Investigating the Elements of Identity and the Process of Learners’ Identification in the Fundamental Reform Document of Education: A Qualitative Study

Due to the idea of Islamization of humanities after the Islamic revolution in Iran, the concept of identity found new dimensions in the eyes of revolutionary policymakers and a sense of skepticism gradually grew regarding the impact of common educational policies on shaping learners’ identity. Therefore, the discovered threat was responded by designing local regulatory plans such as the Fundamental Reform Document of Education (FRDE) to meet various ends among which planning for shaping learners’ identity was the most prominent one. Thus, this study employed a qualitative approach and used techniques based on content analysis and grounded theory to study how identity is envisioned in FRDE, using MAXQDA software. FRDE was analyzed, then extracted items were coded and categorized in different affinities and finally five main themes appeared as the model of practicing national identity in FRDE namely a) The Nationwide b) The Islamic c) The Social d) The Individual and, e) The Global. Each of these levels is composed of different components, which explain the model of practicing learners’ identity from the perspective of the FRDE as a roadmap for educational system.