Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies 37
Vol. 16, 2018, pp. 37-56, ISSN: 2072-0394
© Centre of Excellence for Women’s Studies, University of Karachi
Exposition Of Gender Awareness In Primary Textbooks Of
Punjab: Gendered Content Analysis
Farah Adil
&
Shehla A. Yasin
Department of Gender & Development Studies
Lahore College for Women University
Abstract
Gender is a socially constructed phenomenon through which a society assigns certain
roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes to men and women. Usually children
develop their gender identities and learn what being male or female meant, between
the ages of 3 to 7years. These concepts been taught by society through socialization
which includes various agents of socialization and learning. After parents schools are
most influential agents of socialization where students learn from peers, teachers and
books. Text books have a long-lasting impact on students’ interpersonal development
and provide role models for children in defining standards for feminine and masculine
behaviors. Considering the impact of textbooks on child development; this study was
designed to review how gender is represented in the texts and how the themes of
stories and pictures in text books are presenting gender awareness? The sample of the
research was Urdu textbooks of primary level (1-5) being taught in schools of the
Punjab. We used content analysis to find out the concepts about gender awareness and
also calculated the frequencies of pictures presenting gender ratio in concepts of the
textbooks. The results showed gender biases in the content of the textbooks and lack
of the content that promote gender awareness among primary level students. Male
gender is over represented and stereotypical beliefs prevail in pictorial representation
as males being shown as doctors and females as housewives. It is suggested to
involve gender specialists, school psychologists and educators in developing
curriculum to integrate gender perspective and gender awareness at all levels and to
eliminate gender biases in textbooks so that to develop an equitable society.
Keywords: Punjab Textbooks, Primary Level, Gender Awareness, Pictorial and
Textual Concepts, Stereotypes, Gender Bias.
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