Semiotics of the illustrations in primary school Farsi and Social Instructions’ textbooks

Abstract


The present research has been carried out with the aim of studying the illustrations provided in primary school Farsi and Social Instruction’s textbooks in terms of the use of gender symbols. In fact, the research aimed at finding how these pictures will influence the students’ mentality. In this research, the illustrations in the textbooks under study have been selected based on three concepts of “family, the role of men and women”, “cooperation” and “motherhood” and the results of its semiotic study was presented. This research was of descriptive nature; obviously it was not seeking to discover the cause and effect relationships. It only described and analyzed the themes related to the research topic, i.e. “gender symbols” in primary school “Farsi” and “Social Instructions” textbooks. The method used in this research was semiotics and the statistical population consisted of all primary school “Farsi” and “Social Instruction” textbooks printed and published in school year 2010-2011.
The method of sampling was purposeful non-random sampling. In the purposeful samples (also referred to as judgment samples), the researcher selects the sampling units mentally and with a predefined objective. On this basis, the unit of analysis has been all illustrations depicting the three concepts of “family, the role of woman and man”, “cooperation” and “motherhood”. The results of this research revealed that “family” and family integrity is a central motif in the illustrations presented in these textbooks. Mother as one of the pillars of family is always seen as a symbol of peace in a halo of blue color which is reminiscent of tranquility. Handling the issue of family as a topic that is subject to crisis in the modern world and gracefully dealing with the role of mothering are the advantages of these textbooks; While paying less attention to other social and economic roles of women is of disadvantages of these textbooks.