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Sabzeh B, Bazgir T, sameipour M. (2026). Examining the Content of Elementary School Textbooks Based on Child Rights Components. refahj. 25(99), : 8 doi:10.32598/refahj.25.99.4670.1
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URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4458-en.html
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Extended Abstract
Introduction
Children’s rights encompass civil, political, social, economic, cultural, health, and educational dimensions, as outlined in the 54 articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). These include the right to life, development, identity, family, freedom of thought and assembly, access to health services, social security, an adequate standard of living, education, age-appropriate play, and protection from exploitation and violence. As a society’s most vital human capital, children’s best interests form the core of contemporary rights paradigms (Tahmasebzadeh Aheikhlar et al., 2022), whose realization depends on the concerted efforts of societal institutions. Families, schools, and communities are instrumental in socializing children to understand their rights, shaping their relational and identity development (United Nations, 2006). However, research indicates that despite policy commitments, education systems often fall short in effectively integrating children’s rights into practice (Shaban, 2022). Studies point to concerning trends: elementary textbooks may prematurely introduce adult-world responsibilities (Shabani, 2017), enforce rigid, militaristic classroom environments that restrict childhood (Mohammadi, 2018), and offer limited legal recognition of rights beyond basic provisions like alimony (Golkaram et al., 2020). Moreover, students frequently confuse rights with responsibilities and demonstrate limited awareness of entitlements such as safe shelter or protection from harm (Hareket & Yel, 2017). Given textbooks’ powerful role in shaping cognition, behavior, and attitudes (Fathi Vajargah, 2014), systematically incorporating child rights components into elementary curricula, especially textbook content, is a critical strategy for rights promotion (Ghaedi et al., 2014).
Method
This applied research employed a sequential mixed-methods design. The qualitative phase involved content analysis of key international and national documents (including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran’s Fundamental Reform Document of Education, the National Curriculum Framework, and the Vision Document) to extract dimensions, components, and indicators of children’s rights. These informed the development of an initial checklist, whose validity was refined through reviews by academic supervisors and two child rights specialists.
In the quantitative phase, content analysis was conducted on nine first-cycle (grades 1–3) elementary textbooks from the 2024–2025 academic year:
Grade 1: Persian, Science
Grade 2: Persian, Science, Religious Education
Grade 3: Persian, Science, Religious Education, Social Studies
Units of analysis included text, illustrations, exercises, tables, and activities. Two researchers independently coded content using the checklist, achieving an inter-rater reliability coefficient of 0.82. Data were analyzed using Shannon’s entropy method in Microsoft Excel: frequencies were normalized, uncertainty values calculated, and importance coefficients derived to determine the relative emphasis placed on each rights component across the textbooks.
Findings
Analysis revealed significant disparities in the coverage of child rights components. Educational rights (e.g., right to quality education) appeared most frequently (302 instances), followed by social rights (e.g., non-discrimination, welfare; 290 instances). In contrast, health rights (e.g., right to life, growth, health services) were recorded only 95 times, and civil/political rights (e.g., freedom of expression, participation, protection from violence) merely 37 times.
At the textbook level, second-grade Science contained the highest frequency of rights-related content (190 items), followed by third-grade Social Studies (179 items). First-grade Persian showed the lowest attention (29 items).
