A Comparative Textbook's Content Analysis of Iran and Syria as a Representation of the Formal Culture of Veil

Students of each country are the next generation of that. Making decision about educational, teaching and training programs is of crucial importance. Thus each country can consider suitable approach toward students for making decisions about them (codifying them). One of the methods is transferring concepts via educational routes. It refers to the messages which are conveyed by text books, educational rules, pictures in the books, etc. Presupposition of the government is that, students perceive these messages as they are. Actually students are considered as reactive agents who consume these messages.But we must know that we are living in an era in which a person's life is exposed to different information sources such as: family values, peer groups, mass media etc. Thus an individual has changed form a reactive to an active agent who can chose and has his own perception of different messages. Resistance or reproductions are two different decoding methods for messages. The aim of the present study is analyzing comparatively the textbooks content among Iran and Syria as a representation of the formal culture of Veil. Content analysis is used in the present study to analyze 2075 pictorial data included in text books in primary and guidance school in Iran and in Syria. After victory of Islamic revolution in 1357, big changes happened in cultural foundation of the society. The Governments by making use of such institutions especially education system and schools has injected its own view point to the people. Different events, such as Cultural Revolution in universities, correction of text books all show that individuals in the society have become familiar with the principals of Islamic concepts and political views.In the present study views of Antonio Gramsci, Piere Bourdieu and Michal Foucault have been used in order to construct a framework for analysis of the messages perceived from books. According to Gramsci hegemony is domination of one social group over another social group. The governing social group by using different tools, life style, thinking method, value system, etc would inject itself to the governed social group and the governed group accept them in order to join other social groups. Gramsci by creating some concepts such as civil society, hegemony and cultural management tried to refer to a system which although its principals are close to the governing group but it has formed according to a cultural agreement between other social groups. Contrary to the past which force brought domination, today cultural tools such as education system, cultural centers, books, schools can boost domination. Bourdieu says that why symbolic order is accepted by everyone although this order can stop progression and development. Violence Symbolic gives this opportunity to the governing class to define reality in its own favorite way thus control its position. In fact according to Bourdiue Violence Symbolic has a complete connection with symbolic source. This symbolic power is a potential for using power, thus people will control their behaviors extensively and try to adopt with sources of violence. It must be mentioned that all these cases must be produced in dialogue environment which shows and transfers views, norms, ideas and rules of the governing class. Foucault is perception of dialogue can shows that civil society and institutions within it or even agents acting in it would likely to do what actions and express what issues. Although dialogue differs from ideology but resistance against dialogue is in fact questioning ideology which based on the dialogue has formed. As the definition of one word is different in different cultures, the meaning can also differ in different dialogues, even they can also differ in different dialogues and they can be paradoxical. In fact dialogue is one of the specific problematic issues about ideology.In this study the pictorial content of text books in Iran and Syria was assessed by content analysis technique. Both two countries are Islamic ones and has republic governmental system. Although their primary view points about world are similar, but there are big difference between the appearance and veil of their population. Veil rule was passed after Islamic revolution and all people have to obey it. But in Syria there is no specific rule for Veil. The present study has examined 2075 pictorial data of educational text books in Iran and in Syria. Pictures were extracted by codifying them by the researcher and after codifying them they were delivered to SPSS software for analyzing the data. Totally, 2057 records from 1104 picture in 21 textbooks from primary and guidance school were gathered. Content analysis was used to analyze obtained data. In was tried to analyze messages conveyed by these pictures. The messages were codified by education system and students were supposed to decode them.Discussion of results and Veil features (variables) which were selected were categorized as following: hair style, head style, type and color of the Veil which covers head, type and color of the dress, type and color of the pants, type and color of the shoe. They were classified based on sex in three different age groups in 21 text book. Thus by combining the above features (variables), it can be observed that the formal common Veil in examined books in Iran is "shirts with high sleeves, coat, pants, shoes in dark colors, beard and mustache" for men and "Maghnae (a kind of scarf), Chador (a kind of Veil covering all the body), Manto (a kind of dress), Pants and shoes in dark colors" for women. In Syria, "Coat and pants, tie, shoe and mustache" for men and shirt and skirt, long dress, shoe and slipper" for women. These kinds of Veils are advertised by the governing group. Education system uses text book as a tool for transferring intended concepts, in fact they are an ideological tool at the service of political aims of the government. Audience as will be referred to in different parts of the study would decode the message or in fact reproduce them or even resist against them. A point which must be emphasized is that resistance must not be considered in its negative sense but it means that limitations of message because of creativity in decoding by audience is put away and another form of the message (different from what it was produced) is perceived.Governments for holding social order and controlling affairs, use cultural tools such as schools, books magazines, local communities, cinema etc, and gradually replace them for some ordering organizations like police force. Although having some levels of Violence is necessary for holding order in society but government try to convey their ideological principals by using cultural tools which are accepted among people. They use hegemony and internal satisfaction of people instead using power. It results in formation of civil society inside political systems which by cultural management will continue their domination. Human resources in each country are the most important force for development and expansion of the country. Great investment must be done in this field and planning must consider all different aspects. As it was mentioned each country identifies all its principals, values, norms and rules based on a specific dialogue. But it must be mentioned that people are not located only (students) in a closed environment named school and education system. Especially today, Internet, satellite, different cultural, scientific sites are available to them and surround them. Each one is trying to convey its own concept to the individual. In formation of sources are paradoxical, rejecting each other, thus people faces a big world of paradoxes. This issue and high speed of change result in a gap between the organizational culture and other cultures provided by other informal sources this results in different perceptions about a transferred concept. The person has changed into an active resistance against it, and he/she has different perceptions and readings of them. One of the conveyed concepts by book is Veil. Each country reflects this concept according to its principals and norms.