Before Solving the Problem: A Philosophical Reflection on Security, Freedom, Belonging, and Living with Difference in Education

This paper, presented as Education I within the broader project The Concept of Freedom and Our Historical and Social Situation in Iran, explores the meaning of freedom in relation to education and the historical, social, and cultural conditions of Iranian society. The central concern is neither to reject the modern concept of freedom nor to assume that its contemporary Western formulations can be transferred directly into a different cultural context. Rather, the paper attempts to open a space for dialogue and possible reconciliation between the modern understanding of freedom and the cultural and historical experience of Iran. The paper argues that freedom should not be understood simply as the absence of restriction or as unlimited individual choice. In an educational context, freedom is closely connected to security, belonging, responsibility, relationships with others, and the capacity to understand and respond to differences. A person cannot meaningfully exercise freedom without some form of security and a sense of belonging; at the same time, security based on excessive control, obedience, or suppression can undermine the very freedom it claims to protect. Freedom and security, therefore, should not necessarily be regarded as opposing concepts. From this perspective, education becomes more than the transmission of knowledge or the preparation of individuals to solve predefined problems. It should also cultivate the ability to discover, recognize, understand, and formulate problems before attempting to solve them. This distinction is particularly important when considering phenomena such as students' disengagement from or escape from school, which should not automatically be defined as problems requiring correction or suppression. Such phenomena must first be recognized and understood within their social, relational, and cultural contexts. The paper therefore proposes a philosophical framework in which security, problem discovery and understanding, problem solving, living with difference, and the reciprocal relationship between the individual and society are interconnected dimensions of education. The Finnish educational experience is considered not as a model to be copied, but as an opportunity for reflection and comparison. The ultimate aim is to ask how the idea of freedom can be meaningfully rethought within Iranian culture and historical experience, and how education might contribute to developing a form of freedom that is neither a simple imitation of modern external models nor a return to traditional constraints, but a culturally grounded and critically examined possibility for contemporary Iranian society.