The theme of education in the Baháʼà Faith is given emphasis. Its literature gives a principle of universal and compulsory education, which is identified as one of key principles alongside monotheism and the unity of humanity. Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼà Faith wrote: The Baháʼà teachings focus on promoting a moral and spiritual education, in addition to the arts, trades, sciences and professions. The emphasis on education is a means for social and national improvement. Since all BaháʼÃs have the duty to do work that is useful to humanity, Baháʼà education is meant to prepare BaháʼÃs to perform such work.
Purpose
One purpose of universal compulsory education is implied in the Baháʼà Short Obligatory Prayer which states that the God's primary reason for creating humanity is so that each of us would come to know and love Him. Clearly one purpose of education would be to facilitate this process. But religious education, however critical, should not lead to division and conflict. Baháʼu'lláh writes: This principle is most commonly applied by BaháʼÃs in the form of social-welfare projects and children's classes. The emphasis on education as a means for social and national improvement is shown in the following quote by Ê»Abdu'l-Bahá, the son and appointed successor of Baháʼu'lláh:
Type of education
The type of education that is written about in the Baháʼà writings does not point to one particular type or method of education.
Moral and spiritual education
The Baháʼà teachings focus on promoting a moral and spiritual education, in addition to the arts, trades, sciences and professions. Children, and the requirement to give them a proper education, is particularly emphasized in many of the Baháʼà writings. Children's classes have become common-place in most Baháʼà communities, and were named by the Universal House of Justice in 2001 as one of the four core activities that BaháʼÃs should focus on. Baháʼà individuals have created the noted book The Family Virtues Guide, which is dedicated to the spiritual education of children. Its multi-religious content has brought it enough popularity to sell over 100,000 copies and to win the authors an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
A useful trade or profession
All BaháʼÃs have the duty to do work that is useful to humanity. A major goal of Baháʼà education is therefore to prepare BaháʼÃs to perform such work. This is by no means the only goal, or even necessarily the overriding one, but BaháʼÃs are warned against courses of study which "begin and end in words":
Literacy
The seventh Ishráq of Baháʼu'lláh's Ishráqat stipulates as follows: While there do exist a number of preliterate or non-literate cultures, BaháʼÃs assume the spread of literacy to be one of the signs of an "ever-advancing civilization." For example, a priesthood is not needed in this era because the ability to read and write is no longer restricted to a professional class, with the masses reduced to auditors of their sacred texts.
Languages
BaháʼÃs expect the world's governments to one day cooperate in selecting an international auxiliary language to be used in global communication. After this is done, that language, along with one's mother tongue will be taught in schools all over the world. Although Baháʼu'lláh rued the necessity of spending many years learning multiple languages, when only one could be selected, various authoritative writings do assume foreign languages to be included among the "useful subjects" which BaháʼÃs will probably study.
Other subjects
The Baháʼà Faith has not yet endeavored to describe an ideal school curriculum, though its writings assume the usefulness of a wide variety of subjects. Baháʼà writings variously allude to mathematics, science, technology, commerce, industry, the liberal arts, and religion as suitable subjects for inclusion in an educational curriculum.
Pedagogical issues
In education theory, in addition to what is taught, it is also important to note how education is taught. In addition to the traditional mode of education, other forms of education exist such as alternative schools, unschooling, homeschooling, Montessori, and Waldorf education. The Baháʼà requirements for education do not necessarily reject any of these possibilities.
Responsibility
The father is attributed with the responsibility for every child's education and should he fail to execute his responsibility to educate his children he can be compelled and even lose his rights as father. Mothers are acknowledged as the "first educators" of humanity, and their responsibility is equally confirmed. Beyond this, responsibility also falls to the community as a whole, as embodied in its Baháʼà institutions: In the unfortunate event that parents and/or their communities cannot educate all their children, Baháʼà law stipulates that girls are to be given priority over boys.
Environmental factors
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote about school uniforms, cleanliness and courtesy:
Baháʼà education in practice
Among the four core activities that BaháʼÃs are currently urged to focus on, supporting children's classes and engaging in a sequence of courses known as study circles has become part of the community life of BaháʼÃs around the world.
Ruhi sequence of courses
The most common sequence is called Ruhi, which was originally developed in Colombia and currently consists of 7 courses, with the themes from the Baháʼà writings of prayer, education, history, and more. The following sequence of courses is:
Book 8 and 9 are in development and are slated for release into the community gradually, the topics to be covered are the Covenant and the Family, respectively.
Core curriculum
The United States has developed a set of curriculum for children's classes known as the core curriculum.
Fundamental verities
Another sequence of courses uses for education of the Baháʼà teachings is called Fundamental Verities. This sequence was developed in the United States, and is not as common as the more widely used Ruhi sequence.
The Baháʼà House of Worship is an institution alluded to in the writings of the Baháʼà Faith. In its entirety, it represents a temple for worship, hospital, university, hospice, and other humanitarian and educational structures. It will serve as the city center for future Baháʼà societies.
Social and economic development
Some of the more mature and able Baháʼà communities around the world have taken on the task of Social and Economic Development projects. These can vary from place to place depending on the needs of different areas. Some examples include programs for the free education of migrant workers, the employment of the homeless, or the support of displaced refugees. Individuals have also worked to reform educational practices in society, such as Dr. Dwight W. Allen, a BaháʼÃ, who co-authored American Schools: The 100 Billion Dollar Challenge with William H. Cosby, Jr in 2000; and the work of Dr. Daniel Jordan in the ANISA Educational Model. The BaháʼÃs of the world have set up more than 300 academic "Baháʼà schools" around the world.
Praise for teachers
The Baháʼà writings give a high praise for teachers, and, in the case that no personal will has been written, provide that some of a person's inheritance goes to their teachers.
