The Reflections of Resistance in Symbolic Images of Persian Elementary School Textbooks (A Case Study: Academic Year 2017-2018)

The issue of combating oppression and aggression is one of the important educational approaches for children and adolescents, which is based on national and religious teachings in the educational topics of Persian elementary school textbooks. Accordingly, the authors of the Persian textbooks have identified national and religious symbols based on resistance and have presented them in those books to provide or strengthen the context of resistance and epic motivations in the minds of children and adolescents in Iran, so that by getting a better understanding of symbols of resistance, they come to recognize their national background and religious beliefs based on resistance and be prepared to fight oppression and aggression. The present study aims to explore the resistance reflections in symbolic images in Persian elementary textbooks, with a descriptive-analytical approach. The research findings show that the authors via various religious, national and conventional symbolic images in the field of myth and history tried to present the reflections of resistance in Persian textbooks. These books have benefited from the symbols arising from the personal, moral and devotional approaches of Imam Ali (AS), the Ashura uprising of Imam Hussein (AS), the sacrifice of warriors and the martyrdom of martyrs, the myth of Rostam Dastan and Arash Kamangir and the historical uprising of Aryobarzan, which play a key role in explaining the concepts to the audience through visual and symbolic language.