The importance coefficients derived via Shannon’s entropy further highlighted imbalances across grades:
Grade 1: Social Rights (0.352), Cultural Rights (0.254), Educational Rights (0.219), Economic Rights (0.123), Civil Rights (0.048), Health Rights (0.000)
Grade 2: Social Rights (0.373), Health Rights (0.155), Educational Rights (0.147), Economic Rights (0.140), Cultural Rights (0.127), Civil/Political Rights (0.056)
Grade 3: Social Rights (0.265), Educational Rights (0.174), Civil Rights (0.172), Economic Rights (0.166), Cultural Rights (0.122), Health Rights (0.093)
Discussion
The findings align with prior national and international studies (e.g., Yarigholi et al., 2019; Sha’ban, 2022; Hareket & Dündar, 2024; Akcan & Bakır, 2023), consistently indicating that elementary textbooks inadequately reflect the comprehensive framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A clear imbalance persists: while educational and certain social rights receive considerable attention, health, civil, and political rights remain markedly under-represented. This reflects a pattern of dispersion, lack of continuity, and incoherence in the integration of rights across the curriculum. One explanatory factor is the insufficient emphasis on these rights within upstream policy and curriculum documents, which subsequently leads to their marginalization in textbooks. The results underscore the necessity for a systematic, balanced, and intentional redesign of textbook content to ensure all domains of children’s rights are equitably and meaningfully embedded, thereby enabling the educational system to fulfill its role in fostering a robust culture of child rights from the earliest stages of schooling.
Ethical Considerations
Authors’ Contributions
All authors have made substantial contributions to this study.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors’ declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Akcan, E., & Bakır, K. F. (2023). An Analysis of the Texts in the Life Studies Textbooks in the Context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 13(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2023.13.1.03
FathiVājargāh, K., Rezā Shams Mourkāni, G., Rezā Lorāyi, M., & Ramezān Aghili, S. (2014). Investigation and analysis of human rights’ components in primary school textbooks. Journal of Educational Innovations, 13(1), 7-24. https://noavaryedu.oerp.ir/article_79023_cf8cadc8024c894295e58a9c8373b103.pdf. [in Persian ]
Fatma, Ü. (2013). Children’s rights in life sciences textbooks in primary education in Turkey. Educational Research and Reviews, 8(16), 1470. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR12.094
Ghaedy, Y., Charbashlu, H., & Khoshnevisan, F. (2014). Children’s Rights Components in “Social Education” and “Heavenly Gifts” Textbooks: A Quantitative Content Analysis. Thinking and Children, 5(9), 81-104. https://fabak.ihcs.ac.ir/article_1250_36236e70c92b173e439f0d9b347bdfb1.pdf. [in Persian ]
Golkaram, S., Khandani, S. P., & Rahanjam, H. (2020). Examining the civil rights of the child from the perspective of Iranian law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Political Sociology of Iran, 3(1), 2557-2580. https://jou.spsiran.ir/article_157574.html. [in Persian ]
Hareket, E., & Dündar, K. T. Ç. H. (2024). Çocuk Haklarina İli̇şki̇n Algi Geli̇şi̇mi̇nde Çocuk Mecli̇si̇ Uygul. The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies, 1(42), 445-463. DOI : https://doi.org/10.9761/JASSS3098
Hareket, E., & Yel, S. (2017). Which perceptions do we have related to our rights as child? Child rights from the perspective of primary school students. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(3). http://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v6n3p340
SHa’ban, M. (2022). Analysis of Child Rights in Iran: Review of the National Body Convention of Rights of Child Based on the Universal Convention of the Rights of the Child. Fares Law Research, 4(9), 139-168. doi: https://doi.org/10.22034/LC.2022.134888. [in Persian ]
Shabani, a. (2017). Dechildization in Primary School Textbooks in Iran. Cultural Studies & Communication, 13(46), 37-70. https://www.jcsc.ir/article_25976_c388ff30827a5baf725fb87aa20673c3.pdf. [in Persian ]
tahmasebzadeh aheikhlar, d., teimoori, l., & imanzadeh, a. (2022). Comparing Dimensions and Components on the Rights of the Child in the International Convention and in the Upstream Documents of the Educational System Islamic Republic of Iran [Research]. Applied Issues in Quarterly Journal of Islamic Education, 7(4), 59-86. https://doi.org/10.52547/qaiie.7.4.59. [in Persian ]
Yarigholi, B., Abbasi Choubtarash, M., & Abbasi, S. (2019). The Status of the Components of Right to Education in Elementary School Textbooks. Socio-Cultural Strategy, 8(1), 299-323. https://rahbordfarhangi.csr.ir/article_117801_3dceb09382b4c76ca5254878ca32ccd9.pdf. [in Persian ]
Introduction
