نشریه جامعه شناسی آموزش و پرورش
پیاپی 3 (پاییز و زمستان 1393)

Education institutions are considered as the public recipients hosting a majority of new social members. In this paper، we have tried to explore gender discrimination through excavating the content of the compiled Persian textbooks of all cycles in elementary level and to offer relevant conceptualizations of the hidden phenomenon for better understanding of all. The intention of the researchers in this study was also to focus on revealing how the education system and school institutions in the country produce and infuse wrong gender stereotypes into the minds of students as the consumers of their products. Some argue that gender differences rooted in biological differences of individuals. This study attempts to explain how behavioral differences are arisen from individuals’ types of socializations. It is generally believed that more attention and value has been given to the role of men than women in most societies and men are of higher social dignity. Such a belief has been generated and reinforced as the part of a program embedded in the school textbookswhich will be perpetuated to others. Therefore، content analysis of textbooksin which wrong stereotypes of gender has been highlighted seems to be crucial. The mentioned prescribed stereotypes and wrong social norms are hard to be broken and girls are seen as the social actors of the text that is set before them. In this regard this question might be stated that: Do roles and gender identity naturally define biological diversity? Or does socialization context add to this problem? Through the analysis of the content of Persian textbooks in elementary schools، it was found that the educational system has generated، reinforced، and crystalized such wrong perspectives instead of changing the attitudes.

The present study aimed at investigating the relationship between the involvementof teachers in teachers’ council decision makingand the extent of development in their professional skills. The subjects were the whole population of the council (N= 70),and they were all male high-school teachers inAndimesk city.Utilizing a descriptivesurvey method, the researchers employed correlation approach to investigate the stated hypotheses.Data were mainly collected through two questionnaires; the degree of teachers’involvement in teachers’ council decision making, and self-evaluation form and checklist for assessing teachers’ professional skills.The validity of instruments was measured by confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. Results showed that therewere positive and significant relationshipsbetween the involvementof teachers in teachers’ council decision making and the extent of development in their professional skills.The regression analysis results demonstrated that teachers’ involvement in educational decision making is almost the best predictor for their professionalskills.

The increasing trend of opposite-sex friendship, especially among high-school students, has raised great concerns for parents as well as Iranian officials. Notwithstanding of a dramatic growth of such a relationship in our society, its meaning is unknown for parents and officials. The present inquiry has explored the meaning of having a girlfriend from the high-school male students’ perspective utilizing hermeneutic methods such as meaning analysis and interpretation approaches. Due to the epistemological nature of the inquiry, a qualitative research design was preferred. Grounded on the theoretical framework of the study, sampling was chosen purposefully while taking advantage of data saturation technique. Data were collected via in-depth interviewing approach from among of eight participants with the experience of having friendship with the opposite sex. The collected data were coded and categorized carefully in such a way to address participants’ both general and individual meanings of opposite-sex friendship Findings show that there is a shared experience of love and compassion associated with physical changes like rapid heartbeat and body mobility or strange feelings like happy pains when boys are successful in their friendships. From the participants’ point of view, the opposite-sex friendship is a transient pleasure and a perilous experience which operates as an inhibitor in the way of individuals’ progress. Communication devices like phone and cellphone found as the commonest media for contact. Unlike families and officials’ perception of the issue as a sexual matter, the opposite-sex friendship lies in other factors such as curiosity and the prettiness of the girls naturally persuading the boys in initial stages irrespective of breeding any sexual intentions in the mind. Families and officials’ unawareness of the issue and their inappropriate care might bring about irretrievable social consequences.

The present study aims atinvestigating the designinglevel of social policy issues in textbooks and determiningthe kind of cognitions these books tend to convey to students with respect to social policy. The study also answers the question of “what principles and formal approaches to social policy are there in the textbooks”. For this reason, the contents of Persian textbooks of elementary schools in Iran were analyzed to find the degree of their relationships with target groups and social institution of the family. To validate the procedure, all Persian textbooks of elementary schools, including the teacher's guide, were accurately investigated. The results show that, chapters entitled“institutions, health, scientists, and environment”have been able to deal withthe issues intended in the titles, but not successful withthe targeted social policy and the relevance and coherence of different social policy issues and their mutual influence on each other. Moreover, issues such as empathy and sympathy with the poor and assisting the oppressed are come into view under various titles in the textbooks. In general, social policy issues are introduced to students in the context of promoting individualism and personal libertyand most probably this is done with an individualistic and nonconformist approach.It seems that the preceptand doctrine of personal choice in various social issues have been presented witha formal approach to social policy. This must be taken into account that the sense of moral and spiritual values, including dos and donts, are taking effect in school textbooks.

The present article is extracted from a study entitled “The Ways to Promote People’s Involvement in Education with an Emphasis on School-Building Philanthropists’ Viewpoints”. This national research was carried out through descriptive method and analysis of documents. Purposive sampling method was utilized and the instrumentation consisted of structured interview. The main objectives of the article were to identify the shortcomings and the main internal and external obstacles in the way of involvement as well as to propose suggestions for alleviating these shortcomings.Research findings on the subject under scrutiny as well as the results of 263 interviews with school-building philanthropists were analyzed and used. Results indicated that involvement shortcomings can be classified into two groups of internal and external ones. Inactive associationof school principals, teachers,and studentsin involvement as well as the Ministry of Education high-ranking authorities’ performance and attitude towards the concept of involvementare identified ashuman factors shaping internal shortcomings. Furthermore, the defects in organizational structure, Parents-Teachers Councils, and education councils play a role in this regard. The external shortcomings are also identified to be the result of economic, social, and cultural factors. Finally, the researcher has put forward suggestions for alleviating the shortcomings.

Entrepreneurship is considered as a major element in organization which undoubtedly plays a significant role inits improvement and success. In this regard, thepresent research aimed at investigating the relationship betweenorganizationalfactors – such as flexible structure, effective organizational climate, and supportive culture stimulating innovation- and employees’ individual ability and motivation. The study possesses a descriptive correlational survey design and participants were the whole staff of the Ministry of Education in Gillan. Results of the survey on 402 questionnaires obtained show that: There is a meaningful relationship between organizational factors and employees’ abilities as well astheir motivations. On the contrary,no relationship do exist between demographic factors and individual motivation of employees towards entrepreneurship.