Placement of Multicultural Education in Elementary School Mathematics Curriculum in Iran

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of multicultural education in the mathematics curriculum of elementary school. For this purpose, the qualitative content analysis method was used to study the mathematics textbooks of the first grade. The sample and population in this study were equal and consisted of first grade mathematics textbooks that have changed since the document of fundamental development. In order to analyze the information, mathematical books were coded and categorized according to the theoretical foundations. Finally, by aggregating the categories, three main themes emerged: presentation of multicultural mathematical knowledge, constructing multicultural mathematical knowledge, and improving multicultural attitudes. Results showed that the amount of attention paid to the themes of multicultural education in books, especially in the first grade, was negligible. Also, the quality of attention to it is not appropriate, as it is often unrelated to the real cultural world of students, whether national or international, or is used in books in a way that is usually eliminated during teaching.