Background: In recent years, the Iranian education system, with its escalating focus on standardized and highly competitive examinations, has overshadowed the fundamental functions of human development, reducing the learning process to a mere metric for assessment. Within this context, the act of students tearing up their textbooks, seemingly simple, carries a profound symbolic meaning, signaling a crisis of meaning in their educational experience.



Objective: This study aimed to analyze the hidden meaning of this action, framing it as a manifestation of academic alienation and everyday resistance against the examination-driven system.



Methodology: This research employed a qualitative approach, designed within the framework of Interpretive Phenomenology. Data were collected through 22 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with students from grades 9 through 12, recruited from diverse school types (public, gifted, non-profit) in the city of Bonab. Data analysis followed the six-phase Thematic Analysis method by Braun & Clarke (2021). The trustworthiness of the findings was ensured through inter-coder agreement and participant member-checking.



Findings: The thematic analysis yielded the extraction of four core themes: (1) The metamorphosis of the textbook from a symbol of learning into a symbol of pressure and coercion, (2) Tearing as a collective ritual for temporary liberation from the dominance of the educational system, (3) Reclaiming individual agency through the destruction of the dominant symbol, and (4) The drawing of an existential boundary between the 'academic self' and the 'real self.' The findings clearly demonstrated that this behavior is a symbolic representation of alienation from content, process, and the very purpose of learning, functioning as a form of resistance against a system that reduces the meaning of education to the confines of test success.



Conclusion: Tearing textbooks cannot be interpreted merely as an emotional outburst or misbehavior; rather, it must be seen as a stark warning sign of a crisis of meaning and self-alienation within the educational structure. The results of this study underscore the necessity for a fundamental re-evaluation of educational goals, curriculum content, and assessment methods so that the process of teaching and learning can once again evolve into a meaningful, self-motivated, and human-centered experience.