Analyzing the perceptions of university professors about the components of the moral education curriculum in the elementary school and presenting the ideal model

The present study was conducted with the aim of analysing the components of the moral education curriculum in the elementary school and providing an ideal model.

The method of this research is a mixed exploratory strategy that is qualitative and quantitative. The statistical population in the qualitative part included professors in the field of education and in the quantitative part all the teachers of the second year of elementary school in districts one and two of Kerman city in the academic year of 2022-2023. The studied sample chosen in the qualitative part through the purposive sampling method, and in the quantitative part through the total population sampling method. The data collection tool in the qualitative part was semi-structured interviews with 20 experts in the field of education at Shahid Bahonar University and Farhangian University of Kerman in 2022; in the quantitative part was the questionnaire extracted from the interview results. In the qualitative part, in order to analyze the data, the three-step method of Strauss and Corbin (2006) was used, and in the quantitative part, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations were used. In order to ensure the validity and reliability of the qualitative part, Guba and Lincoln’s (1985) method was used, which includes the four indicators of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.

The findings showed that 13 main categories and 33 subcategories were identified. Then a questionnaire was designed to validate the model. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha (0.92) and its (form and content) validity was calculated based on the opinions of professors in the field of education and using the sigma counting method (0.85). In the quantitative part, the results of the analysis of structural equations, while confirming the fit of the model, showed that all 33 investigated components have a significant effect on the program.

According to the results of this survey and by focusing on the moral education curriculum model, it is possible to help improve the moral education of elementary school students.