The Role and Function of the Fifth-Grade Elementary and Third-Grade Guidance School Social Studies Textbooks in National Identity Formation

Educational system is a primary means of cultural transfer. School textbooks، therefore، contribute to the formation of national identity in students. The main question for this study، accordingly، was how fifth-grade elementary and third-grade guidance school textbooks of Social Studies represent national identity in Iranian educational system. Methodologically، content analysis informs this study. The analysis of their content reveals the deficiencies of these textbooks in their representation of national identity. The results convey that religious and political aspects of national identity are most prominently represented in these textbooks. Meanwhile، national values and norms، ethnicities and subcultures، national symbols as well as modernity are underrepresented or entirely ignored. Thus، it is strongly suggested that the representation of national identity should be revised in Social Studies textbooks.