Evaluation of educational output of religious communities (heyaat) (The case of Mashhad city)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Abstract

Religious communities as a center for informal religious education have a long
history in Iran. This study is an attempt to compare the religious community
members and non−members and the influences it might have on the persons. To do
so, a four−part questionnaire which addressed the religious identity, national
identity, moral−social values, and personal beliefs, respectively, was developed.
The samples include the young attendants aged 17−29 from the city of Mashhad
categorized in two groups, namely community members and nonmembers. The
sampling procedure is random. The results revealed that the members are
significantly higher than nonmembers in the four items; moreover, the scores of the
members in three parts− religious identity, national identity, and personal beliefs−
were higher than the average continuum and in social values the trend was negative.
As a whole, it is inferred that educational output of the religious communities in two
parameters−national identity and personal beliefs− is satisfactory, in religious
identity is not as expected and in social values it is unsatisfactory.

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