Content analysis of Iran’s Middle Secondary School Textbooks based on Van Dijk’s Ideological Square

The curriculum seeks to transmit the values, norms, and beliefs of powerful social systems such as politics and religion to the young generation, both visible and hidden. The purpose of this study is to analyze the content of Iran’s Middle Secondary school textbooks based on Van Dijk’s ideological analysis. The researchers collected data through a documentary method. The data included Farsi and social studies textbooks of Grade 9 that were selected through purposeful sampling method. Findings showed that the authors in both school textbooks have used various axes and strategies in structure of the text to convey ideological discourse. Also, the polarization strategy has been used more than other strategies. Another finding of research indicated that the authors’ emphasis on providing information that includes positive traits about oneself and negative traits about others. In addition, the findings reveal that in the Farsi book, the text space is mainly based on the use of epic-emotional approach, while in the social studies book, the negative role of foreigners is mainly highlighted. While these findings well demonstrate the dominance of ideological discourse over school textbook, naturally the centralized structure of the Iran education system does not allow for a reform in the current visible and hidden curriculum objectives.