The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 299 Research Notes Secularization and Tradition In Four Arab Countries: A Comparative Content Analysis of Reading Textbooks by Hasan A . Yahya I. Introduction The educational process is a combination of three important elements: teacher, student, and communication. This study focused on the third ele- ment in examining second grade reading textbooks in four Arab countries: Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Textbooks are not the only impor- tant element in the communication dimension nor do texts provide the only message students learn or the only influence in the educational process. Text- books have the advantage, however, of being subject to content analysis and represent symbolic interaction as an effective means to translate the cultural heritage of any nation. Each country has its own books, and has its own methods to educate youngsters consistent with broad goals and national needs. Religious educa- tion in many Middle Eastern countries is a gradual and continuing process which begins early in the educational life of the individual. Such education is complete, comprehensive, and is intended even at the elementary level to develop understanding of religious and social behavior. Most of the content of books in Arab countries is prepared to reflect the separated worlds of males and females, displaying the supreme societal, religious, psychological, and physical power of men over women. Educational leaders and decision makers, at least in the Middle East, seem to be effective advocates of traditional values and are concerned with the positive impact of the educational process. The primary aims of the educational system in Hasan A . Yahya is in the Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. 300 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences \ VOlk37=NO. 2, 1986 the countries considered in this study, and in many other countries, is to transmit the culture’s essential infomution and values. The schools are an important arena for students to learn such values, and textbooks tend to reflect cultural traditions. 11. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the content of second grade textbooks in Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Libya in relation to cultural values. Careful study of textbook content designed to pmpagate Islamic culture is needed during this period of rapid change towards modernization. The dif- ferences and similarities in the books were studied as well as the degree to which they reflected environmental and societal factors in education. The hllawing issues were considered: Haw did the texts display the world to second graders? What are the patterns of content? Are the content selections valid, adequate, and coherent? Do they serve the intellectuals of our modem age, and what values or goals do they represent? It was impossible to treat all facits of these issues comprehensively in one study, so emphasis was placed on ex- amining the factors of religion, gender, and nature. 111. Methodology Content analysis was used to classify the situations presented in the text- books. Little if any research has been conducted on Arab textbooks utilizing content analysis. Content analysis is seldom used in the field of sociology. Most scientific, content-analysis studies have been conducted by communication specialists and were confined to studies of the media? Since the printed page is a cogent variable in the learning process, content analysis should provide a valid method for sociologists studying educational processes. But Berelson and Budd, maintain that a scientific content analysis must be objective, systematic, and quantitative.‘ To satisfy these criteria a study must have well H.D. Lasswell and N. kites, Language of Politics (Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, 1949); and B. Berelson, Content Analysis in Communication Research (N.Y.: The Free Press of Glen- co, 1952); and W. Danielson, “Content Analysis in Communication Research,” in R.O. Nof- ziger and D.M. White. eds., Zntduction to Mass Communications Research (Baton Rouge, La: Louisiana State University Press, 1963). B. Berelson, op. cit; and R.W. Budd, Thorp, and Donohue, Content Analysis of Communica- tion ( C a d : lke Macmillan Company, 1967). See also TI? Carney, Content h l y s i s : A Technique for Systematic Znfeerence from Communication (Canada: University of Manitoba Press, 1972); and Ithia Sol D e h o l , Trends in Content Analysis (Vurbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1959); and O.R. Holsti, Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities (Philippines: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1969). Hasan A. Yahya Secularization and Tradition 301 delineated categories, a measure of reliability, clearly formulated data gathering procedures, and research hypotheses. Categories were