Representation of School Educational Culture from the Perspective of Gilak Students: A Qualitative Study
Keywords:
Culturally Responsive Education, Students, School Culture, Gilak Ethnic GroupAbstract
Purpose: The objective of this study was to elucidate the representation of school educational culture from the perspective of Gilak students and to gain an in-depth understanding of their perceptions and lived experiences within the cultural context of Gilan.
Methodology: This study employed a qualitative interpretive approach within the framework of educational ethnography. The participants were primary school students from the Gilak ethnic group in Gilan Province, selected through purposive sampling guided by theoretical sampling logic. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis across open, axial, and selective coding stages. Sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, resulting in a total of 14 participants. Credibility was enhanced through member checking and recoding procedures.
Findings: The findings indicated that school educational culture is structured around four core dimensions: perception of school education, valued knowledge, quality of interactions, and accepted teaching methods. Students perceive school as a simultaneously educational, social, and emotional space characterized by both enjoyment and academic pressure. Valued knowledge is defined as knowledge connected to everyday lifeworlds, local culture, and real-life needs. The quality of emotional and supportive teacher–student relationships and the sense of being recognized significantly influence academic motivation. Active, participatory, and experiential teaching methods were identified as the most preferred approaches.
Conclusion: The results demonstrate that school educational culture in the Gilak context is a multidimensional and context-bound phenomenon shaped by the interaction between formal educational structures, human relationships, and students’ cultural lifeworlds, highlighting the necessity of integrating ethnocultural and emotional components into educational practice.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Frank Joyandeh Razgh (Author); Alireza Sadeghi; Marzieh Dehghani, Somayeh Ghadiri (Author)
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