A Content Analysis of Elementary School Social Studies Textbooks in terms of Compliance with National and Religious Identity

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to analyze the content of newly compiled social studies textbooks of elementary schools in Iran in terms of national and religious identities. For this purpose, two components of national identity and religious identity in all the social science textbooks of primary schools in the 20172018-2018 2019 school year were analyzed. A quantitative method based on the analysis of words and images was used. The components of national identity in this study were comprised of national symbols, national celebrities, myths and personalities, cultural heritage, national values and norms, Persian language and literature, national history and national events. Also, religious identity components in the present study included religious beliefs, praying and worships, familiarity with the Islamic lifestyle, myths and religious landmarks. The sample size was 198 paragraphs of textbooks and 436 pictures in elementary school social textbooks. The research tool was a content analysis checklist, and its validity was established using expert opinion while its reliability was established using the William-Scott method with a 90% coefficient of agreement. Descriptive statistics and Excel was used for data analysis. The findings indicated that 76% of all texts and 64% of all images were focused on identity components. The results of this study indicated that in the textbooks under study, the components associated with national identity were more frequent in comparison to those associated with religious identity.