Children’s rights encompass civil, political, social, economic, cultural, health, and educational dimensions, as outlined in the 54 articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). These include the right to life, development, identity, family, freedom of thought and assembly, access to health services, social security, an adequate standard of living, education, age-appropriate play, and protection from exploitation and violence. As a society’s most vital human capital, children’s best interests form the core of contemporary rights paradigms (Tahmasebzadeh Aheikhlar et al., 2022), whose realization depends on the concerted efforts of societal institutions. Families, schools, and communities are instrumental in socializing children to understand their rights, shaping their relational and identity development (United Nations, 2006). However, research indicates that despite policy commitments, education systems often fall short in effectively integrating children’s rights into practice (Shaban, 2022). Studies point to concerning trends: elementary textbooks may prematurely introduce adult-world responsibilities (Shabani, 2017), enforce rigid, militaristic classroom environments that restrict childhood (Mohammadi, 2018), and offer limited legal recognition of rights beyond basic provisions like alimony (Golkaram et al., 2020). Moreover, students frequently confuse rights with responsibilities and demonstrate limited awareness of entitlements such as safe shelter or protection from harm (Hareket & Yel, 2017). Given textbooks’ powerful role in shaping cognition, behavior, and attitudes (Fathi Vajargah, 2014), systematically incorporating child rights components into elementary curricula, especially textbook content, is a critical strategy for rights promotion (Ghaedi et al., 2014).
Method
This applied research employed a sequential mixed-methods design. The qualitative phase involved content analysis of key international and national documents (including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran’s Fundamental Reform Document of Education, the National Curriculum Framework, and the Vision Document) to extract dimensions, components, and indicators of children’s rights. These informed the development of an initial checklist, whose validity was refined through reviews by academic supervisors and two child rights specialists.
In the quantitative phase, content analysis was conducted on nine first-cycle (grades 1–3) elementary textbooks from the 2024–2025 academic year:
Grade 1: Persian, Science
Grade 2: Persian, Science, Religious Education
Grade 3: Persian, Science, Religious Education, Social Studies
Units of analysis included text, illustrations, exercises, tables, and activities. Two researchers independently coded content using the checklist, achieving an inter-rater reliability coefficient of 0.82. Data were analyzed using Shannon’s entropy method in Microsoft Excel: frequencies were normalized, uncertainty values calculated, and importance coefficients derived to determine the relative emphasis placed on each rights component across the textbooks.
Findings
Analysis revealed significant disparities in the coverage of child rights components. Educational rights (e.g., right to quality education) appeared most frequently (302 instances), followed by social rights (e.g., non-discrimination, welfare; 290 instances). In contrast, health rights (e.g., right to life, growth, health services) were recorded only 95 times, and civil/political rights (e.g., freedom of expression, participation, protection from violence) merely 37 times.
At the textbook level, second-grade Science contained the highest frequency of rights-related content (190 items), followed by third-grade Social Studies (179 items). First-grade Persian showed the lowest attention (29 items).
The importance coefficients derived via Shannon’s entropy further highlighted imbalances across grades:
Grade 1: Social Rights (0.352), Cultural Rights (0.254), Educational Rights (0.219), Economic Rights (0.123), Civil Rights (0.048), Health Rights (0.000)
Grade 2: Social Rights (0.373), Health Rights (0.155), Educational Rights (0.147), Economic Rights (0.140), Cultural Rights (0.127), Civil/Political Rights (0.056)
Grade 3: Social Rights (0.265), Educational Rights (0.174), Civil Rights (0.172), Economic Rights (0.166), Cultural Rights (0.122), Health Rights (0.093)
Discussion
The findings align with prior national and international studies (e.g., Yarigholi et al., 2019; Sha’ban, 2022; Hareket & Dündar, 2024; Akcan & Bakır, 2023), consistently indicating that elementary textbooks inadequately reflect the comprehensive framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A clear imbalance persists: while educational and certain social rights receive considerable attention, health, civil, and political rights remain markedly under-represented. This reflects a pattern of dispersion, lack of continuity, and incoherence in the integration of rights across the curriculum. One explanatory factor is the insufficient emphasis on these rights within upstream policy and curriculum documents, which subsequently leads to their marginalization in textbooks. The results underscore the necessity for a systematic, balanced, and intentional redesign of textbook content to ensure all domains of children’s rights are equitably and meaningfully embedded, thereby enabling the educational system to fulfill its role in fostering a robust culture of child rights from the earliest stages of schooling.