developed to classify environmental and cultural ideas covered in general by the content of the four textbooks. A sample of second grade textbooks issued in the four countries under study were examined in order to develop appropriate categories. At the time of the study, Syria and Jordan had a cooperative educational program and used the same reibding book, which consisted of two parts with 37 lessons and was authored by seven educators. ' h o second grade Saudi Arabian textbooks were included: one for second grade males and one for second grade females. Both the Libyan and the Saudi textbooks were written in 1978 while the Jordan-Syrian text- book was issued in 1981. The titles of lessons, the illustrative pictures in lessons, and the lesson content were examined. Seven categories were developed: (1) male oriented, (2) female oriented, (3) group, male and female, (4) religion oriented, ( 5 ) animal oriented, (6) nature oriented, and (7) other oriented. Content was also divided into categories across lessons depending upon whether they were located inside or located outside the home. The occupations of major figures were also examined. To facilitate corlmg consistency, one individual was respon- sible for all coding in the study. Frequency distributions of the findings are presented in the following sec- tion. Chi Square analysis was undertaken to determine if significant relation- ships across countries or variables existed. While the sample is relatively small (four texts with multiple lessons), the findings of this study should provide a beginning basis for researchers interested in studying similar phenomena in similar countries or in the countries under study. IV. Results In this study selected content differences across countries and by gender were examined. Titles, pictures, and lessons were considered in the content analysis. The lessons were examined to determine if the activities took place predominantly inside or outside of the home. Male-oriented content formed the largest category for titles in the Jor- dadSyrian and Saudi male texts; it formed the second largest category in the Libyan text and the fourth largest category in the Saudi Female text (see Table 1). Female content in titles was the largest category in the Saudi Female text. Content concerning animals was more stressed in the Saudi titles than in the JorWSyrian and Libyan titles. Religious issues were more stressed in the Saudi female titles than for any other group. Group (male and female together) content was well represented in the JordadSyrian and Libyan titles but not in either the Saudi male or female texts. 302 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Table 1 Vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 The Content of Titles Presented in Four Arab Country Second Grade Texts Jordan/Syria Libya Concentration Saudi Male Saudi Female N % N % Male 17 46% 7 25% 23 33% 9 12% Female 3 8% 5 18% 4 6% 20 27% Group MIF 9 24% 8 29% 5 7% 3 4% Religious - - 3 11% 6 9% 17 23% Animals 2 5% 3 11% 15 21% 17 23% Nature 3 8% 2 7% 8 11% 3 4% Other 3 8% - 9 13% 4 6% - Male oriented content of pictures formed the largest category in the Libyan text, the second largest category in the JordadSyrian text, the second largest category in the Saudi Male text, and tied for the second largest category in the Saudi Female text (see Table 2). Group (male and female) formed the largest category in the JordadSyrian pictures and the second largest category in the Libyan pictures but was poorly represented in either male or female Saudi pictures. Animals formed the number one category in the Saudi male and female pictures but were seldom represented in the Jordan/Syrian or Libyan pictures. Table 2 The Content of Pictures in Four Arab Country Second Grade Texts JordanIS y ria Concentration Male Female Group M/ Religious Animals Nature Other ‘F N % Libya N % Saudi Male Saudi Female N % N % 8 28% 19 27% 10 14% 5 18% 3 4% 9 12% 7 25% 5 7% 3 4% 2 7% 7 10% 8 ll% 3 U% 20 29% 15 21% 3 11% 6 9% 9 12% 2 7% 10 14% 19 14% Hasan A. Yahya Secularization and Tradition 303 The majority of the lessons represented situations outside of the home in the Jordan/Syrian, Libyan, and Saudi Male texts. More than half of the lessons represented inside home situations in the Saudi Female text (see Table 3). Table 3 The Location of Activities in Situations Presented in the First 28 lessons of Four Arab Coun- try Second Grade Texts JordanISyria ' Libya Saudi Male' Saudi Female Concentration Inside Home Outside Home N % 5 18% 23 82% N % N 10 36% 18 64% 6 22 % N % 21% 79% 15 54% 13 46% Chi square analysis indicated that there was a significant relationship in the amount of Male and Female content presented in the texts of the four coun- tries. Both titles (see Table 4) and Pictures (see Table 5 ) contained more male oriented content than female oriented content. Sixty-four percent (64.4%) of the gender content