Abstract
This chapter reviews the theoretical and methodological approaches taken in literature focusing on representations of race, class, and gender in textbooks. The sample examined spans different countries and subjects. Whereas critical political economy has shaped the approach to class, concepts from critical race studies have been applied to race in textbooks and liberal and radical feminist theory to gender. Many studies use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, with gender analysts mostly conducting quantitative studies and critical race theorists deploying critical discourse analysis. Whereas fewer studies are conducted on class, those on race feature less quantitative work and those on gender less research on identity. New research focusing on the sometimes unpredictably contradictory relationship between context and textbook representations is important for future work.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Apple, M. (1979). Ideology and the Curriculum. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.
Apple, M. (2004). Cultural Politics and the Text. In S. Ball (Ed.), Routledge Falmer Reader in Sociology of Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Anyon, J. (2008). Social Class and School Knowledge. In L. Weiss (Ed.), The Way Class Works: Readings on School, Family and the Economy. New York: Routledge.
Arnot, M. (2007). Education Feminism, Gender Equality and School Reform in Late Twentieth Century England. In R. Teese, S. Lamb, & M. Duru-Bellat (Eds.), International Studies in Educational Inequality. Theory and Policy Volume 2: Inequality in Education Systems. Dordrecht: Springer.
Araujo, M., & Maeso, S. R. (2012). History Textbooks, Racism and the Critique of Eurocentrism: Beyond Rectification or Compensation. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35(7), 1266–1286.
Barton, A., & Sakwa, L. N. (2012). The Representation of Gender in English Textbooks in Uganda. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 20(2), 173–190.
Blumberg, R. (2008). The Invisible Obstacle to Educational Equality: Gender Bias in Textbooks. Prospects, 38, 345–361.
Brugeilles, C., & Cromer, S. (2009a). Promoting Gender Equality Through Textbooks. A Methodological Guide. Paris: UNESCO.
Brugeilles, C., & Cromer, S. (2009b). Analysing Gender Representations in School Textbooks. Paris: CEPED.
Commeyras, M., & Alvermann, D. E. (1996). Reading About Women in World History Textbooks from One Feminist Perspective. Gender and Education, 8(1), 31–48.
Cornish, D. M., Carinci, S., & Noel, J. (2012). Gender Representation in AP Art History Textbooks. In H. Hickman & B. Porfilio (Eds.), The New Politics of the Textbook. Problematizing the Portrayal of Marginalized Groups in Textbooks. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Crawford, K. (2013). Constructing Aboriginal Australians, 1930–1960: Projecting False Memories. Journal of Educational Media, Memory and Society, 5(1), 90–107.
Foroutan, Y. (2012). Gender Representation in School Textbooks in Iran: The Place of Languages. Current Sociology, 60(6), 771–787.
Gertzell, J. (n.d.). Gender, Language and Second Language Education: A study of Swedish EFL Texts. BA Degree Paper, University of Gothenburg Department of Languages and Literature.
Grawan, F. (2014). Impliziter Rassismus und kulturelle Hegemonie im Schulbuch? Rassismuskritische Analyse und objektivhermeneutische Rekonstruktion. Eckert Working Papers 2014/2. http://www.edumeres.net/urn/urn:nbn:de:0220-2014-00165
Hunt Davis, Jr., R. (1973–4). 1855–1863: A Dividing Point in the Early Development of African Education in South Africa. In The Societies of Southern Africa in the 19th and 20th Centuries (vol. 5). London: University of London: Institute of Commonwealth Studies. http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/4019/1/R_Hunt_Davis_Jr_-_1855-1863%2C_A_dividing_point_in_the_early_development_of_African_education_in_South_Africa.pdf
Lee, J., & Collins, P. (2010). Construction of Gender: A Comparison of Australian and Hong Kong English Language Textbooks. Journal of Gender Studies, 19(2), 121–137.
Loewen, J. (1995). Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Marmer, E., & Sow, P. (Eds.). (2015). Wie Rassismus aus Schulbüchern spricht. Kritische Auseinandersetzung mit “Afrika”-Bildern und Schwarz-Weiß-Konstruktionen in der Schule: Ursachen, Auswirkungen und Handlungsansätze für die pädagogische Praxis. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz Verlag.
McDonald, B. (2013). The Reproduction of Biological “Race” Through Physical Education Textbooks and Curriculum. European Physical Education Review, 19(2), 183–198.