Ethical Considerations
Authors’ Contributions
All authors have made substantial contributions to this study.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors’ declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Akcan, E., & Bakır, K. F. (2023). An Analysis of the Texts in the Life Studies Textbooks in the Context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 13(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2023.13.1.03
FathiVājargāh, K., Rezā Shams Mourkāni, G., Rezā Lorāyi, M., & Ramezān Aghili, S. (2014). Investigation and analysis of human rights’ components in primary school textbooks. Journal of Educational Innovations, 13(1), 7-24. https://noavaryedu.oerp.ir/article_79023_cf8cadc8024c894295e58a9c8373b103.pdf. [in Persian ]
Fatma, Ü. (2013). Children’s rights in life sciences textbooks in primary education in Turkey. Educational Research and Reviews, 8(16), 1470. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR12.094
Ghaedy, Y., Charbashlu, H., & Khoshnevisan, F. (2014). Children’s Rights Components in “Social Education” and “Heavenly Gifts” Textbooks: A Quantitative Content Analysis. Thinking and Children, 5(9), 81-104. https://fabak.ihcs.ac.ir/article_1250_36236e70c92b173e439f0d9b347bdfb1.pdf. [in Persian ]
Golkaram, S., Khandani, S. P., & Rahanjam, H. (2020). Examining the civil rights of the child from the perspective of Iranian law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Political Sociology of Iran, 3(1), 2557-2580. https://jou.spsiran.ir/article_157574.html. [in Persian ]
Hareket, E., & Dündar, K. T. Ç. H. (2024). Çocuk Haklarina İli̇şki̇n Algi Geli̇şi̇mi̇nde Çocuk Mecli̇si̇ Uygul. The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies, 1(42), 445-463. DOI : https://doi.org/10.9761/JASSS3098
Hareket, E., & Yel, S. (2017). Which perceptions do we have related to our rights as child? Child rights from the perspective of primary school students. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(3). http://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v6n3p340
SHa’ban, M. (2022). Analysis of Child Rights in Iran: Review of the National Body Convention of Rights of Child Based on the Universal Convention of the Rights of the Child. Fares Law Research, 4(9), 139-168. doi: https://doi.org/10.22034/LC.2022.134888. [in Persian ]
Shabani, a. (2017). Dechildization in Primary School Textbooks in Iran. Cultural Studies & Communication, 13(46), 37-70. https://www.jcsc.ir/article_25976_c388ff30827a5baf725fb87aa20673c3.pdf. [in Persian ]
tahmasebzadeh aheikhlar, d., teimoori, l., & imanzadeh, a. (2022). Comparing Dimensions and Components on the Rights of the Child in the International Convention and in the Upstream Documents of the Educational System Islamic Republic of Iran [Research]. Applied Issues in Quarterly Journal of Islamic Education, 7(4), 59-86. https://doi.org/10.52547/qaiie.7.4.59. [in Persian ]
Yarigholi, B., Abbasi Choubtarash, M., & Abbasi, S. (2019). The Status of the Components of Right to Education in Elementary School Textbooks. Socio-Cultural Strategy, 8(1), 299-323. https://rahbordfarhangi.csr.ir/article_117801_3dceb09382b4c76ca5254878ca32ccd9.pdf. [in Persian ]
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Received: 2025/04/17 | Accepted: 2025/11/1 | Published: 2026/01/27
Received: 2025/04/17 | Accepted: 2025/11/1 | Published: 2026/01/27
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