Allameh Tabataba'i University

Background: In recent decades, Iran has faced multiple forms of environmental decline, such as water crises, drying up of lakes and rivers, air pollution, and forest destruction. In such a context, Instagram has become one of the most important spaces for informal environmental activism in Iran.Aims: This study involves the simultaneous construction of the narrative of "irreversible decline" and "hope for collective action" as well as the identification of the semiotic system and layers of signification in four comparative "before and after" images posted on Instagram that refer to the decline of Lake Urmia, Zayandeh Rud, Karun, Hamun, urban air pollution, and the destruction of Fandoghloo Forest.Methodology: Adopting a qualitative approach and drawing on Kress and van Leeuwen's social semiotics- which conceptualizes the image as comprising three dimensions of meaning (representational, interactive, and compositional)- this study examines the Instagram platform. The unit of analysis consists of "before and after" comparative images related to Iran's environmental issues, with a focus on the narratives of decline and hope. Samples were selected purposively, and the analysis is solely concerned with the visual meaning and narrative of the images.Findings: The images produce a powerful narrative of environmental decline by using temporal comparison, high modality, and ideological arrangement, and by linking the crisis to symbolic places, they activate collective memory and identity. The visual contrast between the lush past and the dry or polluted present evokes feelings of nostalgia, sadness, and environmental mourning, and provides the context for the formation of Affective Publics. At the same time, these images have the potential to transform mourning into active hope and collective action.Conclusion: Digital environmental activism in Iran relies mainly on visual-emotional strategies of decline, but for long-term sustainability, it requires the development of hope-based and constructive narratives. By providing a local analysis of the limited media environment, this study adds to the global literature on environmental visual communication and highlights the dual role of platform logic in empowering and constraining activism.

Social changes and the increasing participation of women in the workforce in recent decades have altered patterns of maternal presence within the family and influenced the quality of mother–child interactions. Despite numerous studies examining the consequences of maternal employment, most have relied on quantitative approaches and have paid limited attention to adolescents’ lived experiences of their relationships with mothers in the context of being at home or employed outside the home. Accordingly, the present study aimed to explore the role of maternal presence at home in adolescents’ lived experiences of relationships with homemaker mothers and mothers employed outside the home.This study employed a qualitative approach using a descriptive phenomenological method. Participants consisted of 16 adolescents who were selected through purposive sampling (eight with homemaker mothers and eight with employed mothers). Data were collected through semi structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s phenomenological analysis method. The findings indicated that adolescents’ experiences of relationships with homemaker mothers were organized into three main categories: emotional bonding and psychological security, academic support and personal development, and the implications of the homemaker role for both mother and child. In contrast, adolescents’ experiences of relationships with employed mothers were classified into four categories: the role of maternal employment in shaping social identity and role modeling, emotional dynamics of the mother–child relationship in the context of employment, the economic and supportive role of the employed mother, and the transformation of adolescents’ perceptions and acceptance of the working mother role over time.

The present study aimed to investigate the effective experiences of adolescents living in quasi-family centers regarding their personal and social growth. Adolescents who are orphaned or under inadequate parental care are exposed to multiple psychological and social risks, and understanding their lived experiences can inform effective supportive interventions. This research employed a qualitative design using a phenomenological approach. The participants were 16 adolescents (10 girls and 6 boys) residing in quasi-family centers in Yazd Province, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed through Smith’s interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings revealed four main themes contributing to adolescents’ growth: learning practical and future-oriented skills, experiencing a sense of group belonging, developing discipline and order in daily life, and using failures as opportunities for growth. The results suggest that quasi-family centers, when providing structured and supportive environments, can facilitate adolescents’ empowerment and better prepare them for independent living and social participation

Background: While existing scholarship highlights how post-revolutionary Iranian media fosters religious affect and moral instruction, little attention has been paid to its impact beyond Iran, particularly in contexts culturally influenced by Iran.Aims: This study examines the reception of the Iranian television programme Zindagi Pas Az Zindagi (ZPAZ) among Persian-knowing audiences in Kashmir.Methodology: Drawing on Diaspora Media Engagement Theory and Reception Theory, this research investigates how Kashmiri viewers interpret ZPAZ's narratives of near-death experiences (NDEs) and their theological implications. We employed a qualitative, audience-centred design, collecting data from 40 Kashmiri participants (29 Shia, 11 Sunni) through semi-structured interviews conducted via encrypted digital platforms. Thematic analysis revealed six recurring themes: curiosity about the afterlife, accessibility of everyday Persian language, identification with narrated experiences, reduced fear of death, cross-border spiritual resonance, and reinforcement of Shia identity. Reception of the programme's explicitly Shia theological content varied by sectarian background: Shia participants frequently described a strengthening of religious identity, while Sunni participants more often reported new curiosity about Shia theology rather than reinforcement of an existing identity.Findings: Findings suggest that ZPAZ functions as a form of mediated spirituality, reported by participants as reducing existential anxiety and, for Shia viewers in particular, strengthening transnational religious belonging.Conclusion: Extending diaspora media frameworks to a “symbolic diaspora,” this study demonstrates how Persian-language religious broadcasting contributes to identity formation and cultural continuity in the Kashmir region.

