Phenomenology of Students’ Religious Questions and Analysis of ‘Religion and Life’ Textbooks Based on Them

The present qualitative research aims at phenomenology of students’ religious questions and examining the relationship between the type of religious questions and concerns of senior high school students with the content of their religion textbooks (titled as Din-Va-Zendegi textbooks, meaning ‘religion and life’).

For this purpose, the qualitative phenomenological method has been used to retrieve and compile the types of religious questions and concerns of high school students in Kerman. The inductive-thematic-qualitative content analysis method has been used to examine the relationship of the types of students’ religious questions and their concerns with the content of their textbooks (Din-Va-Zendegi textbooks). In the phenomenological part, the research population consisted of female students in the senior high school in Kerman city in 1398-1399 SH academic year. Among them, 44 female high school students were selected, with a consultation of their teachers, by a purposive method as the statistical sample through the criteria of being available and having a concern for thinking and inquiring,  . The data collection tools were semi-structured interviews and students’ self-reports.

Based on the research results, 87 basic codes (subcategories) and 11 organizing codes (main categories) were identified. The main categories of student’s questions and concerns included questions about God, the afterlife, the nature of death, the philosophy of worships, Imam Mahdi, other heavenly religions, and relationships between boys and girls.

In the examination and analyses of religious textbooks in the senior high school considering students’ questions and concerns, the results of the research indicate that there is very little discussion about the concerns and questions of the new generation of students in their textbooks. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to this important issue in the revision and re-compilation of these books.