The Place of Ethical Teachings of Molana In Elementary School Persian Textbooks

Introduction: To become familiar with moral teachings, it is essential to pay attention to the works of great Persian writers. One of these greats of Persian literature is Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi, nicknamed Maulana the mystic and a famous and renowned poet of the seventh century AH who enjoys a global status and prestige. The use of Maulana's moral teachings in his works, which are inspired by religious sources, plays an important role in developing human characteristics and promoting the dignity of individuals and can contribute to the perfection of society. In the Masnavi, Maulana teaches moral concepts using the Quran and Hadith as well as parables, and his comprehensive and humane educational views are consistent with modern educational methods. Studying Maulana's works, which contain moral themes in the form of stories and poems, can change people's attitudes and behaviors and have positive effects on their lives. These works are full of life lessons and their study is essential for everyone and should start in schools. Moral teachings in Iran are usually found in the form of stories, works of art, literature, and historical biographies. One of the most important ways to convey moral values ​​and teachings to students is through the use of explicit and implicit content, such as textbooks. Uncluding Maulana’s moral teachings in elementary Persian textbooks in simple language and in the form of stories, poems, and parables can help strengthen social ethics and develop children’s emotional personality. In fact, moral teachings are good human values and behaviors that, in simple language and in the form of stories and parables, help to form a healthy social and moral personality and behavior. The present study examined the place of Maulana’s moral teachings in elementary Persian textbooks. In this study, the most important expected moral teachings were extracted from both the national curriculum and research backgrounds.
Method: The research method is qualitative in nature and is a type of content analysis. The application of the content analysis method is to examine the explicit content of the messages in a text and describe its features. Content analysis is a suitable method for answering questions about the content of a message. The population under study included Persian books from the first to the sixth grade of elementary school. The content of all these books was examined. The unit of analysis was all paragraphs and sections of the book, which were studied with the aim of examining texts and parts of Rumi's personality and his works. The data collection tool was also the use of a summary checklist and a descriptive qualitative content analysis method was used to analyze these cases.
Findings: The findings and analyses indicated that the position of Maulana's moral teachings in Persian textbooks is not at a desirable level. In a general comparison, the sixthgrade Persian textbook paid more attention to Maulana's moral teachings than other grades. While the fourth and fifth grade Persian textbooks paid attention only once, the first grade Persian (first, second, and third grade Persian) did not pay any attention to these teachings. Based on these findings, the level of attention to Malana's moral teachings in Persian textbooks for the primary school is not desirable due to important reasons such as the lack of textbook pages, multiple educational goals, and the inadequacy of these teachings with the understanding of learners. Therefore, considering the important role of moral teachings in the development of individual personalities and the existence of numerous moral challenges in society, it is necessary to give more attention and value to these teachings by prioritizing them appropriately in textbooks.
Discussion: Based on the findings, the treatment of Maulana's moral teachings in elementary school Persian textbooks is not at a desirable level. The authors of these texts consider the reduction in the number of lessons and pages as the reason for not using these teachings more. In general, the content of elementary school Persian textbooks needs to be revised to establish a balance between moral concepts and learning basic skills, and to improve students' moral awareness based on Maulana's moral teachings. To optimally use the works of the great Persian writers such as Maulana, one should not be satisfied with the content of textbooks alone, but teachers and other education professionals should cover possible gaps in the curriculum content with various other educational programs. Also, using children's storybooks in free programs and class assignments, and utilizing Maulana's teachings in school morning and afternoon programs, along with holding practical workshops by expert teachers, can help students become more familiar with these teachings. As a suggestion for future research, researchers can examine the place of Maulana's moral teachings in other books or in Persian books of other educational levels. It is also suggested to examine the moral teachings of other scholars and great Persian writers in different books. Finally, it should be noted that issues such as limitations in generalizing the results, researcher bias in content analysis, and lack of precise determination of the boundaries of content analysis due to sample dispersion are among the most important limitations of the research.