IntroductionEducational justice extends beyond the formulation of policies and adherence to theoretical principles; it is fundamentally constructed through students' everyday interactions with teachers, particularly within the context of classroom assessment. Although previous research has consistently underscored the importance of justice in assessment, the existing literature has predominantly focused on conceptualizing justice, examining teachers' perspectives, or quantitatively measuring perceptions of justice. Consequently, students' lived experiences of injustice in the classroom assessment process have received comparatively little scholarly attention. A comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon requires giving voice to students' own accounts and reconstructing the meanings they attribute to their experiences in authentic assessment contexts. Against this background, the present study employed a phenomenological approach to explore students' lived experiences of perceived injustice in the classroom assessment process. Specifically, it sought to address the following research question: Which assessment-related behaviors, procedures, and decisions do students perceive as manifestations of injustice and how do they construct meaning from these experiences?Materials & MethodsThe present study employed a qualitative research design by using a descriptive phenomenological approach to explore students' lived experiences of perceived injustice in the classroom assessment process. The sample size was determined based on the principle of theoretical saturation, resulting in interviews with 23 students. Data were collected through in-depth, individual, semi-structured interviews and analyzed by using Colaizzi's 7-step method. To ensure the trustworthiness of the findings, two primary validation strategies—member checking and peer debriefing—were employed. Specifically, the extracted findings were returned to the participants to verify their consistency with the students' lived experiences, while the coding process was independently reviewed by an expert in qualitative research. Furthermore, the credibility of the findings was strengthened through the involvement of an external academic supervisor throughout the research process, prolonged engagement during data collection, and maintenance of phenomenological reflexive notes to monitor the researcher's assumptions and minimize potential biases.Discussion of Results & ConclusionAnalysis of the participants' lived experiences revealed that perceived injustice was constructed within 4 overarching domains: teachers' behaviors, assessment criteria and grading practices, assessment procedures, and the conditions under which classroom assessment was implemented. These experiences were manifested through harmful interpersonal interactions, feelings of exclusion, influence of students' family characteristics and teachers' preconceived assumptions on educational judgments, ambiguity in assessment criteria, subjective grading practices, misalignment between instruction and assessment, unequal opportunities to respond, and inequitable access to educational information and learning resources. Taken together, these narratives indicated that perceived injustice was neither a unidimensional phenomenon nor merely an outcome of assessment decisions. Rather, it was a multifaceted experience that emerged through the dynamic interplay among teachers' behaviors, assessment criteria and grading practices, assessment procedures, and the contextual conditions under which classroom assessment was conducted.The students' lived experiences further revealed that injustice in classroom assessment arose when educational judgments diverged from students' perceived competence. Under such circumstances, classroom assessment extended beyond its conventional role as a tool for measuring learning and became an experience that could undermine students' trust in the justice of the assessment system. These findings suggested that perceived injustice in classroom assessment is not merely the result of isolated incidents, but rather emerges from the complex interplay among assessment practices, classroom relationships, and organizational context of education. This study had several limitations. First, the data were derived exclusively from the experiences of secondary school students; therefore, the perspectives of teachers, parents, and school administrators were not included. Second, given the qualitative nature of the study, the findings were not intended to be statistically generalizable. Future research is therefore encouraged to adopt mixed-methods designs or grounded theory approaches to investigate the underlying causes and mechanisms, through which injustice in classroom assessment develops from the perspectives of multiple educational stakeholders. In addition, strengthening teachers' assessment literacy, establishing transparent assessment criteria, and providing professional development on recognizing and managing cognitive biases may contribute to reducing students' perceptions of injustice and enhancing their trust in the classroom assessment process. Keywords: Lived Experiences, Classroom Assessment, Phenomenological, Perceived Injustice.Acknowledgments The authors thank everyone who contributed to this article.Conflicts of Interest There is no conflict of interest.FundingThe authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.Statement on the Use of AIChatGPT 5.6 was used to improve the writing and revise the English abstract of this manuscript. The authors reviewed and edited the AI-generated content and take full responsibility for the final content of the article.