Gender-Specific Moral Dilemmas Related to Religion in Iranian Schools

• In Event: 16.049 - Moral Development and Education: Knowledge to Action

Abstract

This article examines moral dilemmas related to the religion of Islam as identified by Iranian female students. Data was gathered from Iranian lower secondary school students (female n = 175, male n = 165) who wrote about unfair situations they had experienced at school. Students’ moral dilemmas were analyzed with deductive content analysis. Moral dilemmas related to religion were identified only in the essays of 15 female students (4%) and analyzed further inductively. Three subcategories were constructed based on themes of religious moral dilemmas and called dress rules, boundaries of intimacy, and doctrinal issues. The paper discusses how and why moral dilemmas related to religion are interconnected with gender in Iranian schools.

Authors

• Nasibeh Hedayati, University of Helsinki

• Elina Kuusisto, University of Helsinki

• Khalil Gholami, University of Kurdistan

• Kirsi A. Tirri, University of Helsinki