The Status of National-Religious Identity in High School Farsi Textbooks

The Status of National-Religious Identity in High School Farsi Textbooks Y. Ma'roofi, Ph.D. S. Panaahi Tavaanaa To discover the extent to which the subject of national-religious identity is covered in high school Farsi textbooks in literature, all such textbooks (a total of 8) were content analyzed utilizing a check list of relevant indices. The validity of the instrument was assessed by a panel of experts who gave ample feedback as to how to be improved. The inter-rater reliability of the check list was calculated to be 0.97. Data analyses revealed a differential coverage of the subject and its components across the text books. The mostly covered components of the national- religious identity are the cultural heritage and religious components, while the least coverage is that of ethnic minorities and national politics, with the geographic components ranking in the middle. Key words: identity, national-religious identity, Farsi literature textbooks, content analysis