of the titles was male oriented and 71.2%of the gender content of the pictures was male oriented. Table 4 Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship between Male and Female Content in the Titles of Four Arab country Texts Observed Expected Male 58 45 Female 32 45 Chi Square = 7.5* Probability = .006 * Significant at the alpha = .05 level 304 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Table 5 vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship between Male and Female Content in the Pictures of Four Arab Country Texts Observed Expected Male 47 33 Female 19 33 chi Square = ll.9* Probability =.OOO5 * significant at the alpha = .05 level The religious content of the Saudi texts was compared with the religious content of the non-saudi texts. Saudi texts had a sigcuficantly higher incidence of religous content in both titles and pictures than did the other countries (see Tables 6 and 7). Table 6 Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship Between Religious Content of Titles for Saudi Araba and Three Other Arab Countries Religious Non Religious Total chi square = 5.33* Probability = .02 * Significant at the alpha = .05 level ** Jordan/Syria and Libya Saudi 23 120 M3 Other ** 3 62 65 Total 26 182 208 Hasan A. Yahya Secularization and Tradition 305 Table I Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship Between Religious Content of Pictures for Saudi Araba and Three Other Arab Countries Religious Non Religious Total Saudi 15 126 141 Other ** 2 67 69 Total 17. 193 210 Chi Square = 3.76* Probability = .05 * Significant at the alpha = .05 level ** JordanISyria and Libya The Saudi and the Libyan texts were compared with the JordadSyrian text in relation to whether the lesson setting was located inside or outside of the home. No significant relationship was found at an alpha = .05 level (see Table 8). The Saudi male text and the Saudi female text were compared in relation to male and female oriented content. The titles and pictures in the male text were more likely to contain male oriented content while the female text w a s more likely to contain female oriented content (see Tables 9 and 10). Table 8 Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship Between Location (inside home or outside home) for JordanfSyria and Saudi ArabiaILibya Inside Home Outside Home Total SaudilLibya JordanISyria 31 5 53 84 Total 36 23 76 28 ll2 Chi Square = 3.49 Probability = .06 306 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 3, No. 2,1986 Table 9 Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship between Gender Content and Male or Female Text in the Titles to Saudi Arabia Second Grade Texts wale Text Female Text Total 23 9 32 4 20 24 27 29 56 Male Content Female Content Total Chi Square =16.9 Probability = .OOO4 *Significant at the alpha = .05 level Table D Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship between Gender Content and Male or Female Text in the Pictures of Saudi Arabia Second Grade Texts Male Content Female Content Total Male Text 19 3 22 Female Text 10 9 19 Total 29 12 41 Chi Square =5.47 Probability = .02 *Significant at the alpha = .05 level The Saudi texts were examined for relationship between gender and religious oriented content in the titles and the pictures. The female titles were significantly more likely to contain religious content while the male titles were more likely to contain non-religious content (see Table 11). There was no relationship between religious content and gender in the pictures associated with lessons (see Table 12). Hasan A. Yahya Secularization and Tradition 307 Table 11 Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship between Religious Content and Male or Female Text in the Titles of Saudi Arabi Second Grade Texts Religious Non-Religious Total Male Text 6 64 70 Female Text 17 56 n Total 23 120 143 Chi Square =5.82 Probability = .02 *Significant at the alpha = .05 level Table 12 Chi Square Analysis of the Relationship between Religious Content and Male or Female Text in the Pictures of Saudi Arabia Second Grade Texts Chi Square = .0268 Probability = 3699 8% V. Discussion Instead of fostering basic equality between males and females, the con- tent covered in a sample of four textbooks in four Arab countries stresses the role of the male and sanctions the dominance of the male. The content pro- motes the division of sex roles. Religious content is more stressed in Saudi Arabian texts than in Jordanian/Syrian or Libyan texts. While such division pro- mote traditional cultural values, they are unlikely to help nations achieve goals of successfully moving into the modem technological age. As conditions change, societies must often change in order to survive and prosper. Further research on the extent to which education promotes traditional values in Arab countries without providing a means of adaptation to changing conditions is needed.