A Comparative Analysis on Peace Education in Social Sciences Textbooks before and after Implementing Fundamental Reform Document of Education

The main purpose of the present study was to compare elementary school social sciences textbooks before and after implementing the Fundamental Reform Document of Education (FRDE) according to seven components of peace education in UNESCO (1999). This applied qualitative-quantitative research used Mayring’s qualitative content analysis. Context unit included texts and educational activities in social sciences textbooks of elementary school before and after implementing FRDE. Analysis unit was the themes taken from UNESCO peace education components. The findings of the study showed that the UNESCO peace components were not equally distributed in the third-, fourth- and fifth-grade social sciences textbooks before and after implementing FRDE. The components of internationalism, democracy and preservation of cultures received more attention than other components before implementing FRDE, but the component of self and others received the least emphasis, while this component became the most prominent in the textbooks after implementing FRDE. Generally, the component of self and others, spirituality and protection of the environment received more attention in comparison to other components in the textbooks after implementing FRDE, which is among the strong suits of the textbooks after implementing FRDE; however, the component of preservation of cultures received less attention after implementing FRDE.