Iranian Journal of Curriculum Studies

Iranian Journal of Curriculum Studies

Phenomenology of the Signs of Overloaded Curriculum in Iran's Primary Education

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Farzaneh Askary 1
Mohammad Javadipour 1
Rezvan Hakimzadeh 2
Keyvan Salehi 3
1 Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran
2 university of Tehran
3 Associate professor, Division of Research and Assessment, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jcs.2025.462617.2286
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to conduct a phenomenological of the signs of a overloaded curriculum in Iran’s primary education. Participants included 61 teachers, students, parents, and education professionals in the primary school in 2023-2024, who were selected using a snowball sampling. In order to collect data, semi-structured interviews were used and the collection continued until data saturation. The analysis of the findings led to the identification of five themes and 13 categories. The results of the study indicated that the density of content in terms of volume, density, difficulty, and ambiguity, lack of time due to unbalanced distribution and the lack of days in the school year, the sacrifice of some subjects at the expense of paying attention to other subjects, poor academic achievement results and dissatisfaction of stakeholders due to work pressure, boredom, and the imposition of informal education costs are signs of overloaded in the elementary school curriculum.
Keywords
overloaded curriculum
primary education
descriptive phenomenology

Subjects

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  • Receive Date 12 June 2024
  • Revise Date 07 November 2025
  • Accept Date 08 November 2025