Mirfakhraie, A. H. (2008). Curriculum Reform and Identity Politics in Iranian School Textbooks: National and Global Representations of Race, Ethnicity, Social Class and Gender. PhD, University of British Columbia.
Montgomery, K. (2005a). Imagining the Anti-Racist State: Representations of Racism in Canadian History Textbooks. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 26(4), 427–442.
Montgomery, K. (2005b). Banal Race Thinking: Ties of Blood, Canadian History Textbooks and Ethnic Nationalism. Paedagogica Historica. International Journal of History Education, 41(3), 313–326.
Morgan, K. (2010a). Reflexive Grappling with Theory and Methods of Text Analysis: Race and Racism Represented in History Textbooks. South African Historical Journal, 62(4), 753–770.
Morgan, K. (2010b). Scholarly and Value-Driven Objectives in Two South African School History Textbooks: An Analysis of Topics of Race and Racism. Historical Social Research, 35(3), 299–322.
Morning, A. (2008). Reconstructing Race in Science and Society: Biology Textbooks 1952–2002. American Journal of Sociology, 114, 106–137.
Mutekwe, E., & Modiba, M. (2012). An Evaluation of the Gender Sensitive Nature of Selected Textbooks in the Zimbabwean Secondary School Curriculum. Anthropologist, 14(4), 365–373.
Olivo, C. (2012). Bringing Women In: Gender and American Government and Politics Textbooks. Journal of Political Science Education, 8(2), 131–146.
Osler, A. (1994). Still Hidden from History? The Representation of Women in Recently Published History Textbooks. Oxford Review of Education, 20(2), 219–235.
Ott, C. (2013). Geschlechtsidentität(en) im Mathebuch. Was die Sprache in Bildungsmedien über ihre Gesellschaft verrät. Schulpädagogik heute, 8, 1–11.
Rezai-Rashti, G. M., & McCarthy, C. (2008). Race, Text and the Politics of Official Knowledge: A Critical Investigation of a Social Science Textbook in Ontario. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 29(4), 527–540.
Schoeman, S. (2009). The Representation of Women in a Sample of Post 1994 South African School History Textbooks. South African Journal of Education, 29(4), 541–556.
Shadowwalker, D. M. (2012). Where Have All the Indians Gone? American-Indian Representations in Secondary History Textbooks. PhD, University of Arizona.
Sharp, H. (2013). What We Teach Our Children: A Comparative Analysis of Indigenous Australians in Social Studies Curriculum, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Social and Education History, 2(2), 176–204.
Simpson, M. W. (2010). American Indians at Wounded Knee in Current U.S. History High School Textbooks: Discourse Analysis Using the Appraisal Judgment System. Indigenous Policy Journal, XXI(2), 1–9.
Simpson, M. W. (2011). US School Curriculum and American Indians: Some Theoretical Considerations. Social Sciences Research Network, 195. http://sssm.com/abstract=1870
Sleeter, C., & Grant, C. (1991). Race, Class, Gender and Disability in Textbooks. In M. Apple & L. Christian-Smith (Eds.), The Politics of the Textbook. New York: Routledge.
Sleeter, C., & Grant, C. (2011). Race, Class, Gender, and Disability in Current Textbooks. In E. Provenzo Jr., A. Shaver, & M. Bello (Eds.), The Textbook as Discourse. Sociocultural Dimensions of American Schoolbooks. New York: Routledge.
Soudien, C. (2013). “Race” and Its Contemporary Confusions: Towards a Re-Statement. Theoria, 60(136), 15–37.
Stromquist, N., & Monkman, K. (Eds.). (1998). Women in the Third World: An Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Issues. New York: Garland Publishing.
Trecker, J. L. (1973). Women in US High School Textbooks. International Review of Education, 19(1), 133–139.
Wiggington, S. (2005). Character or Caricature: Representations of Blackness in Dominican Social Science Textbooks. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8(2), 191–211.
Wills, J. (1994). Popular Culture, Curriculum and Historical Representation: The Situation of Native American History and the Perpetuation of Stereotypes. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 4(4), 277–294.
Zimmerman, A. (2010). Alabama in Africa: Booker T. Washington, the German Empire, and the Globalization of the New South. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chisholm, L. (2018). Representations of Class, Race, and Gender in Textbooks. In: Fuchs, E., Bock, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Textbook Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53141-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53142-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)