonistic configuration. In this emerging framework, competitiveness may be reconceptualised as a propaedeutic force capable of supporting the fullest realisation of each individual’s potential. Such a reorientation would aim to prevent the dissipation of competitive energy in emulation, superiority‑seeking, or the avoidance of inferiority and exclusion, redirecting it instead towards the healthy flourishing of each child’s natural dispositions ]]>
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